Jeff Stock (born August 1, 1960 in
Baltimore, Maryland
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
) is a retired U.S.
soccer defender who spent five seasons in the
North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to:
*North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league
*North American Soccer League (2011–2017)
The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...
and two 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 ...
. He also played in the
Major Indoor Soccer League with the
Tacoma Stars.
Youth
Stock, son of major league baseball pitcher
Wes Stock, attended
Stadium High School
Stadium High School is a public high school in Tacoma, Washington, and a historic landmark. It is part of Tacoma Public Schools, or Tacoma School District No. 10 and is located in the Stadium District, near downtown Tacoma. The original buildin ...
, graduating in 1978. While in high school, he played
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...
. However, he also played with future Sounders team mate
Mark Peterson on the Norpoint Royals youth club.
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 ...
offered Stock an athletic scholarship, but he elected to sign a professional soccer contract instead.
Professional
Stock signed with the
Seattle Sounders
Seattle Sounders Football Club is an American professional men's soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete as a member of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The club was established on November 13, 2007, and began ...
of the
North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to:
*North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league
*North American Soccer League (2011–2017)
The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...
in 1978. He spent both that season and the next on the reserve team under
Jimmy Gabriel
James Gabriel (10 October 1940 – 10 July 2021) was a Scottish football defensive midfielder and defender who earned two caps with the Scotland national football team. Chiefly associated with English clubs Everton and Southampton, Gabriel pla ...
before breaking into the first team in 1980. That season, he became a regular left back in the Sounders’ defensive scheme, seeing time in 23 games and scoring one goal. This put him in competition for Rookie of the Year against team mate
Mark Peterson and fellow Tacoma area youth defender
Jeff Durgan
Jeffrey "Jeff" Durgan (born August 29, 1961, in Tacoma, Washington) is a retired U.S. soccer defender who played professionally for the New York Cosmos and seven times for the U.S. national team.
NASL
Durgan was born and raised in Tacoma, W ...
, now playing with the
New York Cosmos New York Cosmos may refer to
* New York Cosmos (1970–1985), a team in the North American Soccer League (then the top-tier soccer league in the United States and Canada)
* New York Cosmos (2010), a team playing since 2020 in the National Independ ...
all of whom played with the Norpoint Royals youth soccer team out of Browns Point, Wa. While Durgan won the award, Stock continued to excel with the Sounders, playing 35 games in both the 1981 and 1982 seasons. In 1983, Stock lost most of the season after blowing out his right knee in the Sounders' fifth game. The Sounders folded at the end of the season and the
San Jose Earthquakes selected Stock in the dispersal draft in anticipation of the following indoor season. However, his knee injury kept out of the line up until the last few games of the season. The Earthquakes then traded him to the
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 Mar ...
. In 1984, he played in 20 games. That year the Whitecaps also competed in the F.C. Seattle Challenge ‘84. The host team, F.C. Seattle, later change its name to the F.C. Seattle Storm, a team Stock joined in 1987. On October 20, 1984, the Whitecaps released Stock.
/sup> He then went on trial with the Tacoma Stars of the Major Indoor Soccer League, but he aggravated his knee injury and was forced to sit out a year after having arthroscopic surgery. In October 1985, Stock with the Tacoma Stars. By this time knee injuries had begun to hinder Stock and the hard surface of an indoor soccer arena exacerbated the problems leading him to retire in December 1986. On March 4, 1987, Stock returned to outdoor soccer with the Seattle Storm (soccer), F.C. Seattle Storm 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 ...
as a player/assistant coach. The move back to the grass of an outdoor soccer field helped extend his career by a few years. In 1988, he was selected to the Western Soccer Alliance All-Star team. He also served as an assistant coach in both 1987 and 1988. However, his knees finally gave and in 1989 he retired from playing professionally to devote himself to coaching.
National team
While never called up to the senior national team, Stock saw time with the U.S. U-19 team. He then went on to play for the U.S. Pan American Games team as well as for the U.S. soccer team which qualified for the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...
. Unfortunately for Stock and his team mates, President Jimmy Carter
James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 76th governor of Georgia from 1 ...
chose to boycott the games in response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
.
Post soccer career
After retiring from soccer, Stock entered the real estate market, going on to buy two theme parks, Wild Waves and Enchanted Village. Stock with 50% partner Michael Moodenbaugh purchased the two parks from Byron Betts in 1992 for $8 million. Eight years later, he sold the two parks, now merged into one for $19.2 million. Stock took over management of the park in 2011 for the owners CNL Lifestyle Properties of Orlando, Stock has been a continuous owner of the land the park is located on.
/sup>
Since then Stock has founded the "Coffee Cup" a local college soccer tournament.
/sup>
References
External links
Newspaper bio with several links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stock, Jeff
1960 births
Living people
American men's soccer players
Seattle Storm (soccer) players
Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players
North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players
North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players
Soccer players from Tacoma, Washington
San Jose Earthquakes (1974–1988) players
Seattle Sounders (1974–1983) players
Tacoma Stars players
Vancouver Whitecaps (1974–1984) players
Western Soccer Alliance players
Men's association football defenders
Footballers at the 1979 Pan American Games
Pan American Games competitors for the United States
Stadium High School alumni