Randy Garber 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 ...

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 played four seasons in the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...

and two seasons in the Major Indoor Soccer League. He earned one

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with the U.S. national team and currently coaches youth soccer in Abington, Pennsylvania.

Player

High school and college

Garber attended

Abington Senior High School Abington Senior High School is a three-year co-educational high school in Abington, Pennsylvania, United States. The school was a two-year high school known as Abington South Campus from September 1964 until June 1983. In September 1983, Abingt ...

, graduating in 1971. He was inducted into the Abington Hall of Fame in 1998. After graduating High School, he attended

Mercer County Community College Mercer County Community College (MCCC) is a public, community college in Mercer County, New Jersey. More than 7,000 students enroll in one or more credit courses each year. Established in 1966, MCCC has an open-door admission policy. The West ...

where he was an All-American both years. He then attended

Penn State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a public state-related land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania. Founded in 1855 as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania, Penn State became ...

where he played on the men’s soccer team in 1973 and 1974. He was recruited by coach Herb Schmidt to play soccer at PSU. He was named a 1974 honorable mention (third team)

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

Professional

In 1975, Garber was selected in the second round of the

by the

Tampa Bay Rowdies The Tampa Bay Rowdies are an American professional Association football, 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 Champions ...

and later signed with them. During one of his games, he played head to head against Pelé and actually traded jerseys with him. He was traded in the middle of the 1976 season to the

Los Angeles Aztecs The Los Angeles Aztecs was an American professional soccer team based in Los Angeles, California that existed from 1974 to 1981. The Aztecs competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1974 to 1981 as well as the 1975 NASL Indoor tour ...

. At the end of the season, the Aztecs sold Garber’s contract to 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 home matches at the neighboring D.C. Arm ...

. During the 1978-1979 off season, the Dips played a series of exhibition indoor games in which Garber was the team’s second leading scorer. The Dips released him in January 1979. When released by the Dips, Garber joined the Cleveland Force of Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL). Halfway through the season he injured his knee and was in rehab the rest of the season. He was later traded to the

Detroit Lightning The Detroit Lightning was a Major Indoor Soccer League franchise which existed for only one season, 1979–1980. The Lightning finished that season at 15–17. The team's home arena was Cobo Arena. On May 28, 1980, at the end of the 1979–1980 ...

. The following season he played for the Philadelphia Fever, then retired.

National team

Garber earned his single

with the U.S. national team in a 4-0 loss to

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

on June 24, 1975. He came off for Tim Logush in the 40th minute.

Coach

Garber has coached extensively at the youth level, but he gained his start at his alma mater when he was an assistant to Penn State head coach

Walter Bahr Walter may refer to: People * Walter (name), both a surname and a given name * Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–1968) * Gunther (wrestler), Austrian professional wrestler and trainer Walter Hahn (born 19 ...

. Since retiring from playing, he has spent most of his career coaching youth in

Roslyn, Pennsylvania Roslyn is an unincorporated community in Abington Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. Originally called Hillside, the name Roslyn came from rose gardens that once grew there. The first known person of European descent to s ...

where he was the 1996 NSCAA youth soccer coach of the year. and the 1997 Eastern Pennsylvania Youth Soccer Association Coach of the Year.EPYSA Coach of the Year
He also coaches the

boys soccer team, where he has been coaching for the past fifteen years. Recently after this past fall 2007 soccer season he was awarded the High School Coach of the Year by the Southeast Pennsylvania Soccer Coaches Association. Also, in the 2007 season his team reached the state playoffs.

References

External links

NASL/MISL stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Garber, Randy Living people 1952 births American soccer coaches American men's soccer players Cleveland Force (original MISL) players Detroit Lightning players Los Angeles Aztecs players Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Penn State Nittany Lions men's soccer coaches Penn State Nittany Lions men's soccer players Philadelphia Fever (MISL) players Soccer players from Pennsylvania Tampa Bay Rowdies draft picks Tampa Bay Rowdies (1975–1993) players United States men's international soccer players Washington Diplomats (NASL) players Men's association football midfielders