Denis Hamlett (born January 9, 1969) is a Costa Rican-American former professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player and coach currently serving as sporting director for the

New York Red Bulls The New York Red Bulls are an American professional soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The club was established in October 1994 and be ...

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

. Hamlett spent his entire professional career in the US, playing with 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 ...

and the Colorado Rapids, as well as indoor soccer with the Harrisburg Heat and

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 ...

. He has been a member of coaching staffs with Chicago Fire,

Vancouver Whitecaps Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Vancouver. They compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on March ...

, Montreal Impact and New York Red Bulls, including a two-season stint as head coach in Chicago.

Playing career

College

After his parents separated, Hamlett moved to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

to live with his mother in

Silver Spring, Maryland Silver Spring is a census-designated place (CDP) in southeastern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, near Washington, D.C. Although officially unincorporated, in practice it is an edge city, with a population of 81,015 at the 2020 censu ...

when he was ten years old, where he attended Albert Einstein High School. In 1987 Hamlett began playing

college soccer College soccer is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. It is very prominent in United States, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and as well as in South Africa and the Philippines. The United Kingd ...

for

UNC Wilmington The University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW or UNC Wilmington) is a public research university in Wilmington, North Carolina. It is part of the University of North Carolina System and enrolls 17,499 undergraduate and graduate students eac ...

, before transferring to

George Mason University George Mason University (George Mason, Mason, or GMU) is a public research university in Fairfax County, Virginia with an independent City of Fairfax, Virginia postal address in the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area. The university was origin ...

in Fairfax, Virginia after his freshman season. He earned All-Colonial Athletic Association and All-Region accolades during his three seasons of play at George Mason. He graduated in 1992 with a bachelor's degree in public administration and was inducted into the school's Hall of Fame in 2006.

Professional

Hamlett began his professional career on June 10, 1992 when he signed with 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 ...

. He spent the 1992 and 1993 summers playing outdoor soccer with the Strikers. In the fall of 1992, he joined the Harrisburg Heat of the National Professional Soccer League. He spent two seasons with the Heat. Then from 1994–95, he played summer indoor soccer for the

of the CISL. In 1996, Hamlett was drafted by the Colorado Rapids in the second round, 12th overall in Major League Soccer's inaugural draft. His stellar play continued with Colorado, where he won the BIC Tough Defender of the Year award. His playing career ended in 1997 when he suffered a stroke caused by a blood protein deficiency.

Coaching career

Following his retirement from professional play in 1997, Hamlett attained his coaching license from

U.S. Soccer The United States Soccer Federation (USSF), commonly referred to as U.S. Soccer, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and the official governing body of the sport of soccer in the United States. Headquartered in Chicago, the federation is a ...

. In 1998, Hamlett joined the coaching staff of the Chicago Fire. He served as an assistant coach during the U.S.

Project-40 Generation Adidas is a joint venture between Major League Soccer and U.S. Soccer aimed at raising the level of young professional soccer talent in the United States. The program, sponsored by Adidas, offers professional-ready players in the U.S. ...

squad's visit to

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

, and continued his coaching duties with the Fire, becoming the senior

assistant coach A sports coach is a person coaching in sport, involved in the direction, instruction and training of a sports team or athlete. History The original sense of the word ''coach'' is that of a Coach (carriage), horse-drawn carriage, deriving ultima ...

in 2001. Upon dismissal of former

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

Dave Sarachan Dave Sarachan (born June 7, 1954) is an American former soccer player and coach who is currently the head coach of the Puerto Rico national team. Sarachan spent two seasons as a player in the North American Soccer League and four in Major Ind ...

, Hamlett received interim head coaching duties on June 20, 2007, but resumed assistant coaching duties following the arrival of

Juan Carlos Osorio Juan Carlos Osorio Arbeláez (; born 8 June 1961) is a Colombian professional football manager and former footballer who played as a midfielder. Osorio began his playing career with Deportivo Pereira in 1982, and went on to play for Brazilian c ...

. When Osorio resigned take on the head coach job at the

, Hamlett was hired as the head coach. Following Fire's failure to qualify for the 2009 MLS Cup, Hamlett was fired as head coach on 24 November 2009. Over his two-plus year tenure with the Fire, Hamlett helped the team to back-to-back Eastern Conference Finals, as well as the 2009 SuperLiga Final, going 24-18-21 in league play and 31-23-24 across all competitions. Denis took up the post of interim coach of the men's soccer team at the Illinois Institute of Technology for the 2010 season, leading them to a conference title and playoff final appearance. On January 8, 2011, it was announced that Hamlett had joined

Vancouver Whitecaps FC Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Vancouver. They compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on Marc ...

in an assistant coaching role. On October 26, 2011, Vancouver announced that it had released Hamlett from his contract. On January 7, 2012, the Montreal Impact announced that Hamlett was hired as an assistant to manager Jesse Marsch. Hamlett again joined Marsch's staff with the

beginning the 2015 season. Prior to the 2017 season, Hamlett moved to New York's front office to assume the role of

sporting director A sporting director, or director of sport, is an executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many types of sports. The sport ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hamlett, Denis 1969 births Living people People from Limón Province Association football defenders Costa Rican footballers American Professional Soccer League players American soccer players Anaheim Splash players Chicago Fire FC coaches Colorado Rapids players Continental Indoor Soccer League players Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1988–1994) players George Mason Patriots men's soccer players Harrisburg Heat players National Professional Soccer League (1984–2001) players Major League Soccer players UNC Wilmington Seahawks men's soccer players Major League Soccer coaches Vancouver Whitecaps FC non-playing staff Chicago Fire FC non-playing staff Costa Rican football managers Expatriate soccer managers in the United States CF Montréal non-playing staff New York Red Bulls non-playing staff