Mike Seerey (born October 23, 1950 in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

) 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 ...

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

, and a two-time recipient of the

Hermann Trophy The Hermann Trophy is awarded annually by the Missouri Athletic Club to the United States's top men's and women's college soccer players. History In 1967, Bob Hermann, the president of the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) and the ...

as the outstanding collegiate soccer player of the year. He 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 was a member of the U.S. 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. ...

Youth

Seerey was a standout U.S. collegiate soccer player at St. Louis University where he starred for the school's men's soccer team from 1969 to 1972. During his four years with the Billikens, the team won the

NCAA championship The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and ...

three times. In 1971, Seerey was a first team All American. He also won the

as the top collegiate player of the year. Ironically, he was named the NCAA Tournament's Offensive MVP although this was the only year St. Louis did not win the championship during Seerey's four seasons. Seerey repeated as the

winner in 1972, making him the second two-time winner after fellow St. Louis teammate

Al Trost Alan Trost (born February 7, 1949) is an American retired soccer midfielder. He played collegiate soccer at Saint Louis University where he won the 1969 and 1970 Hermann Trophy as the player of the year. His professional career includes year ...

. However, he was not named to the All American list his senior year. As of 2007, he is ranked fourth on the season points list at St. Louis with 55 in the 1971 season.

Olympics

In addition to playing collegiate soccer, Seerey was also a member of the 1972 U.S. Olympic soccer team. He began playing with the Olympic team while in 1971 while still in college. That year, the team went 3–2–2 in first-round qualifications. In 1972, the U.S. qualified for its first Olympics in twelve years. Seerey scored two goals in a 2–0 victory over Guatemala and another two goals in a 2–2 tie with Mexico. The U.S. finished the second-round qualifications with a 2-1-3 record and a berth in the

. Seerey started and played all 90 minutes in the first two U.S. games at the Olympics. In the first game, the U.S. held Morocco scoreless in a 0–0 tie. However, the next game brought the team back to Earth as Malaysia easily won 3–0. The U.S. coach sent out his reserves for the last game against host West Germany and Seerey watched his teammates get humbled 7–0.
/sup>

Professional

After the Olympics, Seerey turned pro with the

Miami Toros The Miami Toros was a professional soccer team in the North American Soccer League from 1972 to 1976. The club was founded in 1967 as the Washington Darts, and moved to Miami, where they played the 1972 season in the NASL's Southern Division as ...

of the

(NASL). The Toros selected him in the first round (second overall) of the 1973 NASL draft. He played 14 games and scored 3 goals, adding 4 assists. The next year, he moved to the Saint Louis Stars, also of the NASL, where he played for the next three years. He never found his scoring touch with the Stars and when he retired from the NASL after the 1976 season, he had only scored 1 goal in 43 games with that team.

External links

1970 St. Louis University soccer team photo

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seerey, Mike 1950 births Living people American men's soccer players Soccer players from St. Louis Saint Louis University alumni Hermann Trophy men's winners Saint Louis Billikens men's soccer players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Miami Toros players St. Louis Stars (soccer) players Olympic soccer players for the United States Footballers at the 1972 Summer Olympics All-American college men's soccer players Men's association football forwards