Anson Dorrance Elected To National Soccer Hall of Fame
March 10, 2008
ONEONTA, N.Y. - Legendary University of North Carolina Women's Soccer Coach Anson Dorrance and highly respected U.S. National Team Veteran Hugo Perez have been elected to the National Soccer Hall of Fame President Steve Baumann announced today. "We are excited to reveal such a prestigious 2008 Hall of Fame Class," he said. "Anson Dorrance has set an unbelievable standard for American soccer coaches. His success at UNC is staggering and his World Championship with the U.S. Women's National Team has inspired coaches to higher levels of excellence. Induction into the National Soccer Hall of Fame is a natural outgrowth of his exemplary and continuing career." "Hugo was a key player for the National Team in the late 80s and early 90s," Baumann continued. "His career spanned from the last years of the NASL, through the MISL, and into the 1994 World Cup. His ability to create attacking opportunities was outstanding and the players around him were the beneficiaries of his skill, vision and tactical awareness. We welcome him as another wonderfully talented and successful player to the Hall of Fame." Both Dorrance and Perez were elected with unprecedented totals in their respective categories. Dorrance was named on 54% of the Builder ballots and Perez was named on 59% of the Veteran Player ballots. Each year the top individual in the Builder and Veteran Player categories are elected to the Hall of Fame as long as the individual is named on a minimum of 50% of the ballots cast. The top five candidates in both elections are listed below.
Dorrance, a 1974 UNC graduate, began his coaching career at his alma mater in 1976 as Head Coach of the men's team he played on as an undergraduate. Beginning in 1979 he coached both the men's and women's teams, before becoming exclusively the women's coach after the 1988 season. In his 12-year career as the UNC men's coach, his record was 172 - 65 - 21 with an ACC championship and two NCAA Division I tournament selections.
As women's coach at UNC through the 2007 season, his coaching record is an NCAA best in both wins (648 - 32 - 19) and winning percentage (.941). The UNC women's team has won the national championship 19 times in 28 seasons, with a string of 9 in a row between 1986 and 1994. During this period there were two record-setting streaks of 103 matches unbeaten and 92 matches won. Dorrance has won the NSCAA National Coach of the Year seven times and a UNC player has been recognized as national player of the year fifteen times. In 1986 Dorrance became the Head Coach of the U.S. Women's National Team and, over an 8-year career won 65 times, with 22 losses and five ties. The most significant of those victories was in the final of the first Women's World Cup (then titled the World Championship for Women's Football) in 1991. Perez began his professional career with the Tampa Bay Rowdies of the NASL, eventually moving to the San Diego Sockers where he had an impressive career outdoors and indoors. He was selected Championship Series MVP in San Diego's 1988 MISL win. He also played professionally in France, Sweden, Saudi Arabia, and El Salvador. His U.S. National Team debut was against Italy in 1984 and he scored his first international goal against Canada in 1985. In his 73 game international career he scored 13 goals. He played in the 1986 and 1990 World Cup qualifiers, but missed the 1990 World Cup due to injury. He also played in the 1994 World Cup, starting the second round match against Brazil played on the Fourth of July. His final match for the United States was against England in September 1994. Since his retirement from playing the game, he has stayed active in soccer in the San Francisco Bay Area, coaching youth and collegiate teams. In the 2008 Player election no individual exceeded the required 75% of ballots cast to gain entrance into the Hall of Fame. Top players were Joy Fawcett with 70% of the vote and Preki Radasavijevic with 68%. Full elections results for all categories are available on the Hall of Fame web site, www.soccerhall.org. The top ten player candidates are listed here: Votes Received % of 128 Ballots Cast Builder Ballot Results for the Top 5 candidates: Votes Received % of 50 Ballots Cast
Veteran Player Results for the Top 5 candidates: Votes Received % of 46 Ballots Cast Details of Induction will be announced shortly.
About the Hall of Fame The Mission of the National Soccer Hall of Fame is to Celebrate the History, Honor the Heroes, Inspire the Youth and Preserve the Legacy of Soccer in the United States. Located in Oneonta, NY, the National Soccer Hall of Fame opened a new 30,000 sq.ft., state-of-the-art multimedia museum in 1999 and is open every day of the year except Christmas, New Year's, and Thanksgiving. The Hall of Fame tells the story of soccer in America through artifacts, photographs, video and written narratives. The main VideoWall portrays some of the greatest moments and the greatest goals in soccer history as well as live soccer action from the World Cup, MLS, and U.S. Soccer matches. The Hall features an extensive interactive, youth oriented Kicks Zone, including a kid-sized indoor field, where visitors have fun kicking, heading and playing computer trivia stations and video soccer games. Unique and rare artifacts on exhibit range from The Dewar Cup, the oldest team trophy in U.S. Sport, to the Women's World Cup won by the USA in 1999, the uniforms of Pele and Mia Hamm's, Kristine Lilly's golden shoes, NASL championship rings, and MLS championship trophies. That and so much more are all at the National Soccer Hall of Fame. In addition to the interactive Museum, the National Soccer Hall of Fame's 61-acre complex boasts the Kicks Hall of Fame Museum Store, a research library, four world-class soccer fields and office/meeting facilities. Visit the Hall of Fame at www.soccerhall.org |
