Wade Webber (born January 12, 1967) 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 who spent most of his career with clubs in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (PNW; ) is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common ...

. However, he did see three years in

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 ...

with the

Dallas Burn Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

and

Miami Fusion Miami Fusion F.C. was an American professional soccer club based in the Miami metropolitan area. The club competed in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team played from 1998 to 2001. Announced in 1997 as one ...

before suffering a career ending knee injury. He is currently head coach of

MLS Next Pro MLS Next Pro (MLSNP) is a men's professional association football, soccer league in the United States and Canada that is affiliated with Major League Soccer (MLS). It launched in 2022 with 21 teams and now comprises 27 reserve sides of MLS clu ...

club Tacoma Defiance.

Youth and college

Webber grew up in the Seattle area, attending Thomas Jefferson High School from 1983 to 1985. In his three years at Jefferson High, Webber was a key part of three consecutive state high school soccer championships. After graduating from high school, Webber attended the

University of Portland The University of Portland (UP) is a private Catholic university in Portland, Oregon, United States. It was founded in 1901 and is affiliated with the Congregation of Holy Cross, which also founded UP's sister school, the University of Notre Da ...

where he played on the men's soccer from 1985 to 1988. His senior year the Pilots went to the NCAA Final Four only to fall to eventual champion

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

Western Soccer League

While still in college, Webber played with

F.C. Portland FC may refer to: Businesses, organisations, and schools * Fergusson College, a science and arts college in Pune, India * Finncomm Airlines (IATA code) * FranklinCovey company, NYSE stock symbol FC * Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force in Pa ...

of the

Western Soccer Alliance The Western Soccer Alliance was a professional soccer league featuring teams from the West Coast of the United States and Western Canada. The league began in 1985 as the Western Alliance Challenge Series. In 1986, it became the Western Soccer ...

during the collegiate off season. He spent both the 1986 and 1987 season with Portland. In 1989, he returned to the professional circuit, this time with the

Portland Timbers The Portland Timbers are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in Portland, Oregon. The Timbers compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The Timbers have p ...

of the renamed

Western Soccer League The Western Soccer Alliance was a professional soccer league featuring teams from the West Coast of the United States and Western Canada. The league began in 1985 as the Western Alliance Challenge Series. In 1986, it became the Western Soccer ...

. While Webber spent three years playing in Portland with F.C. Portland and the Portland Timbers, after completing his collegiate eligibility, he returned to the Seattle area to sign with the

Seattle Storm The Seattle Storm are an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The Storm compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference (WNBA), Western Conference. The team was founded by Gi ...

for the 1990 season. This year both the Storm and the Timbers competed in the newly created

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) which had been formed by the merger of the west coast

and the east coast American Soccer League. The Storm finished with a record of 10-10 and folded at the end of the season. Webber was a second team APSL All Star. Following the demise of the Storm, Webber briefly left professional soccer as he took a teaching job. In 1993, Webber earned a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in teaching from Seattle University. At the time he was also teaching history and coaching the boys soccer team at Sedro-Woolley High School. In 1994, he returned to soccer with the Seattle Sounders of the

(APSL). This was the first year of the resurrected Sounders and it featured many names from the old

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 ...

Sounders. Despite being a first year team, the 1994 Sounders went to the APSL semifinals. During the season, Webber was also a history teacher at Sedro-Woolley High School. Then in 1995 and 1996, the Sounders took the title. In 1994, Webber played 17 games, scoring two goals. In 1995, he saw time in 23 games, scoring one goal.

MLS

In 1997, the

selected Webber in the first round (second pick overall) of the Supplemental Draft. That season, he saw time in twenty-two games, scoring two goals. At the end of the season the Burn did not protect Webber in the

Expansion Draft An expansion draft, in professional sports, occurs when a sports league decides to create one or more new expansion teams or sports franchising, franchises. This occurs mainly in Sports in North America, North American sports and closed leagues. O ...

and he was selected by the

. Webber went on to play two seasons with the Fusion, but on May 15, 1999, he suffered a career ending knee injury.
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Post playing career

Since retiring from playing professional soccer, Webber spent ten years teaching IB History of the Americas and coaching girls soccer at his alma mater Thomas Jefferson High School. Wade Webber Coached Lamar Neagle and the Norpoint Soccer Club Chivas Team, prior to Lamar Neagle signing with the Seattle Sounders. He previously coached at Washington Premier Football Club. After spending three seasons with the team as an assistant, Webber was named head coach of the Tacoma Defiance. Ahead of the 2024 season, Webber was promoted to Director of Development for the Seattle Sounders FC Academy system.

References

External links

1995 Sounders profile

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Webber, Wade 1967 births Living people A-League (1995–2004) players American men's soccer players American Professional Soccer League players FC Dallas players Seattle Storm (soccer) players Seattle Sounders (1994–2008) players Major League Soccer players Miami Fusion players New Orleans Riverboat Gamblers players Portland Pilots men's soccer players Portland Timbers (1985–1990) players Seattle University alumni Sportspeople from Renton, Washington Soccer players from King County, Washington University of Portland alumni Western Soccer Alliance players FC Dallas draft picks Seattle Sounders FC non-playing staff Men's association football defenders Thomas Jefferson High School (Auburn, Washington) alumni 20th-century American sportsmen