Friday, December 17, 2004 - USL News Release

 

TAMPA, FL – United Soccer Leagues announced Thursday that former Major League Soccer coach Perry Van Der Beck has been appointed as the Super Y-League Olympic Development Program National Camp Technical Director.

Van Der Beck replaces former US National Team player Peter Vermes, who stepped down from his position as SYL ODP Technical Director last week to take the position of assistant coach with the US U-20 National Team.

“The Super Y-League’s ODP program is the future of development and identification for US National Teams,” commented Vermes.  “The process of developing the infrastructure of the SYL ODP program and a complete understanding of the USL structure will help me identify players in my new role with the U-20 team.”

Vermes took on the position of technical director in March of 2003 at the inception of the Super Y-League ODP program.  He has helped institute a national scouting system for identifying national players for U.S. National Team programs.  With his new position, he will now be at the other end of player identification spectrum.

“We received a tremendous amount of knowledge from Peter over the last two years while constructing the current system,” said Matt Weibe, Director of the Super Y-League.  “His career as a professional and leading national team player has given us unique insight for identifying players for national team programs.  We at USL strongly believe that Peter will excel as a leader in coaching at the national team level.”

“Perry Van Der Beck is an excellent addition to the SYL’s ODP system with his extensive background that covers various levels of the professional and international game as both a player and a coach.”

Van Der Beck began his professional playing career in the spotlight as the first-ever pro drafted out of high school, going to the Tampa Bay Rowdies and finishing the 1980 season as the team leader in minutes played and the runner-up for the North American Soccer League’s Rookie of the Year honor.

Van Der Beck also served as the captain of the US Olympic Team in 1980 and was named the US Player of the Year in 1985.

After the demise of the NASL, Van Der Beck continued to play for the Rowdies in the American Professional Soccer League (now USL First Division) and the indoor clubs Dallas Sidekicks, St Louis Steamers, Wichita Wings and Tampa Bay Terror.

Van Der Beck, who served on the US Soccer Board of Directors from 1986-93, began his coaching career at the professional level in the APSL with the Rowdies and then with the Terror before joining the MLS’ Tampa Bay Mutiny in 1997. In 2001, Van Der Beck was named head coach of the Mutiny for the team’s final 11 games.

“Perry is a natural fit for this position,” added Weibe. “His credentials are fantastic and by being located here in the Tampa area with our offices and with our SYL ODP Identification Camps in Cocoa, he will be very hands on in the program. Although we saw success in our camps and ODP program over the past year, we felt that having someone who could be more involved would help us take things to the next level in assisting in player development and scouting.”