Keith Tozer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Keith Tozer | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Keith Tozer | |
| Date of birth | ||
| Place of birth | Grosse Pointe, Michigan, United States | |
| Playing position | Forward / Defender | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | Retired | |
| Youth clubs | ||
| 1975-1978 | Oneonta State | |
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1978-1979 1979 1979-1981 1981-1984 1984-1987 1989-1990 |
Cincinnati Kids Pennsylvania Stoners Hartford Hellions Pittsburgh Spirit Louisville Thunder Atlanta Attack |
23 (4) 48 (9) 85 (8) |
| Teams managed | ||
| 1984-1987 1987-1989 1989-1992 1997- 1996-1998 1998- |
Louisville Thunder Los Angeles Lazers Atlanta/Kansas City Attack Milwaukee Wave U.S. Futsal (interim/assistant) U.S. Futsal |
|
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
||
Keith Tozer is a retired soccer player who coaches the Milwaukee Wave of Major Indoor Soccer League.
Tozer grew up in upstate New York. After graduating from high school, he attended Oneonta State from 1975 to 1979 where he played as a forward on the men’s soccer team. He finished his four seasons at Oneonta with the school’s all time points record of 117 off 50 goals and 17 assists.
In 1978, the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) was preparing for its first season. When they held their first college draft, the Cincinnati Kids selected Tozer as the league’s first draft pick. He played a single season with the Kids, as the team folded at the end of the 1978-1979 season.
When the Kids folded, Tozer moved outdoors to the Pennsylvania Stoners for the 1979 American Soccer League season. The Stoners made it to the league’s playoff semifinals before being eliminated by the Columbus Magic.
Tozer moved back to the MISL wher he played for the Hartford Hellions for two seasons. At the end of the 1980-1981 season, Hartford moved to Memphis. Tozer did not move with the team, but joined the Pittsburgh Spirit. Tozer spent the next three seasons with the Spirit. While with the Spirit, Tozer spent time assisting with a summer soccer camp. That experience gave Tozer a taste for coaching which he would use in later years.
In 1984, Tozer left both the Spirit and MISL when he moved to the Louisville Thunder of the American Indoor Soccer Association AISA). The AISA was formed in March 1984 as a rival to MISL. Tozer played nearly 100 games with the Thunder over three seasons, but more significantly, he was the team’s head coach. In his first two seasons with the Thunder, Tozer saw his team fall in the championship series to the Canton Invaders. In his third season with the team, Tozer and the Thunder finally mastered the Invaders, winning their first AISA championship. Tozer left the Thunder in 1987 to become the head coach of the Los Angeles Lazers (MISL), having coached the Thunder to a 70-37 record, three championship series and one AISA title.
In 1987, Tozer became the head coach of the Lazers. Over the next two seasons, Tozer coached the team to a 62-70 record. In 1989 the Lazers folded and Tozer moved back to the AISA where he became a player/coach for the Atlanta Attack. He played only one season with the Attack, 1989-1990. At the end of the season, he retired from playing professionally, becoming a dedicated head coach for the Attack. He remained with the team when it moved to Kansas City in 1991 to become the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) Kansas City Attack. When Tozer left the team at the end of the 1991-1992 season, he had led the team to a 74-46 record.
Tozer joined the Milwaukee Wave in 1997 and continues to coach the team today. He took the Wave to an NPSL championship. Tozer and the Wave won the NPSL title two more times, 1999-2000 and 2000-2001. In 2001, the NPSL became the second incarnation of Major Indoor Soccer League. Tozer and the Wave continued their winning way, taking the MISL championship in 2004-2005.
Tozer’s success as a professional indoor coach has led to his selection as the interim U.S. Futsal team coach in 1996. He took the U.S. to the 1983 CONCACAF Futsal championship that year. Despite that success, he remained and interim/assistant coach until 1998 when he was hired as the team’s head coach. That year he took the U.S. to third, its best finish ever, at the 1998 Futsal World Cup. In 2000, the U.S. took third at the CONCACAF championship before winning the tournament in 2004.[1]
Since 1984 Tozer has become one of the most successful coaches in U.S. soccer history, with over 500 wins, and four championships. He also owns a motivational company, Teamwork Concepts
In 2002, Oneonta State inducted Tozer into the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame.
