Roland Sikinger is a retired American
soccer
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
goalkeeper
In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...
who played professionally in the
North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to:
*North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league
*North American Soccer League (2011–2017)
The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...
,
United Soccer League
United Soccer League (USL), formerly known as United Soccer Leagues, is a Association football, soccer league in the United States and Canada. It organizes several men's and women's leagues, both professional and amateur. Men's leagues curren ...
,
American Soccer League and
Major Indoor Soccer League.
Player
Club career
Sikinger graduated from
James Madison High School. He went on to play for the
Milwaukee Bavarians
Bavarian United SC is an American soccer team based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. Bavarian Majors of the Bavarian Soccer Club compete in the United Premier Soccer League. The team plays its home games in the athletic stadium at the Heart ...
. In 1978, he signed with the
Houston Hurricane
The Houston Hurricane was a soccer team based out of Houston that played in the NASL. They played from 1978 to 1980. Their home field was the Astrodome. Their colors were orange, white and red.
History
The team was the last of six expansion te ...
of the North American Soccer League. He spent three seasons with the Hurricane. In the fall of 1978, the
Houston Summit
Houston Summit were a professional indoor soccer team that operated from 1978 to 1980. They played in the original Major Indoor Soccer League. In 1980, the franchise was moved to Baltimore to become the Baltimore Blast. Their roster mainly include ...
was established as a charter member of the
Major Indoor Soccer League. The Summit drew on the Hurricane for most of their roster. Consequently, Sikinger played the 1978-1979 indoor season with the Summit. In 1979, he moved to the
Wichita Wings
The Wichita Wings were a professional indoor soccer franchise based in Wichita, Kansas. The Wings were admitted to the Major Indoor Soccer League as an expansion team on August 21, 1979. for one season. In 1981, he played for the
New York Eagles The New York Eagles were a professional soccer franchise that played in the American Soccer League from 1978 to 1981, with a one-year hiatus in 1980. The franchise played its first season in Mount Vernon, New York, then moved to Albany, New York f ...
of the
American Soccer League. The Eagles played in
Albany, New York
Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York City ...
and were sometimes referred to as the Albany Eagles. In 1984, he played for the
Houston Dynamos
Houston Dynamos was a U.S. soccer team that existed in various forms from 1983 to 1991. In 1991, the team's owners changed the name to Houston International, but the team lasted only through the 1992 season before folding. The Dynamos were foun ...
in the
United Soccer League
United Soccer League (USL), formerly known as United Soccer Leagues, is a Association football, soccer league in the United States and Canada. It organizes several men's and women's leagues, both professional and amateur. Men's leagues curren ...
.
Sikinger was inducted into the Wisconsin Soccer Hall of Fame in 2020.
National team
Sikinger played for the national youth team at the
1979 Pan American Games
The 1979 Pan American Games (Spanish: ''Juegos Panamericanos de 1979''), officially the VIII Pan American Games were a multi-sport event governed by the Panam Sports Organization, and were held in San Juan, Puerto Rico, from July 1 to July 15 ...
. He was also a member of the 1980 U. S. Olympic soccer team which qualified for the tournament but was unable to compete when President
Jimmy Carter
James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...
decided that the United States would boycott the games due to the
Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
.
References
External links
NASL stats
1959 births
Living people
Soccer players from Milwaukee
American soccer coaches
American men's soccer players
American Soccer League (1933–1983) players
Houston Dynamos players
Houston Hurricane players
Houston Summit players
Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players
Bavarian United SC players
New York Eagles players
North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players
North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players
United Soccer League (1984–85) players
Wichita Wings (MISL) players
Footballers at the 1979 Pan American Games
Pan American Games competitors for the United States
United States men's under-20 international soccer players
Men's association football goalkeepers
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