Jeff Hooker (born March 21, 1965) is a retired U.S.

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 ...

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

who currently coaches the

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private university, private research university in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1864, it is the oldest independent private university in the Mountain States, Rocky Mountain Region of the United States. It is ...

women's soccer team. Hooker earned twelve

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 ...

, scoring one goal, with the U.S. national team between 1984 and 1987 and was a member of the 1984 U.S. Olympic soccer team. He played professionally in 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 ...

and

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 ...

Playing

High school and college

Hooker attended

Walnut High School Walnut High School is a public high school located at Walnut, California, among the San Jose Hills of the San Gabriel Valley in Southern California. Ranked in the top 100 high schools in America by the Daily Beast Publication, Walnut High Schoo ...

Walnut, California Walnut is a city in the eastern part of Los Angeles County in the U.S. state of California. At the 2010 census, the city had a population of 29,172, and in 2019 the population was estimated at 29,685. The greater Walnut Valley is located betw ...

where he played on the school's boys soccer team. He is tied for fifth on the California state high school list for most assists in a season (44 assists in 1982–1983). Hooker attended and played soccer at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

for three seasons between 1983 and 1987. He played as a freshman, but

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

the 1984 season to play for the U.S. in the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...

. He was injured in 1985 while playing with the national team and did not play for UCLA during the school's run to 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 ...

. He finally got back on the field for UCLA in 1986. In 1987, he played his last season for UCLA, but did not complete his

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

until 1992. Over his three seasons with the Bruins, Hooker played in 51 games, scoring 20 goals and assisting on 11 other.

National and Olympic teams

Hooker's reputation at the high school level led to his selection for the U.S. U-20 national team 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 ...

in Mexico. He scored in his first game in that tournament, a 2–3 loss to Uruguay and earned three junior national team

. He also represented the U.S. at the

1983 Pan American Games The 1983 Pan American Games were held in Caracas, Venezuela from August 14 to August 29, 1983. The games were the first major international competition to include relatively accurate steroid testing.Taylor, William N., ''Anabolic Steroids and the ...

. Hooker earned his first cap with the U.S. national team in an October 9, 1984 victory over

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 ...

. That day, both he and fellow rookie Jacques LaDouceur became one of the few first game tandems to score in a game, which the U.S. won 3–1. Hooker also played thirteen games for the U.S. B-Team which at the time formed the core of the U.S. Olympic Team, World University Team and Pan American Team.

Professional

In 1986, Hooker played a single season as a forward with the

San Diego Nomads Nomads Soccer Club (formerly San Diego Nomads) is an American soccer club based in San Diego, California. From 1986 to 1990, the club fielded a professional senior team, but has since operated as an amateur and youth club. History The Nomads wer ...

of the

(WSA) during the collegiate off-season. After leaving UCLA, he went on to play for 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 H ...

of the WSA in 1988 and 1989. His second season with the team saw him rise to sixth on the alliance's points list with 19 on 7 goals and 5 assists. He was also named to the WSA First Team All Star team. In 1991, he joined 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 ...

of the

, which was formed by the merger of the Western Soccer Alliance and the American Soccer League in 1990. Hooker remained with the Foxes during its glory years of 1991 to 1995. The team consistently finished towards the top of the league's rankings and took the championship in 1992 and 1993. In 1991, Hooker played 19 games (starting 17) and scored 3 goals. In 1992, he played only 7 games, scoring 2 goals in the regular season. However, in the

Professional Cup The Professional Cup was an international soccer tournament that took place in 1992 and involved eight, professional clubs from three different leagues in North America; the American Professional Soccer League, the Canadian Soccer League, and the ...

, he scored two goals with one coming in the Foxes 4–1 victory over the

Tampa Bay Rowdies The Tampa Bay Rowdies are an American professional Association football, soccer team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The club was founded in 2008 and first took the pitch in 2010. Since 2017, the Rowdies have been members of the USL Champions ...

. In 1995, he scored 7 goals. There are no records for his other seasons with the Foxes.

Coaching

In 1992, besides playing professionally with the Colorado Foxes, Hooker became head coach of the

women's soccer team, guiding them to a Colorado Athletic Conference championship. In 2002 and 2003, Hooker was named the Sun Belt Conference coach of the year. In 1996 and 1997, he also served as the school's men's soccer coach. During those two seasons, he compiled a 20–12–4 record.

References

External links

FIFA: Jeff Hooker

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hooker, Jeff 1965 births Living people American men's soccer players UCLA Bruins men's soccer players University of California, Los Angeles alumni Western Soccer Alliance players Nomads Soccer Club players Los Angeles Heat players American Professional Soccer League players Colorado Foxes players Olympic soccer players for the United States Footballers at the 1984 Summer Olympics Pan American Games competitors for the United States Footballers at the 1983 Pan American Games United States men's under-20 international soccer players United States men's international soccer players American soccer coaches Denver Pioneers men's soccer coaches Men's association football forwards Soccer players from Los Angeles County, California People from Walnut, California Denver Pioneers women's soccer coaches