Ted Gillen (born August 16, 1968, in Kearny, New Jersey) 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 ...

defender who currently coaches men's high school soccer. Gillen played one season in

Major Soccer League Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

, two in the

American Professional Soccer League The American Professional Soccer League (APSL) was a professional men's soccer league with teams from the United States and later Canada. It was formed in 1990 by the merger of the third American Soccer League with the Western Soccer League. It ...

, one in USISL and one in

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 ...

. He earned three caps with the U.S. national team in 1988. He has also served as an assistant soccer coach at several universities.

Youth and college

Gillen was born in Kearny, New Jersey and grew up in Toms River, New Jersey. Gillen began playing soccer when he was four years old. At the time, his older brother was playing and after watching him play, Gillen insisted on also playing. He attended Toms River High School East winning the 1985 New Jersey Group IV High School soccer championship. Gillen then attended

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvan ...

where he played as a left back on the men's soccer team from 1986 to 1989. Gillen graduated with a bachelor's degree in business. In July 1990, the Cleveland Crunch of

selected Gillen with the tenth pick of that year's draft. However, he decided against signing with the Crunch and instead became an assistant coach with Penn State before attending James Madison University. He graduated from JMU with an MBA.

Professional

In 1990, Gillen signed with the Penn-Jersey Spirit of the

. He returned to the Spirit for the 1991 season, but also played one game, for a total of 34 minutes, with the Albany Capitals. He then signed with the San Diego Sockers for the 1991–1992

season. In 1993, he played for 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 ...

of USISL. That fall, he returned to

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...

to become an assistant coach. On February 6, 1996, Gillen returned to professional soccer when the MetroStars of

selected Gillen in the sixth round (59th overall) of the Inaugural MLS Draft. He played fifteen regular season games before leaving the MetroStars at the end of the season. In 1997, Gillen signed with the third division

New Jersey Stallions The New Jersey Stallions were an American soccer team, founded in 1996, which competed in various divisions of the United Soccer Leagues until 2004, after which the team left the league and the franchise was terminated. The club originally star ...

of the USISL. He played with the team through the 1999 season.

National team

Gillen earned three caps with the U.S. national team in June 1988. His first game came in a June 5, 1988 3–0 loss to Chile. His last was a 1–0 win over

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

on June 14, 1988.

Non soccer career

In 1996, Gillen became an annuity specialist at

Merrill Lynch Merrill (officially Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated), previously branded Merrill Lynch, is an American investment management and wealth management division of Bank of America. Along with BofA Securities, the investment bank ...

before becoming a high school soccer coach in 2002.

Coaching

Following his graduation from Penn State, Gillen remained at the school as an assistant coach for the 1990 collegiate season. He was a volunteer assistant coach with James Madison while he was working on his master's degree. He returned to as an assistant coach in August 1993 and held that position until he signed with the MetroStars in 1996.Sports Briefs
He was also an assistant at Maryland University and

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

. In 2002, Gillen became the girls' head coach at Toms River High School North in New Jersey. He later returned to coach the boys' team at his alma mater Toms River High School East, and is also an assistant principal at the school.

References

External links

MetroStars profile

High School coaching profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gillen, Ted 1968 births Living people United States men's international soccer players Penn State Nittany Lions men's soccer players Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players Major League Soccer players Kiveton Park F.C. players San Diego Sockers (1978–1996) indoor players American Professional Soccer League players Penn-Jersey Spirit players Albany Capitals players New York Red Bulls players USISL players Richmond Kickers players New Jersey Stallions players American soccer coaches People from Kearny, New Jersey Sportspeople from Toms River, New Jersey Toms River High School East alumni Penn State Nittany Lions men's soccer coaches Maryland Terrapins men's soccer coaches Syracuse Orange men's soccer coaches Soccer players from Hudson County, New Jersey American men's soccer players Men's association football defenders