Jeff Baicher

Jeff Baicher (born November 16, 1968 in Sunnyvale, California) is a retired American soccer forward whose professional career took him through multiple leagues, including the Western Soccer League, American Professional Soccer League, Continental Indoor Soccer League and Major League Soccer. He ended his playing career with the Bay Area Seals of the USL A-League. He earned two caps with the U.S. national team and coaches youth soccer.

Youth

Baicher was born and raised in California. He lived in Santa Clara County while growing up and entered organized soccer with the Sunnyvale United Soccer Club. He also attended Homestead High School where he played on the boys soccer team. After graduating from high school, Baicher attended Foothill College, a local two year community college near his home. In 1989, he transferred to Santa Clara University where he spent the next two seasons. In 1989, Baichers first year with the Broncos, the team shared the NCAA championship title with Virginia after the two schools played even through four overtimes. While at Santa Clara, he paired with fellow forward Paul Bravo who later teamed with Baicher at both the San Francisco Bay Blackhawks and the San Jose Clash. He ended his two years at Santa Clara fifth on the NCAA list of assists per game with 37 in 43 games.

Minor leagues

While still in college, Baicher began playing for the San Francisco Bay Blackhawks of the Western Soccer League during the collegiate off season. He would remain with the Blackhawks for their entire existence under that name, beginning with the team’s first season in 1989 and ending in 1991. During his years with the Blackhawks, he became an integral part of this dominant U.S. club, seeing time in 17 games and scoring 3 goals in the 1992 season. That same season, the Blackhawks went to the semifinals of the CONCACAF Champions' Cup. The last two seasons saw Baicher play for Laurie Calloway as well as former Broncos team mate Paul Bravo .

In 1991, he traveled to England where he had a trial with Manchester United. Although he played games with the reserve squad, he was never offered a contract.

In 1994, Baicher spent the season with the Central California Valley (CCV) Hydra of the U.S. Interregional Soccer League (USISL). The next year found him with the Monterey Bay Jaguars of the USISL Professional League. That season, Monterey Bay compiled a 16-4 record, taking their Division championship. That put them in the Sizzling Nine tournament where they failed to make the title game.

The 1995 season also saw Baicher spend time with the San Jose Grizzlies of the Continental Indoor Soccer League (CISL).

MLS

In 1996, the San Jose Clash of Major League Soccer took Baicher in the 6th round (58th overall) of the 1996 MLS Inaugural Player Draft. He went on to play from 1996 to 1999 in San Jose. The first two seasons saw him reunited with his former Blackhawks coach Laurie Calloway as well as his recurring team mate Paul Bravo. The team thought so highly of him that they protected him in the 1997 MLS Expansion Draft. However, in 1999, he was the team’s second leading scorer with three goals and nine assists when San Jose sent him to the New England Revolution for Jair on August 13, 1999. The mid-season trade sparked considerable controversy as Robert Kraft owned both teams. Kraft owned the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL) and had grown up and lived in the New England area his entire life. At the time it appeared as if Kraft had made the trade in order to boost the Revolution’s prospects at the expense of the Clash.

Regardless, Baicher spent only the remainder of the 1999 season with the Revs before being traded, with a third round draft pick, to the Kansas City Wizards on January 3, 2000 for the Wizards’ second, third and fourth round picks in the 2000 Super Draft. Baicher was furious with the trade and refused to move to Kansas City. He had spent his entire playing career in the San Francisco bay area and his wife had long established herself in the Silicon Valley computer industry. He demanded that the league send him back to San Jose. When MLS refused to invalidate the trade or pressure the Wizards to send him to the Earthquakes, Baicher retired from MLS. That year, he played for the Bay Area Seals of the USL A-League. He was named the team’s Offensive Player of the Year The team folded at the end of the season and Baicher retired from playing professionally.

National team

Baicher earned two caps with the U.S national team in 1990 and 1991. His first cap came as a substitute for Bruce Murray in a February 13, 1990 victory over Bermuda. His second, and last, cap came a year later as a substitute for Fernando Clavijo in a February 1, 1991 loss to Switzerland.

Coaching

Since retiring from playing professionally, Baicher has joined the coaching ranks with Bethany University. He is currently the Boys Coaching Director and coach for the DeAnza Force Soccer Club.

External links

• De Anza Force bio
• MLS Player Page