John Ball (born November 5, 1972, in

Newtown, Connecticut Newtown ( ) is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. It is part of the Greater Danbury area as well as the New York metropolitan area. Newtown was founded in 1705, and later incorporated in 1711. As of the 2020 census, its p ...

) is an American

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player who most recently played for the PASL team Cleveland Freeze. He has an extensive career, playing both indoor and outdoor soccer. He spent one season in

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

with the Chicago Fire and was a part of the

United States national futsal team The United States national futsal team represents the United States at international futsal competitions. It is governed by the United States Soccer Federation and the U.S. Soccer, affiliated with CONCACAF. The U.S. Futsal Federation was foun ...

which went to the second round of the

2004 FIFA Futsal World Championship The 2004 FIFA Futsal World Championship was the fifth FIFA Futsal World Championship, the quadrennial international futsal championship contested by the men's national teams of the member associations of FIFA. It was held between 21 November and ...

Player

College

Ball played

college soccer College soccer, called college football in some countries, is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. While it is most widespread in the United States, it is also prominent in Japan, South Kore ...

for Southern Connecticut State. While at Southern Connecticut State, his team won the NCAA Division II Championship in his freshman and senior year while reaching the Final Four in all four years.

Professional

On January 1, 1996, the

Cleveland Crunch The Cleveland Crunch is an American professional indoor soccer club located in Cleveland, Ohio. Formed in 1989 as an expansion team in the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL), the Crunch played a total of 16 seasons in three separate leagues unde ...

selected Ball in the second round of the 1995 National Professional Soccer League Amateur Draft. He played game at the end of the regular season. However, he played several during the playoffs as the Crunch won the league championship. He remained with the Crunch for the 1996–1997 season. He was named to the All Rookie team that year, despite playing one game during the previous season, as the Crunch fell to the Kansas City Attack in the championship series. In addition to his indoor career, Ball had an extensive outdoor career as well. In the summer of 1996, he signed with the Connecticut Wolves of the

USISL The United States Interregional Soccer League (USISL) was a semi-professional men's outdoor soccer league that played six seasons from 1989 to 1994. It was the first outdoor league to be operated by the organization known today as the United ...

. In 1997, he moved to the

Carolina Dynamo Salem City FC is an American amateur soccer club based in Bermuda Run, North Carolina that fields a men's team in USL League Two, and a women's team as the North Carolina Fusion in the USL W League. The teams plays their home games at the Truis ...

and then the Staten Island Vipers in 1998. He was All League that season. In 1998, Ball returned to the Crunch and played for them every winter until the team folded in 2005. On July 15, 1999, the Chicago Fire signed Ball as a discovery player. He made his debut against the

Dallas Burn Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, playing 90 minutes, on August 22, 1999. He scored his first and only MLS goal in the Western Conference Semifinals against the Dallas Burn on October 16, 1999. The Fire released him at the end of the season. In 2000, Ball moved to the

Rochester Rhinos Rochester Rhinos, formerly known as the Rochester Raging Rhinos, was an American soccer team based in Rochester, New York, United States. The club won the 1999 U.S. Open Cup, marking the only time a non-MLS team has won the U.S. Open Cup sinc ...

for one season before signing with the

Charleston Battery The Charleston Battery are an American professional association football, soccer club based in Charleston, South Carolina, and member of the USL Championship. Founded in 1993, the Battery are the oldest continuously operating professional socc ...

in 2001. He continued his nomadic ways, playing for the

in 2002, the Milwaukee Wave United in 2003 and the

Atlanta Silverbacks The Atlanta Silverbacks FC were an American professional soccer club based in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1998 as Atlanta Ruckus, the club played in many leagues over the years before folding after the 2015 season. The team played its home game ...

in 2004. In 2005, Ball rejoined the

Rochester Raging Rhinos Rochester Rhinos, formerly known as the Rochester Raging Rhinos, was an American association football, soccer team based in Rochester, New York, United States. The club won the 1999 U.S. Open Cup, marking the only time a non-Major League Soccer ...

of the

USL-1 The USL First Division (USL-1) was a professional men's soccer league in the second tier of the United States league system. It was organized by the United Soccer League as its premier league for men from 1996 to 2010, above the USL Second D ...

. While he had spent most of his outdoor career in the midfield, he moved to right back in 2008. In 2010, the Rhinos did not re-sign Ball and he moved to the amateur CASL Elite. During these years, Ball continued to play indoor soccer. In 2005, the Chicago Storm selected Ball in the MISL Dispersal Draft after Cleveland folded. However, in a December 3, 2005, game against the Baltimore Blast, Ball had an altercation with a fan which led to a two-game suspension by the league. This led the Storm to trade Ball to the

California Cougars The California Cougars were an indoor soccer team, founded in 2004. The team was a charter member of the Professional Arena Soccer League (PASL-Pro), the first division of arena (indoor) soccer in North America. They played their home matches a ...

for Anthony Maher and the rights to Andy Rosenband on December 27, 2005. In January 2007, the Cougars traded Ball back to the Storm in exchange for Semir Mesanovic, Elvir Kafedzic and a first round draft pick in the 2007 MISL Amateur Draft. On January 27, 2010, Ball joined the Ohio Vortex of the

Professional Arena Soccer League The Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) is a professional indoor soccer league in North America. The MASL features teams playing coast-to-coast in the United States and Mexico. The league is the highest level of arena soccer in North America. The le ...

. Ball played the amateur team CASL Elite in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup in

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

; his team won their regional qualification group (which also featured NPSL teams FC Tulsa and Atlanta FC) before falling 4–2 to

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 ...

pro side

in the first round of tournament proper. On January 27, 2010, Ball signed with the Ohio Vortex of the Professional Arena Soccer League, playing three games and scoring one goal through the end of the season. In February 2012, he joined the Rochester Lancers.

Coach

Ball is a coach in the Cleveland, Ohio area. He was the boys' high school coach at Elyria from 2012 to 2014 and is currently a club coach with Cleveland Futbol Club.

References

External links

Rochester Rhinos bio
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ball, John 1972 births Living people American men's soccer players American men's futsal players Men's association football midfielders Atlanta Silverbacks FC players California Cougars players North Carolina Fusion U23 players Charleston Battery players Chicago Fire FC players Chicago Storm (MISL) players Cleveland Crunch players Cleveland Force (2002–2005 MISL) players Connecticut Wolves players Futsal players at the 2007 Pan American Games Major Indoor Soccer League (2001–2008) players Major Indoor Soccer League (2008–2014) players Major League Soccer players Milwaukee Wave United players National Professional Soccer League (1984–2001) players Pan American Games footballers for the United States People from Newtown, Connecticut Soccer players from Fairfield County, Connecticut Major Arena Soccer League players Rochester New York FC players Southern Connecticut Owls men's soccer players Staten Island Vipers players A-League (1995–2004) players USL First Division players USISL Select League players High school soccer coaches in the United States 20th-century American sportsmen