Ezra Hendrickson (born 16 January 1972) is a Vincentian professional football

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

and former player. He is currently the head coach of

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Cana ...

club Chicago Fire. Born in

Layou Layou is a small town located on the island of Saint Vincent, in Saint Andrew Parish. There is a post office, a police station and a library. There are also two quarries. History Layou is located on the western coast of Saint Vincent and the ...

, Hendrickson moved with his family to the United States at a young age and played

college soccer College soccer is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. It is very prominent in United States, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and as well as in South Africa and Philippines, the Philippines. Th ...

with the

Drake Bulldogs The Drake Bulldogs are the intercollegiate athletics teams that represent Drake University, located in Des Moines, Iowa, United States. The Bulldogs' athletic program is a member of the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) and competes at the NCA ...

. He began his senior career with semi-professional clubs Des Moines Menace and

New Orleans Riverboat Gamblers New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...

before being drafted in the 1997 MLS Supplemental Draft by the NY/NJ MetroStars. He was cut midseason by the MetroStars before joining the

Los Angeles Galaxy LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began pla ...

. While with the Galaxy, Hendrickson formed part of the defense that would go on to win the

Supporters' Shield The Supporters' Shield is an annual award given to the Major League Soccer team with the best regular season record, as determined by the MLS points system. The Supporters' Shield has been annually awarded at the MLS Supporters' Summit since 19 ...

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

and then both the Shield and

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 Conference ...

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains independence from Indonesia and ...

. In 2003, Hendrickson was traded by the Galaxy to the

Dallas Burn Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County wit ...

. Following the 2003 season, Hendrickson joined

A-League A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competit ...

club

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 one of the oldest continuously operating professiona ...

before quickly moving back to Major League Soccer, joining D.C. United. With D.C. United, Hendrickson won his second MLS Cup but was an unused substitute during the

match A match is a tool for starting a fire. Typically, matches are made of small wooden sticks or stiff paper. One end is coated with a material that can be ignited by friction generated by striking the match against a suitable surface. Wooden matc ...

. He then moved to

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. Gua ...

before joining the

Columbus Crew The Columbus Crew, formerly known as Columbus Crew SC, is an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The Crew competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference and began play in 1996 as on ...

in 2006. Hendrickson ended his playing career in 2008, winning both his third

and second Supporters' Shield. He was also capped 36 times for the Saint Vincent and the Grenadines national team, scoring two goals internationally. In 2009, Hendrickson began his coaching career, joining Major League Soccer expansion club

Seattle Sounders FC Seattle Sounders Football Club is an American professional men's soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete as a member of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The club was established on November 13, 2007, and began ...

as an assistant to his former head coach,

Sigi Schmid Siegfried "Sigi" Schmid (; March 20, 1953 – December 25, 2018) was a German-American soccer coach who had the most wins in the history of Major League Soccer (MLS). Born in Tübingen, West Germany, he moved to the United States with his family ...

. While an assistant, he would often coach the club's reserve side, finally becoming the first head coach of their professional reserve affiliate, Seattle Sounders FC 2, in 2015. While coaching with Sounders FC 2, Hendrickson was also an assistant with the Vincentian national team. He left both roles in 2018, returning as an assistant to Sigi Schmid with the

LA Galaxy LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began pla ...

. From 2019 to 2021, he joined the

as an assistant to Caleb Porter before being announced as the head coach of the Chicago Fire for the 2022 season.

Early life

Hendrickson was born in

, St. Vincent. He played club soccer and varsity basketball at

Western High School Western High School may refer: Schools in the United States * Western High School (Anaheim, California) – Anaheim, California *Western High School (Illinois) – Barry, Illinois *Western High School (Florida) – Davie, Florida *Western High Sch ...

Russiaville, Indiana Russiaville () is a town in Honey Creek Township, Howard County, Indiana, United States. The population was 1,094 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Kokomo Metropolitan Statistical Area. Russiaville was incorporated sometime between the 1 ...

. He then played

Drake University Drake University is a private university in Des Moines, Iowa. It offers undergraduate and graduate programs, including professional programs in business, law, and pharmacy. Drake's law school is among the 25 oldest in the United States. Hi ...

from 1990 to 1993, where he was named all-

Missouri Valley Conference The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is the third-oldest collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the Midwestern United ...

three times, and was named an

NSCAA The United Soccer Coaches (formerly known as the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)) is an organization of United States, American soccer Coach (sport), coaches founded in 1941. It is the largest soccer coaches organization i ...

third team All-American as a senior. Upon graduating, Hendrickson joined the amateur Des Moines Menace in 1994, where he played striker, scoring 13 goals in his first year. After a season with the Menace, Hendrickson was signed to a professional contract by the

of the

USISL 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 ...

. Hendrickson played for the Riverboat Gamblers, and was named Select League Defender of the Year in 1996.

Professional career

After his exceptional 1996 season, Hendrickson was drafted 5th overall in the 1997 MLS Supplemental Draft by the New York/New Jersey MetroStars, for whom he played eight matches in 1997. During his time with NY/NJ, fans gave him the nickname 'The Caribbean Beckenbauer'. Midseason, Hendrickson was cut and picked up by the

, where he solidified his role as a starter, and earn a reputation as one of the best wing backs in MLS. After seven seasons with the Galaxy, Hendrickson was traded to the

in 2003. When the Burn reorganised the team following their 2003 campaign, Hendrickson found himself without a team in MLS, and briefly signed with the

of the

. However, not long into the 2004 season, D.C. United acquired him to play a backup role in their central defence. Hendrickson was selected fifth overall by C.D. Chivas USA in the

Expansion Draft An expansion draft, in professional sports, occurs when a sports league decides to create one or more new expansion teams or franchises. This occurs mainly in North American sports. One of the ways of stocking the new team or teams is an expansio ...

after the season. After a year with Chivas, he was on a move again, sent to Columbus early in the 2006 season. He retired after helping the Crew to its first MLS title during the 2008 season.

International

Hendrickson also spent time as the captain of the Saint Vincent and the Grenadines national team, and was one of the team's best players since earning his first cap in 1995 against

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate ...

. He made 24 appearances for Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in the 1998, 2002, and 2006

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

qualifiers and 123 overall, scoring twice during a

1996 Caribbean Cup The 1996 Caribbean Cup (also known as the Shell/ Umbro Caribbean Cup for sponsorship reasons), was the 8th edition of the Caribbean Cup, the biennial football championship of the Caribbean region (CFU). It was held in Trinidad, where it began o ...

match against

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

on 27 May 1996.

Coaching career

After retiring, Hendrickson joined the staff of

, working as an assistant to his former coach,

. After managing the Sounders reserves for several seasons, he was named head coach for Seattle Sounders FC 2 upon the club's entry into 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 ...

Chicago Fire

On 24 November 2021, Hendrickson was appointed head coach at

club Chicago Fire from the 2022 season.

Coaching statistics

Honours

Player

Los Angeles Galaxy *

CONCACAF The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football,, ; french: Confédération de football d'Amérique du Nord, d'Amérique centrale et des Caraïbes, . Dutch uses the English name. abbreviated as CONCACAF ( ; types ...

: Champions Cup 2000 *

D.C. United *

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

Columbus Crew *

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing ...

Individual *

USISL Select 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 ...

Defender of the Year:

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 800, causing the plane to crash and killing everyone on b ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hendrickson, Ezra 1972 births Living people Charleston Battery players Chivas USA players Columbus Crew players Expatriate soccer players in the United States FC Dallas players D.C. United players Des Moines Menace players Drake Bulldogs men's soccer players LA Galaxy players Major League Soccer players New York Red Bulls players New Orleans Riverboat Gamblers players Saint Vincent and the Grenadines expatriate sportspeople in the United States Saint Vincent and the Grenadines footballers Saint Vincent and the Grenadines expatriate footballers Saint Vincent and the Grenadines international footballers 1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup players USISL players A-League (1995–2004) players USL Second Division players USISL Select League players New York Red Bulls draft picks Seattle Sounders FC non-playing staff Association football defenders People from Saint Andrew Parish, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Tacoma Defiance coaches Saint Vincent and the Grenadines football managers Saint Vincent and the Grenadines expatriate football managers Columbus Crew non-playing staff LA Galaxy non-playing staff People from Howard County, Indiana Soccer players from Indiana