Sean Henderson (born July 25, 1972 in

Everett, Washington Everett is the county seat and largest city of Snohomish County, Washington, United States. It is north of Seattle and is one of the main cities in the metropolitan area and the Puget Sound region. Everett is the seventh-largest city in the ...

) is a retired American soccer midfielder who spent two seasons in Germany, three in

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 ...

and five in the

USL A-League The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, p ...

. He is now the scouting director for Seattle Sounders FC.

Player

Youth

Henderson, younger brother to

Chris Henderson Christopher Henderson (born December 11, 1970) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a midfielder. He earned 79 caps with the U.S. national team and part of the U.S. team at the 1992 Summer Olympics. At the time of hi ...

, was born and raised in

, attending Cascade High School where he was a two-time high school All American and helped the Bruins win the state championship in 1987 and 1989. After high school, he attended

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a Normal school, teachers colle ...

where he played from 1990 to 1993. In his first year at UCLA, they won the NCAA National Championship. In 1993, he was named captain, selected as an All American and was voted as the team Offensive MVP. In 1991, Henderson was a member of the North Huntington Beach Untouchables that won the U19 National Championship.

Professional

In 1994, Henderson turned professional with the

East Los Angeles Cobras The East Los Angeles Cobras were an American soccer team that played in East Los Angeles, California. They joined the USISL in 1993 and later became affiliated with the Los Angeles Salsa of the American Professional Soccer League The American ...

in 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 ...

. That fall, he moved to Germany and signed with

Regionalliga The Regionalliga () is the fourth tier in the German football league system. Until 1974, it was the second tier in Germany. In 1994, it was introduced as the third tier. Upon the creation of the new nationwide 3. Liga in 2008, it became the fourt ...

club

TuS Celle TuS Celle FC is a football club based in Celle, Lower Saxony, Germany. The club is currently a member of the Landesliga Lüneburg, the sixth tier of German football. Home matches are played at the Günther-Volker-Stadion. History The club w ...

. In 1996, he returned to the United States and signed with the

Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Founded in 1995, as part of the Anschutz Corporation, ...

, playing alongside his brother. In 1997, the Rapids went to the MLS championship game where it lost to

D.C. United D.C. United is a professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. that competes in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer, the top tier of American soccer. Domestically, the club has won four MLS Cups (league championships), four Su ...

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional soccer team based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete as a member club of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). Originally as the San Jose Clash, the franchis ...

picked up Henderson in the waiver draft but failed to earn a roster spot for the 1999 season. He appears in the 99 media guide and program until June 1999. On June 30, 1999, Henderson moved to the second division Seattle Sounders of the

. He played there until retiring from professional soccer in 2005.

U-20 National Team

Henderson made five appearances with the

United States U-20 men's national soccer team The United States U-20 men's national soccer team is controlled by the United States Soccer Federation. The highest level of competition in which the team competes is the FIFA U-20 World Cup, which is held every two years. The United States' b ...

Coach

Henderson joined Crossfire Premier, a youth club based in

Redmond, Washington Redmond is a city in King County, Washington, United States, located east of Seattle. The population was 73,256 at the 2020 census, up from 54,144 in 2010. Redmond is best known as the home of Microsoft and Nintendo of America. With an a ...

, in 1999.Crossfire Premier
Henderson joined the Seattle Sounders FC Academy for their inaugural season in 2010. After 8 years as an academy coach he became the Director of Scouting for Sounders in 2018. Henderson holds his US Soccer A License and the Elite Formation License from the French Soccer Federation

Honors

Henderson was inducted into the Cascade High School Hall of Fame in 2012 as well as the Snohomish County Sports Hall of Fame in 2020 and again in 2023 (as part of the 1987 State Championship Boys Soccer team).

References

https://www.heraldnet.com/sports/county-hall-of-fame-class-of-2020-sean-henderson/

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Henderson, Sean 1972 births Living people American men's soccer players American expatriate soccer players in Germany UCLA Bruins men's soccer players TuS Celle FC players Colorado Rapids players Seattle Sounders (1994–2008) players Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Soccer players from Washington (state) Major League Soccer players USISL players A-League (1995–2004) players United States men's under-20 international soccer players Seattle Sounders FC non-playing staff Men's association football midfielders