Former U.S. international Abby Wambach heads the National Soccer Hall of Fame ballots’ ballot. (Andy Mead/YCJ Photo)
By Michael Lewis
FrontRowSoccer.com Editor
Some familiar national and local names are eligible for election to the National Soccer Hall of Fame.
The list of players, veterans and builders were released Tuesday morning.
Former U.S. international striker Abby Wambach of Rochester, N.Y. heads the list of players, which includes former Red Bulls captain and forward Thierry Henry.
Players with area ties include, in alphabetical order, former U.S. international and New York Power midfielder Shannon Boxx, former Long Island Rough Riders forward Edson Buddle, who played with the U.S. men’s national team, one-time Red Bulls forward Kenny Cooper, ex-Red Bulls defender Todd Dunivant, and one-time Red Bulls back-up goalkeeper Kevin Hartman, former MetroStars/Red Bulls midfielder-forward Clint Mathis, a member of the U.S. squad, ex-Red Bulls defender Heath Pearce, and former MetroStars forward Jaime Moreno, who forged most of his reputation with D.C. United.
Red Bulls head coach Chris Armas was one of 14 players on the veterans ballot, along with former Cosmos and New York Arrows standout Shep Messing and one-time Red Bulls midfielder Chris Henderson and ex-MetroStars midfielder Mike Sorber.
Former U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati, a New York City resident, heads the builders ballot, which includes eight nominees.
The full lists:
Players
David Beckham | Gregg Berhalter | Carlos Bocanegra | Shannon Boxx | Edson Buddle | Rachel Buehler Van Hollebeke | Lori Chalupny | Lauren Cheney Holiday | Steve Cherundolo | Brian Ching | Kenny Cooper | Jeff Cunningham | Todd Dunivant | Kevin Hartman | Frankie Hejduk | Thierry Henry | Stuart Holden | Eddie Johnson | Chris Klein | Karina LeBlanc | Amy LePeilbet | Eddie Lewis | Lori Lindsey | Stephanie Lopez Cox | Pablo Mastroeni | Clint Mathis | Heather Mitts | Jaime Moreno | Ben Olsen | Pat Onstad | Heath Pearce | Troy Perkins | Steve Ralston | Cat Reddick Whitehill | Donovan Ricketts | Leigh Ann Robinson Brown | Tony Sanneh | Homare Sawa | Kate Sobrero Markgraf | Bakary Soumare | Taylor Twellman | Aly Wagner | Abby Wambach | Josh Wolff
Veterans
Chris Armas | Mike Burns | John Doyle | Lorrie Fair | Linda Hamilton | Mary Harvey | Chris Henderson | Lori Henry | Dominic Kinnear | Shep Messing | Tiffany Roberts | Mike Sorber | Greg Vanney | Tisha Venturini – Hoch
Builders
Joe Cummings | Sunil Gulati | Tim Leiweke | Francisco Marcos | Thom Meredith | Lothar Osiander | Kevin Payne | George Strawbridge
