Damian Troy Silvera (July 27, 1974 – June 14, 2010) was an American soccer player who was a member of the 1996 U.S. Olympic soccer team. He also spent a season and a half in Major League Soccer.
Silvera grew up in Huntington, New York and attended Shenendehowa High School in Clifton Park, New York where he played on the boys soccer team. In his junior and senior years, he was named as an All-American high school player. He won two NY state championships and a national championship while at Shenendehowa.
After graduating from high school, Silvera attended the University of Virginia where he played as a midfielder on the men's soccer team from 1992-1995. He was part of three NCAA championship teams as the Cavaliers took the title in 1992, 1993 and 1994. In 1994, he was the NCAA tournament Offensive MVP and a second team All-American. He graduated as Virginia’s all-time leader in assists.
National teamedit
While in college, he was called up to the U.S. B-Team. In the early 1990s, the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) signed players to national team contracts. These players formed the A-Team. Fringe or up and coming players were part of the B-Team, those members of the national team pool not under contract. The B-Team also served as the core for the junior national teams. In 1994, Silvera began playing with the B-Team. This led to selection for the U.S. team at the 1995 Pan American Games.
Major League Socceredit
As Major League Soccer began preparations for its first season, it signed known players to contracts. From this pool of players, the league allocated four to each team in order to ensure an initial equitable distribution of talent. On February 5, 1996, MLS allocated Silvera to the MetroStars. Eddie Firmani, coach of the MetroStars had requested Silvera based on his standout performances with the University of Virginia and the U.S. B-Teams. Firmani saw Silvera growing into the role of creative midfielder with the MetroStars.
During the middle of the 1996 season, Silvera left the MetroStars to join the U.S. team for the 1996 Summer Olympics. The U.S. went a disappointing 1-1-1 and failed to make the second round. Silvera then rejoined the MetroStars, where it was becoming apparent that he would not become a creative force on the team. Silvera seemed to have difficulty adapting to the professional game and the burden of pre-season expectations wore on him.[citation needed] By the end of the season, the MetroStars coaching staff had moved him to defensive midfielder, but he never adapted to this role either.
On February 3, 1997, the MetroStars traded Silvera to the Kansas City Wizards for Mike Sorber and the first round pick in the 1998 MLS College Draft. However, he appeared in only three games, one as a starter and the Wizards released him. His time in MLS finished, he briefly joined the Richmond Kickers of the A-league before retiring from playing. There were later rumors that he had issues with depression.[1]
Coachingedit
In 2001-2002, Silvera coached Soccer Alley, a team in the Second Division of the Atlanta District Amateur Soccer League.[2] 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine
damian, silvera, damian, troy, silvera, july, 1974, june, 2010, american, soccer, player, member, 1996, olympic, soccer, team, also, spent, season, half, major, league, soccer, personal, informationfull, namedamian, troy, silveradate, birth, 1974, july, 1974pl. Damian Troy Silvera July 27 1974 June 14 2010 was an American soccer player who was a member of the 1996 U S Olympic soccer team He also spent a season and a half in Major League Soccer Damian SilveraPersonal informationFull nameDamian Troy SilveraDate of birth 1974 07 27 July 27 1974Place of birthFlushing NY USDate of deathJune 14 2010 2010 06 14 aged 35 Place of deathHouston TX USHeight5 ft 8 in 1 73 m Position s MidfielderCollege careerYearsTeamApps Gls 1992 1995Virginia CavaliersSenior career YearsTeamApps Gls 1996MetroStars17 0 1997Kansas City Wizards3 0 Total20 0 Club domestic league appearances and goals Contents 1 Youth and college 2 National team 3 Major League Soccer 4 Coaching 5 Honors 6 References 7 External linksYouth and college editSilvera grew up in Huntington New York and attended Shenendehowa High School in Clifton Park New York where he played on the boys soccer team In his junior and senior years he was named as an All American high school player He won two NY state championships and a national championship while at Shenendehowa After graduating from high school Silvera attended the University of Virginia where he played as a midfielder on the men s soccer team from 1992 1995 He was part of three NCAA championship teams as the Cavaliers took the title in 1992 1993 and 1994 In 1994 he was the NCAA tournament Offensive MVP and a second team All American He graduated as Virginia s all time leader in assists National team editWhile in college he was called up to the U S B Team In the early 1990s the United States Soccer Federation USSF signed players to national team contracts These players formed the A Team Fringe or up and coming players were part of the B Team those members of the national team pool not under contract The B Team also served as the core for the junior national teams In 1994 Silvera began playing with the B Team This led to selection for the U S team at the 1995 Pan American Games Major League Soccer editAs Major League Soccer began preparations for its first season it signed known players to contracts From this pool of players the league allocated four to each team in order to ensure an initial equitable distribution of talent On February 5 1996 MLS allocated Silvera to the MetroStars Eddie Firmani coach of the MetroStars had requested Silvera based on his standout performances with the University of Virginia and the U S B Teams Firmani saw Silvera growing into the role of creative midfielder with the MetroStars During the middle of the 1996 season Silvera left the MetroStars to join the U S team for the 1996 Summer Olympics The U S went a disappointing 1 1 1 and failed to make the second round Silvera then rejoined the MetroStars where it was becoming apparent that he would not become a creative force on the team Silvera seemed to have difficulty adapting to the professional game and the burden of pre season expectations wore on him citation needed By the end of the season the MetroStars coaching staff had moved him to defensive midfielder but he never adapted to this role either On February 3 1997 the MetroStars traded Silvera to the Kansas City Wizards for Mike Sorber and the first round pick in the 1998 MLS College Draft However he appeared in only three games one as a starter and the Wizards released him His time in MLS finished he briefly joined the Richmond Kickers of the A league before retiring from playing There were later rumors that he had issues with depression 1 Coaching editIn 2001 2002 Silvera coached Soccer Alley a team in the Second Division of the Atlanta District Amateur Soccer League 2 Archived 2007 09 28 at the Wayback MachineHonors editIndividual MLS All Star 1997 1 References edit All Star Game flashback 1997 at MLSsoccer com This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Damian Silvera news newspapers books scholar JSTOR February 2021 Learn how and when to remove this message External links editStory of Silvera at the MetroStars Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Damian Silvera amp oldid 1191810408, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
