Ali Curtis
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ali Curtis | ||
| Date of birth | December 18, 1978 | ||
| Place of birth | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States | ||
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | ||
| Playing position | Forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1997–2000 | Duke Blue Devils | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2001 | Tampa Bay Mutiny | 20 | (2) |
| 2002–2003 | D.C. United | 37 | (6) |
| 2003 | Dallas Burn | 8 | (1) |
| Total | 65 | (9) | |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). | |||
Ali Curtis (born December 18, 1978) is a former American soccer forward. He was the 1999 Hermann Trophy and 2000 MAC Award winner before spending three seasons in Major League Soccer. He currently serves as sporting director of the New York Red Bulls.
Career
College
A native of Milan, MI, Ali Curtis had an extraordinary career playing college soccer at Duke University, where he scored 53 goals and 28 assists from 1997 to 2000, and, in his junior season won the Hermann Trophy, and in his senior season won the MAC Award, both recognizing college soccer's best player. He ranks as the all-time leading goal-scorer in Duke soccer history.[1]
MLS
After graduating from Duke, Curtis was drafted second overall in the 2001 MLS SuperDraft by the Tampa Bay Mutiny.[2] Curtis finished his rookie season with two goals and one assist in 1211 minutes. After the contraction of Tampa Bay in January 2002, Curtis was bypassed by all MLS clubs in both the 2002 MLS Allocation Draft and 2002 MLS Dispersal Draft. He was eventually signed by Dallas Burn but before playing a game was traded to D.C. United, with whom he scored five goals and one assist in 806 minutes in the 2002 season, tying for the club goal scoring lead. Midway through the 2003 season he was traded back to Dallas and finished the season recording a career high six assists. In March 2004, Dallas cut Curtis and he retired after failing to latch on to another club. His MLS career totals of 65 games, 9 goals, and 8 assists make him among the most disappointing #2 overall SuperDraft picks in MLS history. After Curtis, the next four #2 overall picks (Taylor Twellman, Ricardo Clark, Chad Marshall, and Brad Guzan) each enjoyed considerable success in MLS and with the U.S. National Team.
Post-playing career
In 2007 Curtis returned to MLS and held various positions in the league office, and was the league's Senior Director of Player Relations and Competition. On December 23, 2014, Red Bull New York hired Curtis as sporting director.
References
- ↑ "Curtis signs with MLS". Soccer America. January 31, 2001.
- ↑ Brewington, Peter (April 26, 2001). "Mutiny's Curtis makes bid for rookie honors". USA Today.