Years Team Height 1.78 m Role Soccer player | Name Gary DePalma 1999-2004 Pittsburgh Riverhounds | |
Date of birth (1976-03-09) March 9, 1976 (age 39) Place of birth Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States 1994-1997 Virginia Wesleyan College Education Upper St. Clair High School, Virginia Wesleyan College | ||
Gary DePalma is a retired American soccer midfielder who played professionally in the USL A-League, National Professional Soccer League and second Major Indoor Soccer League.
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Youth
DePalma graduated from Upper St. Clair High School. He attended Virginia Wesleyan College where he was a 1995 NCAA Division III First Team and 1997 Third Team All American soccer player. Over his four-year collegiate career, DePalma scored 40 goals and added 29 goals in 87 games.
Professional
In 1999, DePalma joined the newly founded Pittsburgh Riverhounds of the USL A-League. He played for the Riverhounds through the 2004 season. In the fall of 2000, he went on trial to Polish side Lechia Gdańsk. In February 2001, the Dallas Burn had selected DePalma in the fifth round (fifty-fifth overall) of the 2001 MLS SuperDraft but waived him soon after. In addition to playing outdoor soccer with the Riverhounds, DePalma had an extensive indoor career as well. In the fall of 1999, he signed with the Detroit Rockers of the National Professional Soccer League. He spent the entire 1999–2000 season with the Rockers, but missed half of the 2000–2001 season while in Poland. The Rockers folded in 2001 and on August 21, 2001, the Philadelphia KiXX selected DePalma with the thirty-third selection of the MISL Dispersal Draft. DePalma spent two season with the KiXX, winning the 2002 championship. He did not play during the 2003–2004 indoor season. In 2004, DePalma was selected by the St. Louis Steamers in the MISL Expansion Draft, but was later dealt via a three-team deal involving Sipho Sibiya and Lee Edgerton to the Cleveland Force on June 11, 2004. The Philadelphia KiXX acquired the rights to DePalma in the 2005 MISL Dispersal Draft, but did not sign DePalma until January 5, 2006.