Mark Karpun

Last updated
Mark Karpun
Personal information
Full name Mark Edward Karpun
Date of birth (1963-06-12) 12 June 1963 (age 59)
Place of birth Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Position(s) Forward
Youth career
1976 B.C. Travellers
1980–81 McNair High School
1980–82 Richmond Olympic [1] [2]
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1981 Calgary Boomers (reserve team)
1982–1983 Rowdies II (reserve team) 12 (16)
1983–1984 Tampa Bay Rowdies (indoor) 34 (23)
1983–1984 Tampa Bay Rowdies 27 (6)
1984–1990 Dallas Sidekicks (indoor) 249 (146)
1989–1992 Vancouver 86ers 65 (9)
1990–1992 Tacoma Stars (indoor) 76 (48)
International career
1983–1986 Canada 2 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Mark Edward Karpun (born June 12, 1963) is a Canadian retired soccer player that played in the North American Soccer League, the Major Indoor Soccer League the Canadian Soccer League and for the Canadian Men's National Team. He is also noted for having twice scored the golden goal of sudden-death overtime to win an indoor championship final.

Contents

Early life

Mark Karpun was born in Vancouver, British Columbia. He played for B.C. Travellers at age 13, and later for McNair High School in Richmond, B.C. [3]

North American Soccer League

Karpun was chosen straight out of McNair by the Calgary Boomers with the 17th pick of the first round of the 1981 NASL draft. [4] He joined the Boomers in June after graduating high school and played on an amateur contract through the remainder of the 1981 season. [5] While in Calgary he played exclusively on the reserve team, never appearing in an NASL match before the team folded at the end of the season.

Karpun was signed to the Tampa Bay Rowdies developmental squad, Rowdies II, in May 1982. [6] With the Rowdies II he scored 16 goals in 12 matches. Following Gordon Jago’s resignation in July 1982, Karpun’s old coach in Calgary, Al Miller, was named the Rowdies’ new head coach. In late 1982 Karpun, and other Tampa Bay reservists received their first international experience when they trained for two months in Brazil with the world renowned club, São Paulo FC. [7] [8] Karpun's first chance to crack the Rowdies regular line up came during the 1983 indoor season. As unheralded young players go, Karpun did well, scoring 11 goals in 11 matches. [9] This included his double overtime, game-winner in the Indoor Grand Prix finals versus the Montreal Manic. [10]

His strong indoor play, coupled with rapidly shrinking NASL budgets, earned him a call up onto the Rowdies first-team roster midway through the 1983 outdoor season. [11] Barely 20 years old at the time, he scored 5 times in 13 appearances. He continued to play for the Rowdies through the 1983–84 indoor and 1984 outdoor campaigns.

Major Indoor Soccer League

With the collapse of the NASL immanent, Karpun signed with the expansion Dallas Sidekicks of the MISL in October 1984 [12] prior to the 1984–85 season. This reunited him with several people from his time in Tampa Bay including Tatu, Wes McLeod, Perry Van der Beck and head coach, Gordon Jago, the man who had originally signed him to the Rowdies II squad. [13] Karpun was a regular in the Sidekicks lineup in all but one of his six seasons in Dallas, when a knee injury early in the 1985–86 season limited him to 16 of 48 games that year. [12] [14]

In the 1987 MISL Finals against the heavily favored Tacoma Stars, he again proved to have the magic touch. In Game 6 he scored another double overtime, golden goal, this time to force a winner-take-all seventh game. [15] [16] Two nights later in Game 7 he redirected in the game-winner at 9:23 of overtime to give the Sidekicks their first ever indoor crown. [17] [18] In Dallas Sidekicks history, Karpun ranks fifth in goals (146), seventh in assists (76), and eighth in games played (249). [19]

In September 1990 he signed with the Tacoma Stars to be closer to his family in Vancouver. Over two seasons with Tacoma he played in 76 games.

Canadian Soccer League

Beginning in 1989 Karpun spent several summers playing outdoors with his hometown Vancouver 86ers in the Canadian Soccer League. During that time Vancouver won the regular season every year, the CSL Championship three times, and the 1990 North American club title as well. They were also CSL runners up in 1992. He retired from the sport in 1993. [20]

National team

Karpun wore the Canadian men's national team uniform several times between 1983 and 1986, but figured in only two matches, both as a substitute. [21] [22] He first played in the return leg of a 1983 Olympic qualifier versus Mexico on November 23 at Royal Athletic Park in Victoria, British Columbia. Karpun came on as a substitute in the 60th minute. [23] He was part of the roster for the President's Cup in June 1985 [24] but did not appear in either of Canada's two matches. He made his only other national team appearance as a substitute in a 3–0 international friendly loss to Mexico on April 27, 1986 at Estadio Azul, Mexico City. [25]

Personal life

He and his wife Daniela and have three children. [26] Karpun is now employed as a captain in the Richmond Fire Department in the Metro Vancouver city of Richmond, British Columbia [27]

Honours

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tampa Bay Rowdies (1975–1993)</span> Defunct American soccer club

The Tampa Bay Rowdies were an American professional soccer team based in Tampa, Florida, that competed in the original North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1975 to 1984. They enjoyed broad popular support in the Tampa Bay area until the NASL folded in 1984, after which the team played in various minor indoor and outdoor leagues before finally folding on January 31, 1994. The Rowdies played nearly all of their outdoor home games at Tampa Stadium and nearly all of their indoor games at the Bayfront Center Arena in nearby St. Petersburg, Florida. Although San Diego played indoors until 1996, the Rowdies were the last surviving NASL franchise that played outdoor soccer on a regular basis.

Antonio Carlos Pecorari, commonly known as Tatu, is a Brazilian football coach and former player, and one of the most accomplished indoor football players of all time. He is currently the head coach of the Mesquite Outlaws in the Major Arena Soccer League. His nickname means "armadillo" in Portuguese.

Arnold "Arnie" Mausser is an American former soccer goalkeeper who played with eight different NASL teams from 1975 to 1984. He is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame.

Peter Roe is a Canadian international soccer player who spent twelve seasons in the North American Soccer League and two in the Major Indoor Soccer League. He also earned nine caps, scoring one goal, with the Canadian national soccer team between 1974 and 1983.

Wes McLeod is a retired Canadian soccer player who earned eighteen caps with the Canadian national soccer team.

Stephen Kinsey is an English former football forward who began his career in 1979 with Manchester City before moving to the United States in 1986. He then played professionally in the Major Indoor Soccer League, American Soccer League and others before retiring in 1997.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Jose Earthquakes (1974–1988)</span> Defunct American soccer club

San Jose Earthquakes was a professional soccer club that played from 1974 to 1988. The team began as an expansion franchise in the North American Soccer League (NASL), and was originally set to play in San Francisco; but slow season ticket sales led to a late switch to San Jose's Spartan Stadium. The switch to sports-starved San Jose was an immediate hit, and the Earthquakes led the league with attendance over 15,000 per game in 1974, double the league average. The team's success led Spartan Stadium to be chosen as site of the first NASL Soccer Bowl in 1975. From 1983 to 1984, the team was known as the Golden Bay Earthquakes. During this time, it also played in the original Major Indoor Soccer League and in the NASL's indoor circuit, winning the first ever NASL indoor tournament in 1975. Their indoor games were first played at the Cow Palace and later at the Oakland Coliseum Arena.

Perry Van der Beck is an American former soccer midfielder, former coach and technical director, and the current Vice President of Competition and Operations for the United Soccer League.

Joe Ulrich is a retired U.S. soccer defender. He won the 1982 Hermann Trophy as that year's top collegiate soccer player. He also played three seasons in the Major Indoor Soccer League.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pedro DeBrito</span> Cape Verdean-American soccer player

Pedro Gomes DeBrito was a U.S.-Cape Verdean soccer midfielder. His career took him through multiple U.S. leagues including the North American Soccer League, Major Indoor Soccer League, American Soccer League and the National Professional Soccer League. He earned one cap with the U.S. national team in 1983.

Fran O'Brien is an Irish footballer who played during the 1970s and 1980s. He was the first player to be capped for the Republic of Ireland playing in U.S., earning a total of four caps. He now coaches for the premier club, PacNW, in Seattle WA.

Flemming Lund is a former Danish professional football player in the midfielder position, who played both in Europe and the United States. He played for Royal Antwerp in Belgium and German teams Rot-Weiss Essen and Fortuna Düsseldorf, winning the 1979 DFB-Pokal trophy with Düsseldorf. Lund played 20 games and scored two goals for the Denmark national football team from 1972 to 1979. He moved to the United States in 1979 and played for a number of American teams in the North American Soccer League and the Major Indoor Soccer League.

The 1983–84 North American Soccer League indoor season was the fourth and last in league history. The San Diego Sockers defeated the New York Cosmos for their third straight indoor title, having won the NASL Indoor title in 1981–82 and the MISL title in 1982–83.

North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional soccer league with teams in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984. Beginning in 1975, the league final was called the Soccer Bowl.

Over the course of three weekends in March 1976, the North American Soccer League hosted its second league-wide indoor soccer tournament. Twelve of the twenty NASL teams participated.

The 1983 NASL Grand Prix of Indoor Soccer was an indoor soccer tournament staged by four franchises of the North American Soccer League.

José Márcio Pereira da Silva , better known in the United States as Zequinha is a Brazilian former footballer, who played in Brazil and the United States.

The 1979 NASL Budweiser Indoor Soccer Invitational was a four-team indoor soccer tournament held at the Bayfront Center in St. Petersburg, Florida on the final weekend of January 1979.

The 1979 Tampa Bay Rowdies indoor season was the fifth indoor season of the club's existence.

The 1983 Tampa Bay Rowdies indoor season was the ninth indoor season of the team's existence. The Rowdies captured the Indoor Grand Prix title. Although they would play for another 10 years, including two more indoors in 1983–84 and 1986–87, this would be the final trophy won by the original club.

References

  1. [ dead link ]
  2. "29 Mar 1982, 19 - The Province at". Newspapers.com. 1982-03-29. Retrieved 2022-06-05.
  3. "TAMPA BAY ROWDIES APPRECIATION BLOG (1975 to 1993): Mark Karpun 1983, 1984; 1983 (Id), 1984 (Id)". 30 November 2008.
  4. "1981 North American Soccer League North American Soccer League College Draft | SoccerStats.us".
  5. "The Evening Independent - Google News Archive Search".
  6. "Lakeland Ledger - Google News Archive Search".
  7. "St. Petersburg Times - Google News Archive Search".
  8. "NORTH AMERICAN SOCCER LEAGUE: Mark Karpun". Archived from the original on 2016-03-12. Retrieved 2016-02-01.
  9. "NASL-Mark Karpun".
  10. "The Evening Independent - Google News Archive Search".
  11. "The Evening Independent - Google News Archive Search".
  12. 1 2 "Dallas Sidekicks Players: Mark Karpun".
  13. "Herald-Journal - Google News Archive Search".
  14. "The Pittsburgh Press - Google News Archive Search".
  15. "Archives". Los Angeles Times . 19 June 1987.
  16. "Ellensburg Daily Record - Google News Archive Search".
  17. "The Pittsburgh Press - Google News Archive Search".
  18. "The Big D Stands for Destiny".
  19. "Dallas Sidekicks All-time Stats | SoccerStats.us".
  20. "Transactions". The New York Times. 3 April 1993.
  21. "Home".
  22. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-07-28. Retrieved 2016-02-01.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  23. "Home".
  24. [ dead link ]
  25. "Mexico v Canada, 27 April 1986".
  26. "Kristina Karpun - 2011 - Softball".
  27. "Richmond Review, August 29, 2012 by Black Press Media Group - Issuu". Issuu.