Paul Holocher (born May 24, 1969, in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...

) is a former U.S.

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 ...

midfielder who played in Austria and

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

. He also earned one

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with the U.S. national team in 1996. He was the Academy Director for MLS club

Houston Dynamo Houston Dynamo Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in Houston. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Established on December 15, 2005, the club was founded after their fo ...

. He is currently the Head of Coaches and Methodology at

Christchurch United Christchurch United Football Club is a Professionalism in association football, professional football club in Christchurch, New Zealand. They compete in various Mainland Football competitions at Junior and Senior level. The club has won six N ...

College

Holocher attended

Santa Clara University Santa Clara University is a private university, private Jesuit university in Santa Clara, California, United States. Established in 1851, Santa Clara University is the oldest operating institution of higher learning in California. The university' ...

where he played for future national team coach

Steve Sampson Mark Stephen Sampson (born January 19, 1957) is an American soccer coach. He is also the former head coach of both the United States men's national team and the Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer. Collegiate career Sampson attended UCL ...

from 1988 to 1991. In 1989, the Broncos were NCAA co-champions with the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

. In 1990, Holocher was a third team

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

n and ended his four seasons with the Broncos as the team's all-time career scorer.
/sup>

Professional

In 1991, Holocher turned professional with the

San Francisco Bay Blackhawks San Francisco Bay Blackhawks were a professional soccer team which came into existence in 1989 as a team in the Western Soccer League (WSL). The Blackhawks spent time in the American Professional Soccer League (APSL) and the United States Interre ...

of the

American Professional Soccer League The American Professional Soccer League (APSL) was a professional men's soccer league with teams from the United States and later Canada. It was formed in 1990 by the merger of the third American Soccer League with the Western Soccer League. ...

(APSL). In 1991, the Blackhawks won the APSL championship. In 1992, the Blackhawks went 8–8. The owner decided to take the team to a lower division and so in 1993 the renamed San Jose Hawks spent one year in the

USISL The United States Interregional Soccer League (USISL) was a semi-professional men's outdoor soccer league that played six seasons from 1989 to 1994. It was the first outdoor league to be operated by the organization known today as the United ...

. The San Jose Hawks won their division and went to the Sizzlin’ Six tournament where Holocher was named MVP. Despite this success the team folded at the end of 1993. Holocher moved to Europe where he signed with Austrian

First Division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...

club

Admira Wacker Admira Wacker is an Austrian professional Association football, football club based in Maria Enzersdorf, a town in the Mödling District of Lower Austria. The team competes in the 2. Liga (Austria), 2. Liga, the second tier of the Football in Au ...

. However, after spending only the 1993–1994 season in Austria, Holocher was back in the U.S. with the

Fort Lauderdale Strikers Fort Lauderdale Strikers may refer to: *Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1977–1983), member of North American Soccer League from 1977 to 1983 *Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1988–1994) The Fort Lauderdale Strikers were an American soccer team establishe ...

(APSL).
/sup> The Strikers folded at the end of the season and Holocher moved back west to the Monterey Bay Jaguars (USISL) which played in Santa Clara, California. The Jaguars won their division and went to the Sizzlin’ Nine tournament. In February 1996, the San Jose Clash of

(MLS) selected Holocher in the fifth round (forty-eighth overall) of the league's Inaugural Player Draft. In April 1996 Holcher injured his knee and did not play again until the post-season. He played in five more games and scored one goal for the Clash. Holocher began the 1997 season with the Clash, but they waived him on April 10, 1997. Holocher returned to the Jaguars, now known as the

California Jaguars California Jaguars were an American soccer team that played in Salinas, California, at the Salinas Sports Complex. They joined the USISL in 1995 as the Monterey Bay Jaguars, but changed the name a year later. They played in the A-League in 19 ...

. In 1998, the Chicago Fire of MLS picked Holocher in the second round (sixteenth overall) of the

Supplemental Draft The NFL draft, officially known as the Annual Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the most common source of player recruitment in the National Football League. Each team is given a position in the drafting order in reve ...

but did not sign him.

National team

In 1996, the national team players went on strike just prior to a game in Peru. Holocher was called into the U.S. national team for the game, a 4–1 loss to

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

on October 16, 1996. Holocher was a second-half substitute for

Ted Eck Ted Eck (born July 14, 1966, in Springfield, Illinois) is an American former soccer player who played for numerous clubs in the United States and Canada over a thirteen-year professional career. He is currently an assistant coach with Real Salt La ...

at forward.

Coaching

In 1999, Holocher entered the coaching ranks both at the collegiate and the youth soccer levels. He founded the Catalyst Soccer Club that year and coached in the Premier Futbol Club of Santa Cruz County. In 1999, the

University of California, Santa Cruz The University of California, Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz or UCSC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Cruz, California, United States. It is one of the ten campuses in the University of C ...

(UC Santa Cruz) also hired Holocher as its NCAA Division III men's soccer coach. In January 2006, Holocher left UC Santa Cruz to become the head coach at NCAA Division I

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly San Luis Obispo or Cal Poly) is a public university in San Luis Obispo County, California, United States, - Cites the location of the university and shows that the university ...

. In his eight seasons at UC Santa Cruz, Holocher compiled a 109–24–8 record. He also took the Slugs to the 2004 Division III

championship game A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the victor in a challenge, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional/provincial/state, national, continental and world championships, and ...

where his team lost 4–0 to

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. In 2004, Holocher was inducted into the Santa Clara University Athletic Hall of Fame.
/sup> Recently he was hired as a youth coach at the U-18 level for the

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

, his former team
Source
He resigned from Cal Poly in August 2014. He spent years working with the

Academy for 3 years before joining the

Academy in July 2018 as the Academy Director.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Holocher, Paul 1969 births Living people Cal Poly Mustangs men's soccer coaches Santa Clara Broncos men's soccer players American expatriate men's soccer players United States men's international soccer players American Professional Soccer League players San Francisco Bay Blackhawks players Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1988–1994) players USISL players San Jose Hawks players California Jaguars players San Jose Earthquakes players American soccer coaches Major League Soccer players Soccer players from Seattle American men's soccer players Expatriate men's footballers in Austria Chicago Fire FC draft picks San Jose Earthquakes non-playing staff Men's association football midfielders 20th-century American sportsmen