Dale Ervine (born May 19, 1964 in

Torrance, California Torrance is a city in the Los Angeles metropolitan area located in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city is part of what is known as the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay region of the m ...

) is a former U.S. soccer

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

who spent most of his career playing indoor soccer. He also earned five

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

with the U.S. national team between 1985 and 1993.

College

After graduating from North Torrance High in 1982, Ervine received a scholarship to UCLA. He spent four seasons as a midfielder with the Bruins. In 1982, 1983 and 1985, he was the team's Offensive MVP. In 1985, his last year at UCLA, the Bruins won the

NCAA Championship The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and ...

. Ervine was awarded the team's overall MVP for the season and was named a first team All American.

Professional

In 1986, Ervine turned professional with the

Los Angeles Heat Los Angeles Heat joined the Western Soccer Alliance in 1986. They joined the American Professional Soccer League in 1990 when the WSL merged with the American Soccer League, then folded in 1990. The club played in Torrance, California at West Hi ...

of the

Western Soccer Alliance Western Soccer Alliance was a professional soccer league featuring teams from the West Coast of the United States and Western Canada. The league began in 1985 as the Western Alliance Challenge Series. In 1986, it became the Western Soccer Alli ...

(WSA).
/sup> He did not play with the Heat in 1987 or 1988, but returned for the 1989 and 1990 seasons. The Heat went to the WSL semifinals in 1989. Between the 1989 and 1990 season, the WSL merged with the American Soccer League (1988–1989), American Soccer League (ASL) to form the

American Professional Soccer League The American Professional Soccer League (APSL) was a professional men's soccer league with teams from the United States and later Canada. It was formed in 1990 by the merger of the third American Soccer League with the Western Soccer League. It ...

(APSL). The Heat continued their success in 1990 and made it to the APSL title game before folding. The next year, Ervine moved to the

Fort Lauderdale Strikers Fort Lauderdale Strikers may refer to: *Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1977–1983), member of North American Soccer League from 1977 to 1983 *Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1988–1994), member of American Soccer League from 1988 to 1989 and American Profes ...

. He did not return to the outdoor game until 1993 when he was back in Los Angeles, this time with the

Los Angeles Salsa The Los Angeles Salsa was an American soccer team based in Los Angeles that played in the American Professional Soccer League (APSL) and the USISL Pro League. The club played on the campus of California State University, Fullerton at Titan Stad ...

of the APSL. The Salsa fell to the

Colorado Foxes The Colorado Foxes were a professional soccer team, based in Commerce City, Colorado, that played in the American Professional Soccer League, and later in the A-League, between 1990 and 1997. The Foxes won two APSL titles, in 1992 and 1993. In 19 ...

in the title game. In 1987, Ervine joined the

Wichita Wings The Wichita Wings were a professional indoor soccer franchise based in Wichita, Kansas. The Wings were admitted to the Major Indoor Soccer League as an expansion team on August 21, 1979.

of Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL). He would remain with the Wings for the next seven seasons. In 1992 MISL folded and the Wings moved to the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) where he played until the end of the 1993–1994 season. In 1993, Ervine signed with Los Angeles United of the new indoor league the

Continental Indoor Soccer League The Continental Indoor Soccer League (CISL) was a professional indoor soccer league that played from 1993 to 1997. History In the summer of 1989 Dr Jerry Buss, the owner of the Los Angeles Lakers and California Sports, told his executive Vice Pre ...

(CISL). While an indoor league, the CISL played during the summer rather than the traditional winter season played by the MISL and NPSL. L.A. United was sold to new ownership in 1994 and moved to

Anaheim, California Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most p ...

where it was renamed the

Anaheim Splash The Anaheim Splash was a U.S. indoor soccer team that played in the Continental Indoor Soccer League (CISL). It was founded in 1992 as the Los Angeles United, but was sold after the season. The new ownership moved the team to Anaheim, Californ ...

. Ervine remained with the renamed team until it folded at the end of the 1997 season. The CISL folded at the end of the 1997 season. Ervine ended his CISL career number eight on the goals, assists and points lists with 135, 114 and 249 respectively. In August 1998, Ervine signed with the

Sacramento Knights Sacramento Knights were an indoor soccer team that played from 1993 to 2001 in ARCO Arena and were owned by the NBA's Sacramento Kings. The team played in the Continental Indoor Soccer League from 1993 to 1997. The team then moved to the Wo ...

of the

Premier Soccer Alliance The World Indoor Soccer League (WISL) was a United States-based indoor soccer league that existed from 1998 to 2001 and consisted of nine teams. History After the demise of the Continental Indoor Soccer League, four of its teams decided to create ...

. The PSA became the

World Indoor Soccer League The World Indoor Soccer League (WISL) was a United States-based indoor soccer league that existed from 1998 to 2001 and consisted of nine teams. History After the demise of the Continental Indoor Soccer League, four of its teams decided to create ...

in 1999. Ervine retired from playing after the 1999 season.

National team

U-21

In 1983, Ervine was on the roster of the U.S. U-20 national team which went 1-0-2 at the

1983 FIFA World Youth Championship The 1983 FIFA World Youth Championship was the fourth edition FIFA World Youth Championship tournament, hosted from 2 June to 19 June 1983 in seven venues in Mexico — Guadalajara, Irapuato, León, Mexico City, Monterrey, Puebla and Toluca — wh ...

.
/sup>

Senior team

Ervine earned five

with the United States men's national soccer team, U.S. national team between 1985 and 1993. His first cap came his junior year of college when he played in a 1–1 tie with

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

on April 4, 1985. He played again a year later as a substitute for

Eric Eichmann Eric Eichmann (born May 7, 1965) is an American former soccer player. He played professionally in Germany and the United States and later served as an assistant coach with the Miami Fusion of Major League Soccer. He also earned 29 caps and sc ...

in another tie, this time with

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

on February 7, 1986. He did not appear again for the national team until March 23, 1993 when he came on for Sadri Gjonbalaj in a tie with

El Salvador El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south b ...

. His last cap came two days later in a 4–1 loss to

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...

Futsal

In 1992, he earned nine caps, scoring eleven goals, with the U.S. National Futsal Team.
/sup> That year, the U.S. took second in the FIFA Futsal World Championship.
/sup> His eleven goals puts him second on the all time U.S. goals list.
/sup>

Coach

In 1997, in addition to playing with the Splash, Ervine also coached the team. The Splash ended the season at 16-12 and was eliminated by the

in the second round of the playoffs.

External links

1985 UCLA Title Game

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ervine, Dale 1964 births Living people All-American men's college soccer players American men's futsal players American Professional Soccer League players American soccer coaches American soccer players Anaheim Splash players Continental Indoor Soccer League coaches Continental Indoor Soccer League players Association football midfielders Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1988–1994) players Los Angeles Heat players Los Angeles Salsa players Los Angeles United players Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players National Professional Soccer League (1984–2001) players NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament Most Outstanding Player winners Premier Soccer Alliance players Sacramento Knights (WISL) players Soccer players from Torrance, California UCLA Bruins men's soccer players United States men's international soccer players Western Soccer Alliance players Western Soccer League players Wichita Wings (MISL) players Wichita Wings (NPSL) players World Indoor Soccer League players United States men's under-20 international soccer players Player-coaches