Nate Hetherington is an 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 ...

player who played professionally in the

USL A-League The USL First Division (USL-1) was a professional men's soccer league in the second tier of the United States league system. It was organized by the United Soccer League as its premier league for men from 1996 to 2010, above the USL Second Di ...

. Hetherington grew up in Encinitas, California playing for the La Jolla Nomads youth club. He graduated from

San Dieguito High School San Dieguito High School Academy, originally known as San Dieguito Union High School and San Dieguito High School, is a public high school in Encinitas, California. It is part of San Dieguito Union High School District. The school was esta ...

where he earned Player of the Year of all schools in San Diego County. He then attended the

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Es ...

and still stands in the top ten of most points. While there he played for the Tritons soccer team from 1994 to 1996. In 1997, the Orange County Zodiac selected Hetherington in the Territorial Round (sixteenth overall) of the A-League draft. Hetherington did not sign with the Zodiac. In 1998, he turned professional with the San Diego Flash of the

. He was the first player signed to the new San Diego Flash. In March 2002, Hetherington moved to the

Atlanta Silverbacks The Atlanta Silverbacks FC were an American professional soccer club based in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1998 as Atlanta Ruckus, the club played in many leagues over the years before folding after the 2015 season. The team played its home game ...

after the Flash disbanded. In 2002, the Harrisburg Heat selected Hetherington in the Major Indoor Soccer League territorial draft as the first round first pick. The San Diego Sockers then acquired Hetherington in exchange for Renato Pereira. After a successful year with the SD Sockers, Hetherington decided to retire and focus on coaching. By this time, Hetherington had begun to coach youth soccer in San Diego. He came out of retirement to rejoin the San Diego Sockers team as captain. That same year he also played for the

United States men's national soccer team The United States men's national soccer team (USMNT), officially recognized as USA by FIFA, represents the United States in men's international Association football, soccer. The team is governed by the United States Soccer Federation, which is ...

Hetherington scored seven goals in twelve regular season games, but tore his

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation. In ...

during the playoffs and lost the entire 2010–2011 season. He returned in 2011 for one last season with the Sockers.2011-12 San Diego Sockers
/ref> He is currently living in Encinitas, California with his wife and two daughters where he works as assistant director for the Rancho Santa Fe Attack.

External links

Nate Hetherington Inspires Fans to Come to SD Sockers

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hetherington, Nate Living people 1974 births American men's soccer players Atlanta Silverbacks FC players UC San Diego Tritons men's soccer players Major Indoor Soccer League (2001–2008) players San Diego Flash players San Diego Sockers (2009) players San Diego Sockers (2001–2004) players Major Arena Soccer League players A-League (1995–2004) players Men's association football midfielders 20th-century American sportsmen