Thomas Eddy Rongen (born 31 October 1956) is a

Dutch American Dutch Americans ( nl, Nederlandse Amerikanen) are Americans of Dutch descent whose ancestors came from the Netherlands in the recent or distant past. Dutch settlement in the Americas started in 1613 with New Amsterdam, which was exchanged with ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

coach who has spent the majority of his playing and coaching career in 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 Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. In December 2016, he was named Chief Scout of the United States Men's National Team. Rongen won the

MLS Coach of the Year The Sigi Schmid Coach of the Year Award is given by Major League Soccer to the best coach in any given season. The award has been given since the league's inception in 1996 and is determined by a vote from players, club personnel, and members of th ...

award in MLS's inaugural season in 1996, leading the Tampa Bay Mutiny to the best regular-season record.

Player

Rongen began his playing career with

Amsterdamsche FC Amsterdamsche Football Club, known as AFC, is a football club from Amsterdam, Netherlands. It is currently playing in the Tweede Divisie, the third tier of football in the Netherlands. History 19th century: Foundation AFC was founded in ...

, with whom he played as

defensive 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 boundari ...

and defender from 1973 to 1979. In 1979, Rongen moved to the United States, joining the Los Angeles Aztecs of 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 ba ...

. Rongen spent the entire 1979 season with the Aztecs. He then began the 1980 season in Los Angeles. On 12 July 1980, the Aztecs sold his contract to the Washington Diplomats. The team folded at the end of the season and Rongen moved to the

Fort Lauderdale Strikers Fort Lauderdale Strikers may refer to: *Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1977–1983), member of North American Soccer League from 1977 to 1983 * Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1988–1994), member of American Soccer League from 1988 to 1989 and American Profe ...

where he would remain for the next three seasons. In 1984, Joe Robbie, owner of the Strikers, moved the team to

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origi ...

where it was renamed the Minnesota Strikers. Rongen moved with the team and spent the 1984 outdoor season there. The league collapsed at the end of the season. The Strikers moved to the Major Indoor Soccer League for the 1984–1985 season. On 22 May 1985, Rongen joined the

South Florida Sun Fort Lauderdale Sun was a U.S. soccer team which played two seasons in the United Soccer League. In 1984, the team was known as the Fort Lauderdale Sun. Before the 1985 season they changed their name to the South Florida Sun. Origins The United S ...

of the

United Soccer League United Soccer League (USL), formerly known as United Soccer Leagues, is a soccer league in the United States and Canada. It organizes several men's and women's leagues, both professional and amateur. Men's leagues currently organized are the ...

. The league lasted six games, then collapsed. In October 1985, Rongen signed as a free agent with the

Chicago Sting The Chicago Sting (1974–1988) was an American professional soccer team representing Chicago. The Sting played in the North American Soccer League from 1975 to 1984 and in the Major Indoor Soccer League in the 1982–83 season and again from ...

of MISL. At the end of the season, he moved to Florida to coach youth and high school soccer. In 1987, he played for the

Houston Dynamos Houston Dynamos was a U.S. soccer team that existed in various forms from 1983 to 1991. In 1991, the team's owners changed the name to Houston International, but the team lasted only through the 1992 season before folding. The Dynamos were found ...

of the

Lone Star Soccer Alliance Lone Star Soccer Alliance was a soccer league that existed from 1987 to 1992. While most of the teams came from Texas, some also came from Oklahoma and Kansas. History First proposed by the Houston Dynamos, on April 18, 1987, the Lone Star So ...

. On 8 January 1988, he became the first player to sign with the

of the newly established American Soccer League. He continued to play for the Strikers until 1993.

Coach

Rongen began his coaching career as an assistant with the Pope John Paul II High School boys' team in 1984. On 27 June 1986, he was named as head coach. During his tenure coaching PJPII, he took the team to a 32–6–5 record and he was a two time ''Sun-Sentinel'' Coach of the Year. He resigned from his position on 16 May 1988. He also coached with the Plantation Eagles Soccer Club. This led to his selection as coach of the Florida U-23 soccer team which defeated the

United States men's national soccer team The United States men's national soccer team (USMNT) represents the United States in men's international soccer competitions. The team is controlled by the United States Soccer Federation and is a member of FIFA and CONCACAF. The U.S. team h ...

with goals from Zen Luzniak and Henry Gutierrez in an 8 March 1987 scrimmage. Rongen also served as an assistant with the

Nova Southeastern University Nova Southeastern University (NSU or, informally, Nova) is a private nonprofit research university with its main campus in Davie, Florida. The university consists of 14 total colleges, centers, and schools offering over 150 programs of st ...

men's soccer team. In August 1988, he was hired to coach the

South Plantation High School South Plantation High School is a four-year public high school located in the city of Plantation, Florida in the United States. SPHS is part of the Broward County Public Schools school district, which is the sixth-largest district in the nation w ...

boys' team. On 8 February 2004 he replaced Wim Suurbier as head coach of the Strikers. He took the Strikers to the 1989 ASL title and then skippered the team to a victory over the

San Diego Nomads Nomads Soccer Club (formerly San Diego Nomads) is an American soccer club based in San Diego, California. From 1986 to 1990, the club fielded a professional senior team, but has since operated as an amateur and youth club. History The Nomads we ...

in the national championship game. He was the 1990 APSL Coach of the Year. In August 1994, he resigned as head coach. In November 1990, he replaced Hal Henderson as head coach of

. He coached the team for five seasons, compiling a 50–35–8 record.

Major League Soccer

Rongen was one of the inaugural coaches in MLS, coaching the Tampa Bay Mutiny in their first season in 1996, with whom he won the MLS regular season, and also won

MLS Coach of the Year Award The Sigi Schmid Coach of the Year Award is given by Major League Soccer to the best coach in any given season. The award has been given since the league's inception in 1996 and is determined by a vote from players, club personnel, and members of th ...

. After a year with the Mutiny, Rongen moved to the

New England Revolution The New England Revolution is an American professional soccer club based in the Greater Boston area that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), in the Eastern Conference of the league. It is one of the ten charter clubs of MLS, having compe ...

, which he coaches in 1997 and 1998. After the Revolution, Rongen succeeded Bruce Arena as the head coach of D.C. United, which he led to an

MLS Cup The MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Cup Playoffs. The game is held in November and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Conferen ...

in 1999. However, Rongen lost his job with United in 2001, and was replaced with Ray Hudson.

National teams

Upon leaving United, Rongen was appointed head coach of the United States U-20 men's national soccer team, which he coached from 2001 to his appointment as head coach of

Chivas USA Chivas USA (pronounced ''CHEE-vahs'') was an American professional soccer team based in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson, California. The club played from 2005 to 2014 in Major League Soccer (MLS) and was a subsidiary of Mexican club C.D. G ...

for the team's inaugural season in 2005. However, ten games into the season, with the team's record standing at one win, one tie, and eight losses, he was let go of his head coaching duties. Rongen was appointed head coach of the Under-20 United States men's national team again in 2006 and led the team to the

2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 16th edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup (formerly called the FIFA World Youth Championship), hosted by Canada from 30 June to 22 July 2007. Argentina defeated the Czech Republic in the title game by the sco ...

and

2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 17th edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, which was hosted by Egypt from 24 September to 16 October 2009. The tournament was initially going to take place between 10 and 31 July. However, the 2009 FIFA Confedera ...

. He was fired from that position in May 2011 after the team failed to qualify for the World Cup. In 2011, Rongen became the head coach of

American Samoa American Samoa ( sm, Amerika Sāmoa, ; also ' or ') is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the island country of Samoa. Its location is centered on . It is east of the Internatio ...

. With Rongen at the helm, American Samoa registered its second ever victory on 22 November 2011, against

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

, in the 2014 World Cup qualification. Under Rongen, American Samoa reached 173rd in the FIFA World Rankings. His work with the American Samoa team is at the center of the 2014 British documentary, '' Next Goal Wins'' and the upcoming film of the same name.

MLS and NASL

Rongen became director of

TFC Academy Toronto FC Academy, also known as TFC Academy, is the youth academy and development system of Canadian Major League Soccer club Toronto FC. The academy has divisions from U14 to U19 and includes over 110 young players. The senior academy team is ...

prior to the 2012 season, joining countrymen

Aron Winter Aron Winter (born 1 March 1967) is a Dutch former professional football midfielder and manager for Suriname. He has played for Ajax and Sparta Rotterdam in the Netherlands, for Italian sides Lazio and Inter Milan, and for the Netherlands natio ...

and Bob de Klerk at

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club (commonly known as Toronto FC or TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BM ...

. He was named head coach of the Tampa Bay Rowdies in December 2014. Rongen was fired along with General Manager/President,

Farrukh Quraishi Farrukh Quraishi ( fa, فرخ قریشی, born November 13, 1951, in Masjid-I-Sulaiman, Iran) is a retired Iranian-born English footballer. He spent six seasons in the North American Soccer League playing for the Tampa Bay Rowdies and Calgary B ...

on 21 August 2015. In late 2016, Rongen was hired by Bruce Arena as the head international scout for the United States national team program.

Personal life

Rongen married Gail Megaloudis in 1996. He is stepfather to Gail's children with Nicky Megaloudis, Nicole and Chris. In 2004, Nicole died in a single car accident on I-64 West in

Goochland County, Virginia Goochland County is a county located in the Piedmont of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Its southern border is formed by the James River. As of the 2020 census, the population was 24,727. Its county seat is Goochland. Goochland County is includ ...

, aged 19. Rongen wore his stepdaughter's baseball cap during American Samoa's win over Tonga, as shown in ''Next Goal Wins''.

References

External links

NASL/MISL stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rongen, Thomas 1956 births Living people American Professional Soccer League coaches American Professional Soccer League players American Soccer League (1988–89) coaches American Soccer League (1988–89) players Chicago Sting (MISL) players Chivas USA coaches D.C. United coaches Dutch footballers Dutch football managers Dutch expatriate football managers Expatriate soccer players in the United States Expatriate soccer managers in the United States Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1988–1994) players Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1977–1983) players Fort Lauderdale Sun players Houston Dynamos players Lone Star Soccer Alliance players Los Angeles Aztecs players Major League Soccer coaches Major League Soccer executives Minnesota Strikers (NASL) players New England Revolution coaches North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players Tampa Bay Mutiny coaches Tampa Bay Rowdies coaches United Soccer League (1984–85) players Washington Diplomats (NASL) players Footballers from Amsterdam Expatriate football managers in American Samoa American Samoa national football team managers North American Soccer League coaches Minnesota Strikers (MISL) players Association football defenders Association football midfielders Dutch expatriates in American Samoa United States men's national under-20 soccer team managers High school soccer coaches in the United States