Steve Shak (born February 8, 1978 in

Cerritos, California Cerritos (Spanish for "Little hills") is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, and is one of several cities that constitute the Gateway Cities of southeast Los Angeles County. It was incorporated on April 24, 1956. As of 20 ...

) is a retired

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

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 ...

player. He currently works for

Northwestern Mutual Northwestern Mutual is an American financial services mutual organization based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The financial security company provides consultation on wealth and asset income protection, education planning, retirement planning, investme ...

. Previously Shak was an assistant coach with the

Charlotte Eagles The Charlotte Eagles are an American professional soccer team based in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1991, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. The team plays its home games at ...

of the

USL Second Division The USL Second Division (commonly referred to as USL-2) was a professional men's soccer league in the United States, operated by United Soccer Leagues (USL). It was at the third tier of soccer in the United States, behind Major League Soccer ( ...

. He also joined the

North Carolina State North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The universit ...

coaching staff as a volunteer assistant coach in 2013. A former

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

college standout and

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 ...

number one draft pick, Shak spent four years in the American top league with the MetroStars and with

Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Founded in 1995, as part of the Anschutz Corporation, la ...

, but with the exception of a brief stint in Sweden, spent the majority of his career in the USL, including extended periods with the

Virginia Beach Mariners The Virginia Beach Mariners were an American football (soccer), soccer club, who formerly played in the USL First Division of the United Soccer Leagues, the second division in the US Soccer hierarchy behind Major League Soccer. On March 30, 2007 t ...

and the Eagles.

Career

College

Shak played

college soccer College soccer is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. It is very prominent in United States, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and as well as in South Africa and the Philippines. The United Kingd ...

, where he started out as a walk-on and became a starter, helping the Bruins to the College Cup in 1997. He also played for the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

at under-23 level.

Professional

With the MetroStars coming off the worst season in MLS history in 1999, they were given the first pick in the

2000 MLS SuperDraft The 2000 Major League Soccer SuperDraft was held on February 6, 2000 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and consisted of six rounds. One of the most successful draft picks was goalkeeper Nick Rimando, a third round pick, who went on to hold the record ...

. Despite Shak being projected to go in the third or fourth round, and such highly rated prospects as

Nick Garcia Nick Garcia (born April 9, 1979 in Plano, Texas) is an American former soccer player. Career Youth and College As a junior and senior at Bishop Lynch High School in Dallas, Texas, Garcia helped his high school win their first 2 TAPPS state boy ...

Carlos Bocanegra Carlos Manuel Bocanegra (born May 25, 1979) is an American sports executive and former professional soccer player. A two-time MLS Defender of the Year, Bocanegra also played professionally in England, Scotland, France, and Spain. He earned over 1 ...

, and

Danny Califf Daniel Benjamin Califf (born March 17, 1980 in Orange, California) is an American retired soccer player. Career Youth and College Califf (pronounced kāl'ĭ-f) started his youth career in soccer for Canyon Hills Soccer Association, playing on t ...

on the board, the Metrostars drafted Shak as the first overall pick. Shak spent nearly 2 seasons with the MetroStars, playing on defense as well as midfield, scoring a goal and an assist. He was traded to the

for

Ross Paule Ross Paule (born April 4, 1976) is an American former soccer midfielder, who last played for the Columbus Crew of Major League Soccer. Paule moved from Dallas, TX as a youth and joined the Memphis Futbol Club in Memphis, Tennessee. Paule also ...

at the end of the 2001 season. After playing one minute for the Rapids in 2002 and going on loan to the

Hampton Roads Mariners Hampton may refer to: Places Australia *Hampton bioregion, an IBRA biogeographic region in Western Australia * Hampton, New South Wales * Hampton, Queensland, a town in the Toowoomba Region *Hampton, Victoria Canada *Hampton, New Brunswick * H ...

for two games, Shak was released by the Rapids prior to the 2003 season. Shak then signed with the

Minnesota Thunder Minnesota Thunder was an American professional soccer team based in Minnesota, United States. Founded in 1990, the team played in the USL First Division (USL-1), the second tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, until 2009. The team played its hom ...

of the

USL A-League The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, pl ...

. In 2004, Shak played for

Bodens BK Bodens BK is a Swedish football club located in Boden in Norrbotten. The club was formed on 2 November 1916 and began playing soccer in 1918. It is currently playing in the fourth tier of Swedish football, Division 2. Linguistics Note tha ...

in the Swedish Supperettan (2nd Division). Later in 2004 he returned to the United States and signed with the

where he captained the team for the 2005 and 2006 seasons. When the Mariners folded in early 2007, Shak switched to the

. He made his debut for them on April 20, 2007, scoring one goal in a 4-1 victory over

Crystal Palace Baltimore Crystal Palace Baltimore was an American professional soccer team based in Baltimore, Maryland, US. Founded in 2006, the club was originally named Crystal Palace USA and was affiliated with English side Crystal Palace F.C., Crystal Palace. The cl ...

, and subsequently played 51 times for the team before retiring after the end of the 2009 season.

International

In 1999 Shak was a member of the US Olympic Team that won a Bronze medal in the Pan-American Games in Winnipeg, Canada. He started 5 of 6 games for the USA but was later cut from the Olympic Team roster before the 2000 Sydney Olympics. In 2005, Shak was a

replacement player In professional sports, a replacement player is an athlete who is not a member of the league's players association and plays during a labor dispute such as a strike or lockout, serving as a strikebreaker. Instances of replacement players Nation ...

during the U.S. national team labor dispute.

References

External links

Charlotte Eagles bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shak, Steve 1978 births Living people American soccer players American expatriate soccer players American sportspeople of Chinese descent People from Cerritos, California Soccer players from California Bodens BK players Charlotte Eagles players Colorado Rapids players Major League Soccer first-overall draft picks Major League Soccer players Minnesota Thunder players New York Red Bulls players UCLA Bruins men's soccer players USL First Division players USL Second Division players Virginia Beach Mariners players A-League (1995–2004) players New York Red Bulls draft picks Association football midfielders