Sam Bick (born

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

) is a former 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 ...

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. He spent nine seasons in 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 ...

and seven seasons in the Major Indoor Soccer League. He also earned two

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

with 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 ...

in 1976.

Youth and college

Bick grew up in

where he played in the St. Louis Celtics youth club and for

De Smet Jesuit High School De Smet Jesuit High School is a Catholic college preparatory high school for boys in Creve Coeur, Missouri, in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Louis. The school began classes in the fall of 1967. It was named in honor of the Belgian Je ...

. He then attended

Quincy University Quincy University (QU) is a Private college, private Franciscans, Franciscan college in Quincy, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1860, it has an enrollment of approximately 1,300 undergraduate and graduate students across five constituent sch ...

, playing on the men's soccer team from 1972 to 1975. In 1973, 1974 and 1975 Quincy won the NAIA Championship. Bick not only experienced success with his team, he also experienced personal recognition, earning both NAIA All Tournament and first team All American recognition in 1975. He graduated from Quincy in 1976 and was selected to the Quincy Athletic Hall of Fame in 1984.

Professional

In 1976, the

Minnesota Kicks The Minnesota Kicks was a professional soccer team that played at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota, from 1976 to 1981. The team was a member of the now defunct North American Soccer League (1968–84), No ...

signed Bick. He played three seasons with the Kicks before moving to 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 ...

in 1979. He played two seasons with the Earthquakes, leaving the NASL in 1980. After leaving the Earthquakes at the end of the 1980 season, Bick signed with the St. Louis Steamers of Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL). He remained with the Steamers until they folded at the end of the 1987–1988 season, becoming the team captain in 1984 after

Steve Pecher Steve Pecher (born St. Louis, Missouri) is an American former soccer defender who is currently the President of St Louis Scott Gallagher. Youth and college Pecher began playing soccer with the youth club, Florissant Cougars, then with his high ...

broke his leg.

National team

Bick earned two

with the U.S. national team in 1976. His first game came in a scoreless tie with

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

in an October 3, 1976, World Cup qualifier. He was subbed out for

Steve Ralbovsky Steve Ralbovsky is a Yugoslav-American former soccer player. He was the 1975 Hermann Trophy winner as the outstanding collegiate soccer player of the year. He then had an extensive professional career including time in the North American Soccer L ...

in the 58th minute. He then played in another scoreless tie with

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

on November 12, 1976.USA - Details of International Matches 1970-1979
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References

External links

1955 births Living people Soccer players from St. Louis American men's soccer players Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players Minnesota Kicks players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Quincy Hawks men's soccer players San Jose Earthquakes (1974–1988) players St. Louis Steamers (original MISL) players United States men's international soccer players All-American college men's soccer players Men's association football midfielders 20th-century American sportsmen {{US-footy-midfielder-1950s-stub