Ali Kazemaini (born in

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

) is a retired Iranian-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 ...

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

and former men's head coach at

Cleveland State Cleveland State University (CSU) is a Public university, public research university in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It was established in 1964 and opened for classes in 1965 after acquiring the entirety of Fenn College, a private school th ...

. He spent eight seasons in the Major Indoor Soccer League and one in the National Professional Soccer League, earning 1985 MISL Rookie of the Year honors.

Youth

Born in

, Kazemaini moved to the United States to attend Orange High School in

Orange County, California Orange County (officially the County of Orange; often initialized O.C.) is a county (United States), county located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Southern California, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population ...

. He graduated from Orange High School in 1980 and entered

Cleveland State University Cleveland State University (CSU) is a public research university in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It was established in 1964 and opened for classes in 1965 after acquiring the entirety of Fenn College, a private school that had been in oper ...

that fall. While at Cleveland State, he played on both the school's soccer and tennis teams. In June 1983, the U.S. government discovered that he had allowed his student visa to lapse in January 1979, thus placing him in the country illegally. He subsequently reapplied for a visa as well as U.S. citizenship. Kazemaini played for the Vikings from 1980 to 1983. He finished his career ranked fifth on the career goals list with 41, sixth in points with 102 and ninth in assists with 20. He was a second team All American in 1981 and 1983. Following his collegiate career, Kazemaini was selected for the 1984 U.S. Olympic soccer team. However, he had not yet received his citizenship before the games began and was dropped from the team.

Professional

In 1983, Kazemaini was drafted by both the Cleveland Force of Major Indoor Soccer League and the San Diego Sockers of the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League (NASL) was the top-level major professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984. It is considered the first soccer league to be successful on a national scale in the ...

. He signed with the Force, earning Rookie of the Year honors for the 1984–1985 season. When the Force folded following the 1987–1988 season, he moved to the

Tacoma Stars The Tacoma Stars are an American professional indoor soccer team based in Tacoma, Washington, that competes in the Major Arena Soccer League (MASL). The franchise also operates in USL League Two, a minor outdoor league. Founded in 2003, the indo ...

. At some point, he moved to the

Baltimore Blast The Baltimore Blast are an American professional indoor soccer team based in Baltimore, Maryland, that competes in the Major Arena Soccer League (MASL). Including one championship victory as the original Baltimore Blast, the team has won 10 c ...

, playing for them during at least the 1991–1992 season. Both MISL and the Blast folded at the end of the season, and Kazemaini moved to the

Canton Invaders The Canton Invaders was an indoor soccer club based in Canton, Ohio that competed in the National Professional Soccer League. After the 1995–96 season, the team relocated and became the Columbus Invaders. History The Canton Invaders were a pr ...

of the National Professional Soccer League for the 1992–1993 season, after having appeared for the

North York Rockets The North York Rockets were a professional soccer team based in North York, Toronto, Ontario that competed in the original Canadian Soccer League (1987–1992), Canadian Soccer League. They were one of four teams to participate in every season of ...

in the outdoor

Canadian Soccer League The Canadian Soccer League (CSL; ) is a semi-professional league for Canadian soccer clubs primarily located in the province of Ontario, and claims the history of the Canadian National Soccer League (CNSL). It is a non-FIFA league previously ...

Coach

In 1992,

John Carroll University John Carroll University (JCU) is a Private university, private Jesuit university in University Heights, Ohio, United States. Located in a suburb of Cleveland, it is primarily an undergraduate, liberal arts college, liberal arts institution compo ...

hired Kazemaini as head coach. Over fourteen seasons, his team won seven Ohio Athletic Conference regular season titles and four post-season tournament titles and compiled a 177–61–13 record. On December 15, 2005, Kazemaini moved to

. In 2005, Kazemaini coached the Cleveland Soccer Academy in the USL Super Y-League.

References

External links

Cleveland State coaching profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kazemaini, Ali 1963 births Living people American soccer coaches American men's soccer players Baltimore Blast (1980–1992) players Canton Invaders players Cleveland Crunch players John Carroll University Cleveland Force (original MISL) players Cleveland State Vikings men's soccer coaches Cleveland State Vikings men's soccer players Iranian emigrants to the United States Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players National Professional Soccer League (1984–2001) players Tacoma Stars players Men's association football forwards North York Rockets players 20th-century American sportsmen