Scott Schweitzer (born August 12, 1971) 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 ...

coach and former player. He spent two years as the head coach of

Carolina RailHawks FC North Carolina FC is an American professional association football, soccer team in Cary, North Carolina, a suburb of Raleigh, North Carolina, Raleigh, and member of the USL Championship. Founded in 2006, the team previously was named the Caro ...

College soccer

Schweitzer was born in

Rahway, New Jersey Rahway () is a city (New Jersey), city in southern Union County, New Jersey, Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. A bedroom community of New York City, it is centrally located in the Rahway River, Rahway Valley region, in the New ...

. He was a four-year letter winner at N.C. State University. He was a two-time All-American (second team in 1991 and first team in 1992) and named

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

Player of the Year in 1992. He was a member of the Wolfpack team that made it to the 1990

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

Final Four. Schweitzer was also a member of the U.S.

World University Games The FISU World University Games, formerly the Universiade, is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The former name is a portmanteau of the words "Universi ...

Team from 1992 to 1994. In 2002, he was selected to the ACC's 50th Anniversary men's soccer team.

Professional career

Schweitzer began his professional career in France in 1993 and 1994, where he played for

Stade Brestois 29 Stade Brestois 29, commonly known as Stade Brestois or simply Brest,''Stade Brest'', used by some English-speaking media outlets and journalists, is not a grammatically correct name for the club. is a French professional football club based in ...

and

En Avant Guingamp En Avant Guingamp (, ), commonly referred to as EA Guingamp, EAG, or simply Guingamp (), is a French professional Football in France, football club based in the Communes of France, commune of Guingamp, in France's Brittany region. The club wa ...

of the French Third Division. Upon his return from France, Schweitzer played for one season (1995) with the

Atlanta Ruckus Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County and extends into neighboring DeKalb County. With a population of 520,070 (2024 estimate) living within the city limits, Atlan ...

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. ...

(the forerunner to the A-League) before moving on to the

Carolina Dynamo Salem City FC is an American amateur soccer club based in Bermuda Run, North Carolina that fields a men's team in USL League Two, and a women's team as the North Carolina Fusion in the USL W League. The teams plays their home games at the Truis ...

of the

United Soccer Leagues United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

in 1996. In 1997, Schweitzer was named to the

USL-1 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 D ...

First Team. Schweitzer moved to the

Rochester Rhinos Rochester Rhinos, formerly known as the Rochester Raging Rhinos, was an American soccer team based in Rochester, New York, United States. The club won the 1999 U.S. Open Cup, marking the only time a non-MLS team has won the U.S. Open Cup sinc ...

of USL-1 in 1998. During his time with the Rhinos, Schweitzer won three USL-1 championships (1998, 2000, 2001) and one U.S. Open Cup title (1999). On a personal level, he was named to the USL-1 First Team four times while with the Rhinos, and twice was named First Division Defender of the Year. After six seasons with Rochester, Schweitzer left to join the rival

Syracuse Salty Dogs The Syracuse Salty Dogs (formally Syracuse Football Club) were a professional men's soccer team based in Syracuse, New York. The name of the club originates from "Salty Dog" which is nautical slang for an experienced sailor who has spent much ...

in 2004. Following the suspension of the Syracuse franchise at the end of the season, Schweitzer followed Salty Dogs head coach Laurie Calloway back to Rochester, playing one final season with the Rhinos in 2005, when he served as

team captain In team sport, captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field. In eithe ...

. After the season, the team named him to their all-time Rhinos squad in celebration of the franchise's tenth anniversary. Schweitzer retired from professional soccer at the end of the 2005 campaign.

Indoor soccer

In addition to his outdoor play, Schweitzer was also a professional

indoor soccer Indoor soccer or arena soccer is a form of five-a-side football, five-a-side or six-a-side version of minifootball. It is derived from association football and adapted to be played in walled hardcourt indoor arenas. It differs from the FIFA, FIFA ...

player. He played eight seasons for the

Cleveland Crunch The Cleveland Crunch is an American professional indoor soccer club located in Cleveland, Ohio. Formed in 1989 as an expansion team in the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL), the Crunch played a total of 16 seasons in three separate leagues unde ...

of the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) (and later

MISL Major Indoor Soccer League has been the name of three different American professional indoor soccer leagues: *Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992), known in its final two seasons as the Major Soccer League *Major Indoor Soccer League (2001–2 ...

). He was named to the NPSL All-Rookie Team in the 1994–95 and was also named the Crunch's Rookie of the Year. Schweitzer was a four-time NPSL All-Star, and won two league championships with the Crunch; in 1996 and 1999 where he scored the game-winning goal in what would prove to be the final NPSL championship game. In 2004–05, Schweitzer played one season with 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 ...

of the MISL.

Coaching career

After his retirement as a player, Schweitzer took a job as a full-time coach and director of Next Level Academy in

Morrisville, North Carolina Morrisville is a town located primarily in Wake County, North Carolina, United States (a small portion extends into neighboring Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County). According to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the populatio ...

He also served as an assistant coach of the

Raleigh Elite North Carolina FC U23 is an American soccer team based in Cary, North Carolina. It was founded in 2002 as the Raleigh Elite, and the current affiliate of North Carolina FC, a third division club in the United Soccer League. The team plays in ...

PDL squad for the 2006 season. On October 11, 2006, Schweitzer was introduced as the first head coach of the Carolina RailHawks, a USL-1 expansion franchise that will start play in 2007. The RailHawks job is Schweitzer's first as a head coach of a professional soccer team. In October 2008, the RailHawks announced that Schweitzer would no longer continue as head coach.RailHawks founder Economides, coach Schweitzer to leave team
/ref> During his two years as coach of Carolina, he took the team to a 24–24–24.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schweitzer, Scott 1971 births Living people American Professional Soccer League players All-American college men's soccer players American expatriate men's soccer players American soccer coaches American men's soccer players Atlanta Silverbacks FC players Baltimore Blast (2001–2008 MISL) players North Carolina Fusion U23 players North Carolina FC coaches Cleveland Crunch (NPSL) players En Avant Guingamp players Expatriate men's footballers in France Men's association football defenders Major Indoor Soccer League (2001–2008) players National Professional Soccer League (1984–2001) players NC State Wolfpack men's soccer players Sportspeople from Rahway, New Jersey Rochester New York FC players Soccer players from Union County, New Jersey Stade Brestois 29 players Syracuse Salty Dogs players A-League (1995–2004) players USISL Select League players USL First Division coaches USL First Division players 20th-century American sportsmen