Paul Lekics is a retired American

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 ...

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

who spent eight seasons with the

Richmond Kickers Richmond Kickers is an American professional soccer club based in Richmond, Virginia. The Kickers compete as a member of USL League One (USL-1). The club was established in 1993, and began play that same year as a United States Interregional S ...

Youth

Lekics graduated from

Crystal Lake South High School Crystal Lake South High School, often referred to as "South" or "CLS," is one of three high schools in Crystal Lake, Illinois, and currently has a body of roughly 1916 students. As Crystal Lake's second oldest school, it was constructed from 1976 ...

where he was a 1991 Third Team High School All American soccer player. He attended the Creighton University, playing on the men's soccer team from 1992 to 1996. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in marketing.

Professional

In December 1995, the

Atlanta Ruckus Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 li ...

selected Lekics in the A-League draft, but he chose to remain in school for one more season. In 1997, Lekics turned professional with the

of the

USISL A-League 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 ...

. On February 1, 1998, the Chicago Fire selected Lekics in the third round (twenty-fifth overall) of the

1998 MLS College Draft The 1998 Major League Soccer College Draft was held in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on January 31 and February 1, 1998. The College Draft was followed by the 1998 MLS Supplemental Draft. Format On Saturday, January 31, 1998, Major League Soccer held ...

. On March 2, 1998, the Fire waived Lekics in a pre-season roster reduction.MLS: Nineteen Waived in March 1 Roster Cuts
/ref> He returned to the Kickers and played for them until his retirement in 2004. In 2009, Lekics became an assistant coach with the California State University, Stanislaus men's soccer team.

References

External links

Cal State Stanislaus: Paul Lekics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lekics, Paul 1974 births Living people American soccer coaches American soccer players Creighton Bluejays men's soccer players Richmond Kickers players A-League (1995–2004) players People from Crystal Lake, Illinois Soccer players from Illinois Chicago Fire FC draft picks Association football midfielders Sportspeople from the Chicago metropolitan area College men's soccer coaches in the United States