Oscar Pareja Named to Ballot for 2016
FRISCO, Texas – FC Dallas head coach Oscar Pareja has been nominated to the 2016 National Soccer Hall of Fame ballot with elections set to decide this year’s class, it was announced on Tuesday.
Pareja was nominated in the Veteran Player category, reserved for those players retired for at least 10 years and having played in either 20 international games for the U.S. (10 for games prior to 1990), played at least five seasons in an American first-division professional league and selected as a league All-Star at least once, or played at least five seasons in the MISL between 1984-1992.
The former Dallas Burn and New England Revolution midfielder played eight seasons in MLS (1998-2005) appearing in 189 regular-season matches and 17 playoff matches. He was named MLS All-Star in 2002 and U.S. Open Cup runner-up in 2005 with Dallas. Pareja also earned 11 caps with the Colombian National Team, scoring three goals from 1991-1996.
After retiring from playing, Pareja joined FC Dallas as an assistant coach for two seasons before joining the U.S. U-17 Men’s National Team coaching staff. He re-joined FCD in 2008 as the Director of Player Development for the FC Dallas Youth system, building the foundation for Dallas’ highly-regarded Academy. Pareja was named U-18 Academy Coach of the Year in 2011 en route to the club’s first U.S. Soccer Development Academy National Championship. Also in 2011, he served as an assistant coach with the Dallas first team and the head coach of the FC Dallas Reserves.
Following the 2011 season, Pareja was hired as head coach of the Colorado Rapids, his first MLS head coaching job. In two seasons in Colorado, he returned the club to the postseason and posted a 25-30-13 record. In his first season as the head man for FC Dallas in 2014, Pareja won 16 games – the most in a single season for the club since 2006, and led the team back to the postseason for the first time since 2011. Last season, Pareja’s side set a franchise record for points in a season (60) and advanced to the Western Conference Final as the top seed.
From the list of 10 Veteran Player nominees, only current Hall of Fame members will vote on and recommend up to five Veteran candidates – with the top vote getter elected to the Hall as long as he or she appears on 50 percent of the ballots. If no nominee receives 50 percent of the vote, no Veteran will be elected in the 2016 class. More than on candidate can be elected only in the event of a tie.
FC Dallas Technical Director Fernando Clavijo was elected to the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2005, while club patriarch and owner Lamar Hunt was elected in the builder category in 1982.
2016 National Soccer Hall of Fame Player Ballot
- Chris Armas
- Gregg Berhalter
- Brandi Chastain*
- Wilman Conde*
- Jimmy Conrad
- Jeff Cunningham*
- Frankie Hejduk
- Chris Henderson**
- Chris Klein
- Jason Kreis
- Eddie Lewis
- Clint Mathis
- Kate (Sobrero) Markgraf
- Tiffeny Milbrett
- Heather Mitts*
- Jaime Moreno
- John O'Brien**
- Ben Olsen
- Pat Onstad
- Steve Ralston
- Ante Razov
- Tiffany Roberts**
- Tony Sanneh
- Briana Scurry
- Lindsay Tarpley
- Taylor Twellman
- Aly Wagner
- Josh Wolff*
* First year of eligibility
** Final year of eligibility; moves to Veteran ballot in 2017
2016 National Soccer Hall of Fame Veteran Ballot
- Mark Chung
- Troy Dayak
- Danielle Fotoloulos
- Robin Fraser
- Brian Kamler
- Manny Lagos
- Shannon MacMillan
- Oscar Pareja
- Evan Whitfield
- Richie Williams
2016 National Soccer Hall of Fame Builder Ballot
- Esse Baharmast
- Bob Contiguglia
- Don Garber
- Joe Machnik
- Francisco Marcos
- Fritz Marth
- Steve Sampson