Phillinoisip "Phillip" Gyau (born February 7, 1966) is a former U.S. soccer forward who is the current head coach of the

Howard Bison men's soccer The Howard Bison men's soccer team is a varsity intercollegiate athletic team of Howard University in Washington, D.C., United States. The team is an associate member of the Northeast Conference, which is part of the National Collegiate Athletic ...

program. He spent his outdoor career in the American Soccer League and the American Professional Soccer League, his indoor career with the

Washington Warthogs The Washington Warthogs were a professional indoor soccer team in the Continental Indoor Soccer League (CISL) from 1994 to 1997. They played their home games in the USAir Arena in Landover, Maryland, an arena they shared with the Washington Bul ...

and

Baltimore Blast The Baltimore Blast is an American professional indoor soccer team based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. The team is a part of the Major Arena Soccer League. The team has won 10 championships since it was founded in 1980. Beginning with ...

, and spent nine years with the U.S. National Beach Soccer team. He earned six

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 Ja ...

with the U.S. national team. In 2014, he became the head coach for Howard University's soccer team. Gyau is also the father of U.S. international Joe Gyau.

Youth and college

The son of Joseph "Nana" Gyau, a member of the Ghana national football team, Gyau was born in

Silver Spring, Maryland Silver Spring is a census-designated place (CDP) in southeastern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, near Washington, D.C. Although officially unincorporated, in practice it is an edge city, with a population of 81,015 at the 2020 ce ...

and grew up in Maryland after his father signed with the

Washington Darts The Washington Darts were an American soccer club based in Washington, D.C. that played in the American Soccer League from 1967 to 1969 and the North American Soccer League in the 1970 and 1971 seasons, though in 1967 they were known as Washin ...

of the North American Soccer League (NASL). Gyau attended Gwynn Park High School in Brandywine, Maryland from 1978 to 1982. After graduating from high school, he attended

Howard University Howard University (Howard) is a Private university, private, University charter#Federal, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, classifie ...

where he played on the men's soccer team from 1982 to 1985. In 1985, he played for

Club España Club España was an American soccer team which won the National Challenge Cup in 1987. The team also won the 1985 National Amateur Cup The National Amateur Cup, also known as the USASA Amateur Cup, is an American soccer competition open to all a ...

of Washington, D.C. when it won the

National Amateur Cup The National Amateur Cup, also known as the USASA Amateur Cup, is an American soccer competition open to all amateur teams affiliated with the United States Soccer Federation through United States Adult Soccer Association (USASA). In 1923, U.S. ...

ASL

In 1988, Gyau signed with the

Washington Diplomats The Washington Diplomats were an American soccer club representing Washington, D.C. Throughout their playing existence, the club played their home games at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium and indoor soccer, indoor home matches at the neigh ...

of the American Soccer League (ASL). He moved to the

Maryland Bays The Maryland Bays were an inaugural franchise of the third incarnation of the American Soccer League in 1988.They were based in Catonsville, Maryland, and played their games at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County. The team joined the Ameri ...

in 1989 and played three seasons with them.
/sup>

APSL

In the spring of 1990, the ASL merged with the

Western Soccer League 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 All ...

to create the American Professional Soccer League (APSL). In 1990, Gyau was a first team All Star and the APSL MVP while scoring twelve goals with the Bays. The Bays folded at the end of the 1991 season and Gyau moved to the

Tampa Bay Rowdies The Tampa Bay Rowdies are an American professional 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 Championship in the second tie ...

. While he scored seven goals in sixteen games with the Rowdies in 1992, he moved to 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 ...

for the 1993 season. However, he moved from Colorado to the Los Angeles Salsa after eight games. That year, the Foxes and the Salsa met in the APSL title game. Gyau scored the first goal of the game, but the Foxes tied it late and won in overtime. In 1994, Gyau was with the Montreal Impact.

CISL

In 1995, Gyau moved back to Washington, D.C., to sign with the

of the MISL. He played only one game, then moved to the

of the Continental Indoor Soccer League (CISL). He spent at least two seasons with the Warthogs.

National team

Gyau earned his first

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

with the U.S. national team in a June 4, 1989 win over

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

.''

Ocala Star-Banner Ocala ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Marion County within the northern region of Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city's population was 63,591, making it the 54th most populated city in Florida. Home to ...

''
"U.S. faces Guatemala in World Cup qualifier"
June 17, 1989, p. 3D. Retrieved on June 5, 2015. He played a handful of games through the rest of 1989, then two games in 1990. His last game with the national team came in an October 19, 1991 loss to

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

Beach soccer

Gyau began playing beach soccer beginning in 1997 including nine years as the captain of the U.S. National Beach Soccer Team.

Coaching

In 1998, Gyau became the head coach of the National Beach Soccer Team, a position he held until 2002. In 2003, he became the head coach of The Bullis School's girls' soccer team. In his three years as coach, he took the team to a 26–28–2 record.
/sup> He has also coached various youth teams, including the Bethesda Fury, with which he won three state and one regional championship; the Bethesda Eclipse, winner of four state and one regional championship. He is on staff with the

D.C. United D.C. United is a professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. that competes in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer, the top tier of American soccer. Domestically, the club has won four MLS Cups (league championships), four Supp ...

as its U-13 Boys' head coach.
/sup> He is also the founder and director of Next Level Development, a soccer development program. He is the St. Johns College High School varsity coach in Washington, D.C. He also coached other teams, one of them being the Olney Pumas U-16 team in the NCSL league. Since that time he has been coaching MSC Revolution, a rising U-17 boys' soccer team which he was one both NCSL Division 1 with, as well as the Bethesda Tournament, helping to rank the team 3rd in the state of Maryland.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gyau, Phillip 1966 births Living people African-American soccer players American expatriate sportspeople in Canada American Professional Soccer League players American soccer coaches American Soccer League (1988–89) players American soccer players American expatriate soccer players Baltimore Blast (NPSL) players Colorado Foxes players Continental Indoor Soccer League players Expatriate soccer players in Canada Association football forwards American sportspeople of Ghanaian descent Howard Bison men's soccer players Howard Bison men's soccer coaches Los Angeles Salsa players Maryland Bays players Montreal Impact (1992–2011) players People from Silver Spring, Maryland Soccer players from Maryland Tampa Bay Rowdies (1975–1993) players United States men's international soccer players Washington Diplomats (1988–1990) players Washington Warthogs players People from Brandywine, Maryland American beach soccer players Sportspeople from Montgomery County, Maryland High school soccer coaches in the United States 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople