Garret Andrew Kusch (born 26 September 1973) is a Canadian former soccer player who played at both professional and international levels as a

striker Striker or The Strikers may refer to: People *A participant in a strike action *A participant in a hunger strike *Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant *Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America People wi ...

. After retiring as a player, Kusch became a

Chiropractor Chiropractic is a form of alternative medicine concerned with the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of mechanical disorders of the musculoskeletal system, especially of the spine. It has esoteric origins and is based on several pseudoscie ...

Club career

Born in Richmond, British Columbia, Kusch started his career at local side Vancouver 86ers and then played successfully in a Belgian lower division with

Mons Mons (; German and nl, Bergen, ; Walloon and pcd, Mont) is a city and municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the province of Hainaut, Belgium. Mons was made into a fortified city by Count Baldwin IV of Hainaut in the 12th century. T ...

. Injury-hit, he then only featured twice for

Mechelen Mechelen (; french: Malines ; traditional English name: MechlinMechelen has been known in English as ''Mechlin'', from where the adjective ''Mechlinian'' is derived. This name may still be used, especially in a traditional or historical contex ...

in the Belgian First Division in the 1999/2000 season. He revived his career after a foot injury at Swedish second division side Mjällby only to finish the first of his two years-contract at Norwegian second division outfit

Hønefoss __NOTOC__ Hønefoss is a town and the administrative center of the municipality of Ringerike in Buskerud county, Norway. Hønefoss is an industrial center of inner Østlandet, containing several factories and other industry. As of 1 January 2008, ...

to quit professional soccer aged just 28 in 2001 to continue his studies. Kusch briefly came out of retirement in 2007 to play for

Columbus Clan FC Columbus FC is a Canadian soccer club based in Vancouver, British Columbia currently playing in the Premier division of the Vancouver Metro Soccer League. In 2013, the club was recognized as a Canada Soccer Hall of Fame Organization of Distinct ...

; earning a silver medal in the Open Canada Cup.

International career

Kusch made his debut for

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 ...

in an April 1997

FIFA World Cup qualification The FIFA World Cup qualification is a competitive match that a national association football team takes in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the (men's) FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments are hel ...

match against

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 ...

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

and earned a total of 21 caps, scoring 1 goal. The shaven-headed striker has represented Canada in 5

matches and participated in the

2001 FIFA Confederations Cup The 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup was the fifth FIFA Confederations Cup and the third to be organised by FIFA. It was also the first in which the original hosts, Saudi Arabia, did not participate (they were the nation who founded the tournament, pr ...

,Record at FIFA Tournaments
– FIFA where he played his final international against

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

Personal life

Kusch currently works for the Canada national team as a chiropractor.

References

External links

*
archive
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kusch, Garret 1973 births Living people Sportspeople from Richmond, British Columbia Canadian people of German descent Men's association football forwards Soccer people from British Columbia Canadian men's soccer players Canadian expatriate men's soccer players Canada men's youth international soccer players Canada men's under-23 international soccer players Canada men's international soccer players CONCACAF Gold Cup-winning players 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup players Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Sweden Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Norway Vancouver Whitecaps (1986–2010) players R.A.E.C. Mons (1910) players K.V. Mechelen players Hønefoss BK players Mjällby AIF players ICSF Columbus FC players A-League (1995–2004) players Belgian Pro League players Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Sweden Expatriate men's footballers in Norway Association football physiotherapists Simon Fraser Red Leafs men's soccer players Simon Fraser University alumni