Patrick Stewart Onstad (born January 13, 1968) is a Canadian former professional

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 ...

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

who serves as the General Manager of the Houston Dynamo. During his career, Onstad played with a variety of clubs in Canada and the United States and was a three-time winner of

MLS Cup The MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Cup Playoffs. The game is held in November and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Conference ...

. He was inducted into the

Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame The Canada Soccer Hall of Fame honours people and institutions for their contributions to Canadian soccer. It was founded in 1997 by the Ontario Soccer Association and was originally located in Vaughan, Ontario. As of 2019, the Canada Soccer Ha ...

in November 2015.

Youth and college

Onstad began playing organized soccer with the West Point Grey, Marpole United, and Coquitlam Metro-Ford youth soccer clubs. He then went on to tend goal at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

, who he led to three CIAU National Championships. He was also a two-time Academic All-Canadian, and holds degrees in

Human Kinetics Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, an ...

and

Education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...

Club career

After graduating, Onstad joined the

Vancouver 86ers Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. The ...

of the Canadian Soccer League in 1987. From 1988 to 1989, he played for the

Winnipeg Fury The Winnipeg Fury were a professional soccer team in Winnipeg, Canada. The team was part of the Canadian Soccer League from 1987 to 1992. They were one of four teams to participate in every season of the CSL. In 1993, they played in the Canadia ...

, also of the CSL. He moved to a third CSL team, the

Toronto Blizzard Toronto Blizzard may refer to: *Toronto Blizzard (1971–1984), the original soccer club, a franchise of the North American Soccer League *Toronto Blizzard (1986–1993), the later club and franchise of the Canadian Soccer League *Toronto Azzurri B ...

, for 1990 and 1991. Onstad returned to the Fury in 1992, winning both the CSL Championship and the CSL Goalkeeper of the Year Award. Onstad moved to the APSL in 1994, playing for the

Toronto Rockets The Toronto Rocket (TR) train is the fifth and latest series of rolling stock used in the Toronto subway system in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Owned and operated by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC), the trains were built by Bombardier Transpo ...

. After a season with the Rockets, he moved to the Montreal Impact for 1995. In 1996, he played indoor soccer for the Edmonton Drillers of the NPSL. He returned to outdoor soccer in 1997, playing for the

Toronto Lynx Toronto Lynx was a Canadian soccer team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1997, the team last played in the 2014 season of the Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the Great Lakes D ...

, again of the A-League.

United States and Scotland

In 1998, Onstad moved to his first American team, the

Rochester Raging Rhinos Rochester New York FC, formerly known as the Rochester Rhinos, are an American professional soccer team based in Rochester, New York, United States. Founded in 1996, as the Rochester Raging Rhinos, they changed their name to Rochester Rhinos to ...

, with whom he won the A-League title, and was also named the league's Goalkeeper of the Year, after allowing only 13 goals in 26 regular season games. Onstad remained with Rochester for 1999, was named All-League second team, and helped the Rhinos become the only minor league team to win the U.S. Open Cup since the foundation of Major League Soccer. In 1999, Onstad was signed by

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1 ...

of Scotland for the 1999–2000 and 2000–2001 seasons, but as third-string goal keeper behind Alan Combe and

Paul Gallacher Paul James Gallacher (born 16 August 1979) is a Scottish former professional footballer who currently is the goalkeeping coach for Heart of Midlothian. Gallacher made eight appearances for the Scottish national team between 2002 and 2004. He ...

, he did not see any playing time with the first team. He returned to Rochester in 2001, and although a wrist injury kept him out of action for most of the year, he finished second in the league in goals against the following year.

Major League Soccer

On March 13, 2003, Onstad was signed as a discovery player by the San Jose Earthquakes as a replacement for Joe Cannon. Onstad filled in quite well, helping lead the Earthquakes to their second

in three years, and winning the

MLS Goalkeeper of the Year Award MLS Goalkeeper of the Year Award, known as the Allstate MLS Goalkepeer of the Year Award for sponsorship purposes, is an annual Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United St ...

. He had another excellent year in 2005, supporting the Earthquakes as they went undefeated at home (the first time any team did that in MLS history) and winning the

MLS Supporters' Shield The Supporters' Shield is an annual award given to the Major League Soccer team with the best regular season record, as determined by the MLS points system. The Supporters' Shield has been annually awarded at the MLS Supporters' Summit since ...

, and winning the MLS Goalkeeper of the Year Award for a second time. He was named to the

MLS Best XI The MLS Best XI is an annual acknowledgment of the best eleven players in Major League Soccer. Winners *Players in bold were awarded the Landon Donovan MVP Award for that season. Most appearances by a player The following players have appeared ...

in both 2003 and 2005. Along with the rest of his Earthquakes teammates, he moved to Houston for the 2006 season. Onstad played every minute of the regular season for the Dynamo. After the 2010 MLS season Houston declined Onstad's contract option. He elected to participate in the

2010 MLS Re-Entry Draft The two-stage 2010 MLS Re-Entry Draft took place on December 8, 2010 and December 15, 2010. The Stage 1 Draft of the Re-Entry Process took place on Wednesday, December 8, at 2 p.m. ET via teleconference. The Stage 2 Draft took place on Wednesday, D ...

, but was not selected in the Re-Entry draft. Shortly thereafter, Onstad announced his retirement on December 21, 2010.

International career

Onstad played for Canada at the

1987 FIFA World Youth Championship The 1987 FIFA World Youth Championship took place in Chile from 10 to 25 October 1987. The 1987 championship was the 6th contested and won for the first time by Yugoslavia. Remarkably, in the course of the tournament the Yugoslavs defeated each of ...

and the

1987 Pan American Games The 1987 Pan American Games, officially known as the X Pan American Games, was a major international multi-sport event held in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, on August 7–23, 1987. Over 4,300 athletes from 38 countries in the Americas c ...

. Onstad made his senior debut for the Canadian national team on February 18, 1988, against

Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = " Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , e ...

, and played a total of 60 games over a 22-year period for the squad. He represented Canada in 15

FIFA World Cup qualification The FIFA World Cup qualification is a competitive match that a national association football team takes in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the (men's) FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments are hel ...

matches in three unsuccessful

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

qualifying campaigns. His final official international game was an August 2008 World Cup qualification match against

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

. He played a friendly against

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

on May 24, 2010.

Coaching career

Onstad joined

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 an assistant coach alongside

Chad Ashton Chad Ashton (born October 26, 1967 in Denver, Colorado) is an American former soccer midfielder who spent one season in Major League Soccer, four in the American Professional Soccer League, six in the National Professional Soccer League and one ...

. It was announced on February 17, 2011, that Onstad would come out of retirement to play for D.C. due to the injuries to

Steve Cronin Steve Michael Cronin (born May 28, 1983 in Sacramento, California) is a retired American soccer player who most recently played for D.C. United of Major League Soccer. Career College and Amateur Cronin played college soccer at Santa Clara Univer ...

and

Bill Hamid Abdul Bilal "Bill" Hamid ( ; born November 25, 1990) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for D.C. United in Major League Soccer. Born in Annandale, Virginia, Hamid was the first D.C. United Academy player to s ...

. His contract with

expired on May 31, 2011, and Onstad returned solely to his duties as an assistant coach. Onstad left D.C. in January 2013. He joined

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club (commonly known as Toronto FC or TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BMO ...

as Chief Scout and Manager of Football Partnerships. Shortly after the firings of general manager Kevin Payne, and director of team and player operations Earl Cochrane, Onstad left the organization. On January 10, 2014, he joined

Columbus Crew SC The Columbus Crew, formerly known as Columbus Crew SC, is an Soccer in the United States, American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The Crew competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference ( ...

as an assistant coach, with head coach

Gregg Berhalter Gregg Matthew Berhalter (, ; born August 1, 1973) is an American soccer coach and former player. He is also the current head coach of the United States men's national soccer team. Berhalter previously coached Columbus Crew SC in Major League Soc ...

stating that "Pat is very professional in how he approaches the game, and he brings versatility to his new role. He has great league experience and a winning pedigree, and those are attributes that attracted us to bringing him onboard." When Gregg Berhalter left Columbus to coach the

United States men's national soccer team The United States men's national soccer team (USMNT) represents the United States in men's international soccer competitions. The team is controlled by the United States Soccer Federation and is a member of FIFA and CONCACAF. The U.S. team ha ...

, Onstad was promoted to technical director by Crew president and general manager Tim Bezbachenko. On November 1, 2021, Onstad was hired as general manager of the Houston Dynamo.

Honours

Rochester Rhinos *

A-League A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...

Championship: 1998, 2001 * A-League Commissioner's Cup: 1998, 1999 *

Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in men's Soccer in the United States, soccer in the United States of America. It is the oldest ongoing nati ...

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

* Eastern Conference Championship: 1998, 1999 * Northeast Division Champs: 1998, 1999, 2002 San Jose Earthquakes *

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 Cup:

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

* Major League Soccer Supporters Shield:

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

* Major League Soccer Western Conference Championship:

* Major League Soccer Western Conference Championship: (Regular Season)

Houston Dynamo *

MLS Cup:

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

* Major League Soccer Western Conference Championship:

Canada *

CONCACAF Gold Cup The CONCACAF Gold Cup ( es, Copa de Oro de la CONCACAF, french: Coupe D'or CONCACAF) is the main association football competition of the men's national football teams governed by CONCACAF, determining the continental champion of North Ameri ...

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

Canada U20 *

CONCACAF U-20 Championship The CONCACAF Under-20 Championship is the second longest running international association football event in the North America, Central America and the Caribbean region, CONCACAF, and is the qualification tournament for the FIFA U-20 World Cup. ...

: 1986 Individual *

MLS Goalkeeper of the Year MLS Goalkeeper of the Year Award, known as the Allstate MLS Goalkepeer of the Year Award for sponsorship purposes, is an annual Major League Soccer award established in 1996. It is voted on by media, MLS players and club management based on regula ...

: 2003, 2005 *

Canadian Player of the Year The Canada Soccer Player of the Year award celebrates Canada's top male and female soccer players in recognition of their achievements with both the national teams and their respective clubs. Since 2007, voting has been conducted by Canadian coac ...

: 2003 *

Goalkeeper of the Year: 1998 * A-League: First Team: 1998, Second Team 1999 * Rochester Rhinos Hall of Fame: 2012 *

: 2015

References

External links

* /

Canada Soccer Hall of Fame The Canada Soccer Hall of Fame honours people and institutions for their contributions to Canadian soccer. It was founded in 1997 by the Ontario Soccer Association and was originally located in Vaughan, Ontario. As of 2019, the Canada Soccer Hal ...

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Onstad, Pat 1968 births Living people 1993 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup players American Professional Soccer League players Canadian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Canadian expatriate soccer players Canada men's international soccer players Canadian soccer players Canada Soccer Hall of Fame inductees Canadian Soccer League (1987–1992) players CONCACAF Gold Cup-winning players Canadian people of Norwegian descent D.C. United players Dundee United F.C. players Edmonton Drillers (1996–2000) players Expatriate footballers in Scotland Expatriate soccer players in the United States Association football goalkeepers Houston Dynamo FC players Major League Soccer players Major League Soccer All-Stars Vancouver Whitecaps (1986–2010) players Montreal Impact (1992–2011) players National Professional Soccer League (1984–2001) players Soccer players from Vancouver Association football player-managers Rochester New York FC players San Jose Earthquakes players Toronto Blizzard (1986–1993) players Toronto Lynx players Toronto Rockets players UBC Thunderbirds soccer players A-League (1995–2004) players Winnipeg Fury players D.C. United non-playing staff Columbus Crew non-playing staff Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Footballers at the 1987 Pan American Games Pan American Games competitors for Canada