Gerardo "Jerry" Laterza (born July 1, 1974) is an American former

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. He is the technical director of Newport Mesa Soccer Club. He was the first

Paraguayan American Paraguayan Americans ( es, paraguayo-americano, or ) are Americans of Paraguayan descent. The Paraguayan population in the United States at the 2010 Census was 24,933. Paraguayans are the smallest Latino group in the United States. The Parag ...

to play football in Paraguay.

Career

Laterza graduated from

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 ...

where he was the 1990 and 1992 California Interscholastic Federation 1-A Player of the Year. Laterza attended Southern Methodist University, playing on the men's soccer team in 1992. On April 3, 1993, Laterza signed 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

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 ...

. In 1997, Laterza began the season with the Orange County Zodiac. In July 1997, the Los Angeles Galaxy of

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 ...

signed Laterza. He played four games for the Galaxy in 1997, plus one game on loan to the Carolina Dynamo. The Galaxy released him on April 1, 1998, during a pre-season roster reduction. On April 10, 1998, Laterza signed with the Seattle Sounders of the USL A-League. He played two games, then was released on April 22. He then played for several clubs, including

South China AA South China Athletic Association (known simply as South China, SCAA, ) is a Hong Kong professional football club that competes in the Hong Kong First Division, the second-tier league in Hong Kong football league system. The club is historic ...

, and various teams in Hong Kong,

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

and Paraguay. While in Hong Kong, he was selected to play for Hong Kong League XI, featuring in one of the matches against Paraguay.

References

External links

*
Legends FC: Jerry Laterzo

Newport Mesa Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Laterza, Jerry 1974 births Living people American soccer players American expatriate soccer players American expatriate sportspeople in Hong Kong American expatriate sportspeople in China American expatriate sportspeople in Paraguay American Professional Soccer League players North Carolina Fusion U23 players Hong Kong First Division League players Kitchee SC players LA Galaxy players Los Angeles Salsa players Major League Soccer players Orange County Blue Star players Seattle Sounders (1994–2008) players SMU Mustangs men's soccer players South China AA players Expatriate footballers in Hong Kong Expatriate footballers in China Expatriate footballers in Mexico Expatriate footballers in Paraguay American people of Paraguayan descent American sportspeople of Paraguayan descent Sportspeople of Paraguayan descent C.D. Veracruz footballers Cerro Porteño players A-League (1995–2004) players Soccer players from Los Angeles Men's association football midfielders Hong Kong League XI representative players