Joe Machnik (born January 13, 1943) is an American soccer player, coach, referee, and broadcaster. He is highly regarded for his contributions to the sport in the U.S. On August 3, 2017, he was elected to the National Soccer Hall of Fame on the builder ballot.
Player
Machnik was a soccer player at the Brooklyn Campus of Long Island University. In 1962, he was honored as an All-American goalkeeper.
He was a member of the New York Ukrainians, winner of the 1965 U.S. Open Cup.
Coach/administrator
Machnik has held the following positions:
Head coach of 1966 LIU team that reached the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championship game Coach of the men's and women's soccer team at University of New Haven; also coached the hockey team Assistant coach for the U.S. Men’s National Team that reached the 1990 World Cup in Italy Coach of the New York Arrows of the Major Indoor Soccer League Commissioner of the American Indoor Soccer Association
No. 1 Soccer Camps
Machnik started the No. 1 Goal Keeper's Camp in 1977. The camp was later expanded to include field players, and renamed to No. 1 Soccer Camps. The camps have trained over 80,000 players ,including Nick Rimando, Brad Friedel, Tony Meola, David Vanole, Briana Scurry, and Herculez Gomez. Scurry and Machnik were elected to the National Soccer Hall of Fame as part of the 2017 soccer class.
Referee
Machnik's soccer refereeing accomplishments include the following:
Director of Refereeing of MISL
Director of Refereeing of Major League Soccer
Director of Refereeing of National Premier Soccer League
Member of team to run the 2017 Gold Cup Referee Candidate Course in Dallas
Match commissioner for both CONCACAF and FIFA including overseeing World Cup qualifiers and CONCACAF Champions League games
Broadcaster
Machnik is the current rules and match commentator for soccer games broadcast by Fox Sports. He started in this role during the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup. He has been a commentator for many games including Gold Cups, Women's World Cup, MLS, U.S. National Team, UEFA Champions League, Copa America, the 2018 FIFA World Cup and the Confederations Cup.
Author
So You Want to Be a Goal Keeper
So Now You are a Goalkeeper
Personal life
Machnik has a Ph.D. from the University of Utah in Recreation/Leisure Studies.
References
1943 births
Living people
American soccer coaches
National Professional Soccer League (1984–2001) Men's association football goalkeepers American men's soccer players College men's ice hockey coaches in the United States LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds men's soccer coaches LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds men's soccer players Long Island University alumni Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) coaches National Soccer Hall of Fame members New Haven Chargers men's soccer coaches New Haven Chargers women's soccer coaches New York Arrows University of Utah alumni