Jeff Stock, #16, celebrates his 1982 EuroPac Cup-winning goal in Vancouver BC.
Jeff Stock: American boy makes good
by Heather Johnson, WATN Editor
Jeff Stock’s soccer career was marked by dependability, quiet confidence, and a strong work ethic. In other words, he was a model defender, the kind of player that any goalkeeper would be relieved to have in front of him.
It wasn’t sure from the start that he would end up a professional soccer player, though. His father, Wes Stock, had been a professional baseball pitcher, and Jeff played both soccer and baseball until he signed with the Sounders out of high school in 1978. His decision must not have bothered his father too much, as Wes Stock, then a color commentator on Mariner broadcasts, made frequent mention of his son and the Sounders.
It was a decision that would prove hard on his knees, however, as he was forced to retire after only 10 years, and surgeries on both knees. It was quite the impressive decade, though! Stock managed to break into the Seattle lineup in the midst of the record-setting 1980 season, and was a contender for Rookie-of-the-Year. In 1982, he scored one goal and two assists in the playoffs to help get the Sounder to Soccer Bowl, which he started in.
After the Sounders folded, Stock began a tour of northwest soccer teams by playing for Vancouver in the final year of the NASL (1984), as well as playing indoor soccer for the Tacoma Stars of the MISL from ’84-’86. He went back outdoors with the FC Seattle Storm, where he ended his career. He spent two years with the Storm as a player/assistant coach, and one year as assistant coach, until that team folded after the 1990 season.
It would seem that Stock has made good use of his time in life after soccer, from the way his name pops up in the newspapers from time to time. In 2001 he sold Wild Waves/Enchanted Village to Six Flags (and still owns the land!), and more recently (November 2003) was part of a group that created the ‘Coffee Cup’, a local college soccer event.
Jeff Stock Internet Links
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/145494_theinsider27.html
http://www.seattleu.edu/student/us/VarsityAthletics/msoccer/PressReleases/PlayerBios/Stock.asp
http://www.ultimaterollercoaster.com/news/archives/october00/stories/100100_01.shtml
http://www.themeparksonline.org/tponews.asp?ID=237
