John Bocwinski (born November 22, 1936 in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

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 ...

) was an Argentine-American

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 was a member of the U.S. Olympic soccer team at the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...

Player

Youth

Bocwinski, born in Argentina to immigrant Polish parents, living in Argentina until he was sixteen when he emigrated to the United States with his family. They arrived in February 1953 and settled in

Kenosha, Wisconsin Kenosha () is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the seat of Kenosha County. Per the 2020 census, the population was 99,986 which made it the fourth-largest city in Wisconsin. Situated on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan, Kenos ...

. Bocwinski immediately began playing soccer with local teams, first Polonia S.C. and then Syrena S.C., both located in

Hammond, Indiana Hammond ( ) is a city in Lake County, Indiana. It is part of the Chicago metropolitan area, and the only city in Indiana to border Chicago. First settled in the mid-19th century, it is one of the oldest cities of northern Lake County. As of the ...

Senior

In 1955, he joined Polonia S.C. in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was drafted into the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

in 1959, serving his time in Germany where he was the captain of the U.S. Armed Forces soccer team. In 1961, he was released from the Army. He moved to

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

where he joined the

A.A.C. Eagles A.A.C. Eagles is an American soccer team based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1940, the team plays in Region II of the United States Adult Soccer Association, a network of amateur leagues at the fifth tier of the American Soccer ...

of the

National Soccer League of Chicago The National Soccer League (Chicago), formed by the merger of the Chicago Soccer League and International Soccer Football League of Chicago in 1928, is a semi-professional U.S. soccer league which is the oldest continuously operating soccer leagu ...

Two years later, he rejoined Milwaukee Polonia.

U.S. Olympic team

In 1970, he was selected for the U.S. Olympic soccer team as it began qualifications for the

. In 1971, the team played in the

Pan American Games The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is held ...

. The U.S. placed second in its first round group, but at the bottom of the standings in the final group. Despite this setback, the team went on to qualify for the Olympic tournament. Bocwinski played the first two U.S. games, a 0-0 tie with Mexico and a 3-0 loss to Malaysia.

Coach

In 1983, Bocwinski became the head coach at Carthage College in Kenosha. In his two seasons as coach, he took the team to a 12-21-2 (.371) record. In addition to playing and coaching soccer, Bocwinski also worked over thirty years for the

American Motors Corporation American Motors Corporation (AMC; commonly referred to as American Motors) was an American automobile manufacturing company formed by the merger of Nash-Kelvinator Corporation and Hudson Motor Car Company on May 1, 1954. At the time, it was the ...

. In 1987, he was inducted into the Wisconsin Soccer Association Hall of Fame.

References

External links

USASA Hall of Fame
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bocwinski, John 1936 births Living people Footballers from Buenos Aires Sportspeople from Kenosha, Wisconsin Military personnel from Wisconsin Argentine emigrants to the United States American soccer players Footballers at the 1971 Pan American Games Pan American Games competitors for the United States Footballers at the 1972 Summer Olympics Olympic soccer players of the United States American soccer coaches A.A.C. Eagles players National Soccer League (Chicago) players Carthage College Argentine people of Polish descent American people of Polish descent Soccer players from Wisconsin Association football defenders