Joey Kirk (born August 21, 1965 in

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

) is a former 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 spent most of his career playing indoor soccer. He earned seven

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 ...

with the U.S. national team in 1987 and 1988.

College

Kirk attended Cal-State Northridge where he starred on the men's soccer team from 1983 to 1987. In 1987, he received Division II first team All American recognition and finished his career with 59 goals, a school record.
/sup>

Professional career

In 1987, Kirk joined the

California Kickers California Kickers were a soccer club based in Hollywood, California. They joined the Western Soccer Alliance in 1986. They initially played as Hollywood Kickers before changing their name for the following season. In 1990 the team name was changed ...

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 ...

(WSA) during the collegiate off season. The Kickers finished the season in last place with a 4-6 record. In 1988, the

Wichita Wings The Wichita Wings were a professional indoor soccer franchise based in Wichita, Kansas. The Wings were admitted to the Major Indoor Soccer League as an expansion team on August 21, 1979.

of Major Indoor Soccer League drafted Kirk and he spent the next two seasons (1988–1990) with the team. In 1989, he spent the summer with 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 Hi ...

of the WSA, now known as the Western Soccer League.
/sup> In 1990, he joined the

Ottawa Intrepid Ottawa Intrepid was a professional soccer team based in Ottawa, Ontario that competed in the original Canadian Soccer League. They were founded as the National Capital Pioneers (also spelled National Capitals Pioneers) and played in Aylmer, Que ...

of the

Canadian Soccer League The Canadian Soccer League (CSL; french: Ligue canadienne de soccer — LCS) is a semi-professional league for Canadian soccer clubs primarily located in the province of Ontario, and claims the history of the Canadian National Soccer League (C ...

. In 1990, Kirk moved from the Wings to the

Milwaukee Wave The Milwaukee Wave is an American professional indoor soccer team based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Founded in 1984, they have been the oldest continuously operating professional soccer team in the United States and are seven-time league champions, m ...

of the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL). In the 1991–1992 season, he scored fifty goals in forty games for the Wave. Kirk began the 1993–1994 season with Milwaukee before being traded to the

Detroit Rockers The Detroit Rockers were an indoor soccer team in the National Professional Soccer League from 1990 to 2001. They played in Joe Louis Arena and Cobo Arena in downtown Detroit, Michigan as well as The Palace of Auburn Hills and Compuware Sports A ...

for

Eloy Salgado Eloy Salgado is a retired American soccer forward who played professionally in the Major Indoor Soccer League, National Professional Soccer League and USISL. Professional In 1988, Salgado graduated from Lewisville High School where he was a 1 ...

in February 1993. He remained in Detroit through the 1994–1995 season. While Kirk had concentrated on indoor soccer for several years, in 1994, he joined the expansion

Milwaukee Rampage The Milwaukee Rampage are a former defunct professional American soccer team, that was located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which played in the A-League. History Founded in 1993 by Milwaukee area businessmen Dan Doucette and Jim Hock, the Rampage p ...

USISL United Soccer League (USL), formerly known as United Soccer Leagues, is a soccer league in the United States and Canada. It organizes several men's and women's leagues, both professional and amateur. Men's leagues currently organized are the ...

for the 1994 and 1995 outdoor seasons. In 1994, he scored twenty-four goals in eighteen games with the Rampage. In 1995, Kirk moved to the

Chicago Power The Chicago Power were an indoor soccer club based in Chicago, Illinois that competed in the American Indoor Soccer Association and National Professional Soccer League. After the 1995–96 season, the team was sold to Peter Pocklington, moved ...

of the NPSL. He was with them through at least February 1996. However, some time before the playoffs, the Power traded Kirk to the St. Louis Ambush. In February 1996, Kirk was drafted by the

Los Angeles Galaxy LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began play ...

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 ...

(MLS) in the sixth round (54th overall) of the Inaugural MLS Draft. However, he did not join the Galaxy until May because he was with the Ambush in the NPSL playoffs.
/sup> Kirk was then injured in the playoffs and reported to the Galaxy unable to play. The Galaxy waived Kirk on May 6, 1996 without him seeing time in a game.
/sup> In August, Kirk signed with the

Sacramento Knights Sacramento Knights were an indoor soccer team that played from 1993 to 2001 in ARCO Arena and were owned by the NBA's Sacramento Kings. The team played in the Continental Indoor Soccer League from 1993 to 1997. The team then moved to the Wo ...

of the

Continental Indoor Soccer League The Continental Indoor Soccer League (CISL) was a professional indoor soccer league that played from 1993 to 1997. History In the summer of 1989 Dr Jerry Buss, the owner of the Los Angeles Lakers and California Sports, told his executive Vice Pre ...

(CISL). In 1997, he moved to the

Detroit Safari The Detroit Safari (founded as the Detroit Neon) was a member of the Continental Indoor Soccer League that played at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Their owners, the Palace Sports Group were awarded a franchise on November 4, 1993. Their star player ...

of CISL, but the team and the league folded at the end of the season. That fall, Kirk moved to the

Philadelphia KiXX The Philadelphia KiXX was a professional indoor soccer team based in Philadelphia, USA. The team competed as an NPSL expansion franchise and then played in the Major Indoor Soccer League. History The team's original owner was Ed Tepper, also pr ...

of the NPSL. In the 1999 off season, the Wings purchased Kirk's contract from the KiXX.
/sup>

National team

Kirk earned his first cap (sports), cap with the U.S. national team in a June 12, 1987 loss to

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

Pusan Busan (), officially known as is South Korea's most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.4 million inhabitants. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economic, cultural and educational center of southeastern South Korea, w ...

. At the time Kirk had just finished college. His next game came in another loss, this time to

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

on January 10, 1988. Kirk's last game with the national team came in a scoreless tie with

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

on June 12, 1988. In 1997, Kirk traveled with the U.S. Futsal team to the 1997 FIFUSA World Futsal Championship where the U.S. finished 20 out of 20 teams.

Coaching

Since retiring from playing, Kirk has coached youth soccer with several clubs in California.

Recognition

Kirk was inducted into the

Cal State Northridge Matadors The Cal State Northridge Matadors (branded as the CSUN Matadors) are the athletic teams that represent California State University, Northridge in Northridge, Los Angeles, California. The Matadors field 17 teams in nineteen sports. The Matadors c ...

Hall of Fame in July 2016.

References

External links

MISL stats

All Time Milwaukee Wave records
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirk, Joey 1966 births Living people American soccer coaches American men's soccer players Cal State Northridge Matadors men's soccer players California Kickers players Chicago Power players Continental Indoor Soccer League players Detroit Rockers players Detroit Safari players Los Angeles Heat players Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players Milwaukee Wave players National Professional Soccer League (1984–2001) players Philadelphia KiXX (NPSL) players Sacramento Knights players St. Louis Ambush (1992–2000) players United States men's international soccer players Western Soccer Alliance players Wichita Wings (MISL) players Wichita Wings (NPSL) players People from Granada Hills, Los Angeles Men's association football forwards Ottawa Intrepid players