Kyle Robert Beckerman (born April 23, 1982) is an American former professional

soccer player A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby l ...

who played as a

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 boundarie ...

. He spent 21 seasons 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 ...

(MLS) with the

Miami Fusion The Miami Fusion was a professional soccer team based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. They played in Major League Soccer (MLS) for four seasons, from 1998 to 2001. Announced in 1997 as one of the league's first two expansion teams, their best seas ...

(2000–

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanist ...

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, lat ...

(2002–

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple Inc., Apple's first iPhone (1st generation), iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakis ...

) and

Real Salt Lake Real Salt Lake, often shortened to RSL, is an American professional soccer franchise based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The club competes as a member club of Major League Soccer (MLS) in the Western Conference. RSL began play in 20 ...

(

–

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

). He was a starting central defensive midfielder and captain when RSL won

MLS Cup 2009 MLS Cup 2009 was the 14th edition of the MLS Cup, the championship match of Major League Soccer (MLS). The soccer match took place on November 22, 2009, at Qwest Field in Seattle, Washington, and was contested between the Los Angeles Galaxy an ...

. He also earned 58 caps with the United States national team. In 2021, Beckerman was named the head coach of the Utah Valley University men's soccer team, a Division I program in Orem, Utah.

Early and personal life

Beckerman was born in

Crofton, Maryland Crofton is a census-designated place and planned community in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, United States, located west of the state capital Annapolis, south of Baltimore, and east-northeast of Washington, D.C. The community was established ...

. His parents are Margaret "Meg" (née Lamade) Beckerman, a third grade teacher, and Paul Beckerman, a science teacher. His brother Todd is four years his senior and coaches the wrestling team at

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

. On January 4, 2014, he married Kate Pappas a

Greek American Greek Americans ( el, Ελληνοαμερικανοί ''Ellinoamerikanoí'' ''Ellinoamerikánoi'' ) are Americans of full or partial Greek ancestry. The lowest estimate is that 1.2 million Americans are of Greek descent while the highest e ...

account supervisor at Love Communications, at the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...

. Beckerman is known for his distinctive

dreadlocks Dreadlocks, also known as locs or dreads, are rope-like strands of hair formed by locking or braiding hair. Origins Some of the earliest depictions of dreadlocks date back as far as 1600–1500 BCE in the Minoan Civilization, one of Europe ...

, which he started growing around 2005. In November 2017 Beckerman shaved off the majority of his hair in preparation for a new physical.

Club career

Early career

Beckerman began his career in various youth leagues in the

Bowie, Maryland Bowie () is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 58,329. Bowie has grown from a small railroad stop to the largest municipality in Prince George's County, and the fifth most populous c ...

area. He played for the United States in the 1999 Under-17 World Cup in New Zealand. He attended

DeMatha Catholic High School DeMatha Catholic High School is a four-year Catholic high school for boys located in Hyattsville, Maryland, United States. Named after John of Matha, DeMatha is under the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington and is a member of the Washington ...

Hyattsville, Maryland Hyattsville is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, and also a close, urban suburb of Washington, D.C. The population was 21,187 at the 2020 United States Census. History Before Europeans reached the area, the upper ...

as a freshman, where he won a state wrestling title. He later transferred to and graduated from

Arundel High School Arundel High School is a public high school located in Gambrills, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, D.C., and Baltimore within Anne Arundel County. The school is part of the Anne Arundel County Public School system, and is the primary high schoo ...

, and he signed a Nike Project-40 contract with MLS on June 27, 2000. Beckerman had been involved with the league for the previous few years, having been one of the inaugural students at the

United States Soccer Federation The United States Soccer Federation (USSF), commonly referred to as U.S. Soccer, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and the official governing body of the sport of soccer in the United States. Headquartered in Chicago, the federation is ...

Bradenton Academy IMG Academy is a preparatory boarding school and sports training destination in Bradenton, Florida, United States. IMG Academy is set across over 600 acres and features programs consisting of sport camps for youth athletes, adult camps, a board ...

, which also featured

Landon Donovan Landon Timothy Donovan (born March 4, 1982) is an American former professional soccer player. Donovan is also the co-founder and vice-president of soccer operations for USL Championship side San Diego Loyal SC, and serves as strategic advisor f ...

, DaMarcus Beasley,

Oguchi Onyewu Oguchialu Chijioke Onyewu (born May 13, 1982) is an American former soccer player who is the secretary-general of R.E. Virton. He was previously the sporting director for Orlando City B. During his professional career, he played as a defender ...

, and

Bobby Convey Robert Francis Convey (; born May 27, 1983) is an American former football player who last played for New York Red Bulls in Major League Soccer. In addition to several MLS clubs, Convey spent five years in England with Reading, whom he helped i ...

Miami Fusion

Two days after he signed with the league,

claimed Beckerman. Beckerman hardly played in his first two years; he registered only 110 minutes in his first year and only 14 in his second after breaking his leg playing in the

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 competiti ...

. He went on loan with

MLS Project 40 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 Canada ...

in 2000.

Colorado Rapids

After the Fusion were contracted at the end of the 2001 season, Beckerman was selected 11th overall in the 2002 MLS Dispersal Draft by the

. In his first year with the Rapids, Beckerman again saw limited time, playing 477 minutes and registering one assist. In his second season, he finally broke through, starting 24 games, playing 2124 minutes, and registering five assists as a central midfielder. Beckerman performed at the same level in 2004, starting consistently. Beckerman remained a regular starter through the 2005 and 2006 seasons, playing an increasingly important role for the Rapids. He finished the 2006 season with seven goals and four assists, making him one of Colorado's top offensive players that year.

Real Salt Lake

On July 16, 2007, Beckerman was traded to

for

Mehdi Ballouchy Mehdi Ballouchy ( ar, مهدي بلوشي; born April 6, 1983) is a retired Moroccan professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He is currently one of the coaching staff for New York City FC. Career Early life At the age of 13, he joi ...

. Despite joining the team mid-season, he quickly established himself as a team leader for RSL. He took over the captain's armband early in the 2008 season. He started all 38 matches for Salt Lake that year, helping the team reach the Western Conference Final (the club's first-ever playoff appearance). Also in 2008, he was named to the MLS All-Star Inactive List for the second consecutive season. Beckerman continued as RSL's team captain throughout the 2009 season. During the year, he became the youngest player in MLS history to appear in 200 games. At mid-season, MLS Commissioner Don Garber added Beckerman and teammate Javier Morales to the roster for the 2009

MLS All-Star Game The Major League Soccer All-Star Game is an annual soccer game held by Major League Soccer featuring selected players from the league against an international club or selected players from Liga MX. MLS initially adopted a traditional all-star ...

played July 29 at RSL's

Rio Tinto Stadium America First Field (formerly Rio Tinto Stadium and referred to as The RioT) is an American soccer-specific stadium in Sandy, Utah, that serves as home stadium for Major League Soccer club Real Salt Lake. The stadium opened on October 9, 2008, ...

Sandy, Utah Sandy is a city in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, located in Salt Lake County, Utah, United States. The population of Sandy was 87,461 at the 2010 census, making it the sixth-largest city in Utah. The population is currently estimat ...

. RSL struggled through an up-and-down regular season, finishing with a losing record (11–12–7) and barely qualifying for postseason play. But with Beckerman leading the way, the team completed a stunning sweep through the playoffs, capped with a shootout victory over

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 ...

in the 2009

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 ...

championship. Kyle Beckerman MLS AllStar 2013

On October 17, 2015 Beckerman broke the record for all-time MLS regular season appearances by a field player, at 379. Beckerman was named on December 9, 2020 to The 25 Greatest by

as part of the circuit's 25th season celebration. He announced his retirement as an active player twelve days later on December 21.

International career

Beckerman represented the United States on multiple levels of competition. He made his first international appearance in 1997 as a member of the U16 national team in a match against France. He made 40 appearances for the U17 national team, starting 36 times and scoring 15 goals. He started all six games in the 1999 FIFA U-17 World Championship in New Zealand, helping the U.S. to a fourth-place finish in the tournament. He also played for the U23 national team in the 2004 Pre-Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Mexico. Beckerman's first appearance for the senior national team came January 20, 2007 in a friendly match against

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

. He was named to the U.S. roster for the 2007

Copa América The Copa América ( en, America Cup) or CONMEBOL Copa América, known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship (''Campeonato Sudamericano de Fútbol'' in Spanish and ''Campeonato Sul-Americano de Futebol'' in Portuguese), is the t ...

in Venezuela, where he earned two caps: he entered as a reserve against

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...

, then played the full 90 minutes against

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the ...

. In July 2009, he was named to the U.S. roster for the

2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the tenth edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup competition, and the twentieth soccer championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF). It was played from July 3 to 26, 2009 in the United State ...

. He started all six matches for the United States, helping his team to a second-place finish in the tournament. On July 18, 2009 he scored his first international goal in the quarterfinal match against

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

. On August 27, 2009, Beckerman was named to the national team roster for two

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 ...

qualifier matches: against

El Salvador El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south ...

(September 5) and

Trinidad & Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of Gr ...

(September 9). He entered the match against El Salvador as a second-half substitute. In August 2011, Beckerman re-joined the U.S. at the invitation of new coach

Jürgen Klinsmann Jürgen Klinsmann (, born 30 July 1964) is a German professional football manager and former player. Klinsmann played for several prominent clubs in Europe including VfB Stuttgart, Inter Milan, Monaco, Tottenham Hotspur, and Bayern Munich. He ...

. He played all 90 minutes in a friendly match against Mexico (a 1–1 draw) on August 10, and was a halftime substitute in a 1–0 friendly loss against

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

on September 6. Since that time, Beckerman has been a regular on the national team. Throughout July 2013, Beckerman was called up for the

2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 12th CONCACAF Gold Cup competition and the 22nd CONCACAF regional championship overall in CONCACAF's fifty years of existence. The United States was the host nation. The competition began on 7 July 2013 at the ...

alongside Real Salt Lake teammates

Nick Rimando Nicholas Paul Rimando (born June 17, 1979) is an American retired soccer player who last played as a goalkeeper for Real Salt Lake in Major League Soccer and the United States national team. He holds the Major League Soccer records for career ...

and Tony Beltran. Both Beckerman and Rimando started in five out of six games while Beltran started in only one match in home stadium Rio Tinto Stadium, where the trio played a full 90 minutes in front of their home crowd. Beckerman made three assists throughout the tournament until making to the final. On July 28, 2013, Beckerman played a full 90 minutes with Rimando to help secure the United States' 5th Gold Cup championship against Panama in a 1–0 victory. It was his first Gold Cup title as well as Rimando's and Beltran's. He was also named the game's Most Valuable Player. On May 22, 2014 Beckerman was named to the final 23-man roster for the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from ...

in Brazil. The tournament was his first-ever World Cup appearance. He started as defensive midfielder in all three matches of the group stage, as the U.S. to advance out of the "

Group of Death A group of death in a multi-stage tournament is a group which is unusually competitive, because the number of strong competitors in the group is greater than the number of qualifying places available for the next phase of the tournament. Thus, ...

". Klinsmann elected to sit Beckerman in the Round of 16 match against

; the Americans subsequently allowed 18 shots on goal in a 2–1 loss, which eliminated them from the World Cup.

Coaching career

On April 12, 2021, Beckerman was named head coach of the

Utah Valley Wolverines The Utah Valley Wolverines represent Utah Valley University in NCAA DI collegiate athletics and sponsor 16 sporting programs. The Wolverines participate in the Western Athletic Conference. The school mascot is the Wolverine, and the colors are g ...

men's soccer team.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list the United States' goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Beckerman goal.''

Honors

Real Salt Lake *

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; Protests ...

* Western Conference (Playoffs):

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

* Eastern Conference (Playoffs):

United States *

CONCACAF Gold Cup The CONCACAF Gold Cup ( es, Copa de Oro de la CONCACAF, french: Coupe D'or CONCACAF) is the main association football competition of the men's national football teams governed by CONCACAF, determining the continental champion of North Ameri ...

; runner up

Individual *

MLS All-Star The Major League Soccer All-Star Game is an annual soccer game held by Major League Soccer featuring selected players from the league against an international club or selected players from Liga MX. MLS initially adopted a traditional all-star ...

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrates ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

* MLS All-Star Inactive List:

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; ...

References

External links

* *
Twitter page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beckerman, Kyle 1982 births Living people People from Crofton, Maryland Miami Fusion players MLS Pro-40 players Colorado Rapids players Real Salt Lake players A-League (1995–2004) players Major League Soccer players Major League Soccer All-Stars Soccer players from Maryland 2007 Copa América players 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2014 FIFA World Cup players 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Copa América Centenario players CONCACAF Gold Cup-winning players United States men's youth international soccer players United States men's under-23 international soccer players United States men's international soccer players Jewish American sportspeople Jewish footballers American people of German-Jewish descent People from Bowie, Maryland People from Prince George's County, Maryland Association football midfielders Designated Players (MLS) American soccer players Utah Valley Wolverines men's soccer coaches 21st-century American Jews