John Bluem

John Bluem

Personal information
Date of birth	(1953-04-17) April 17, 1953
Place of birth	Wheeling, West Virginia, United States
Position(s)	Defender
Youth career
1972–1974	Hartwick Hawks
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1975–1976	Tampa Bay Rowdies (indoor)
1975–1976	Tampa Bay Rowdies	15	(0)
Managerial career
1991–1996	Fresno State Bulldogs
1997–	Ohio State Buckeyes
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

John Bluem' is a retired American soccer defender who played professionally in the North American Soccer League. After retiring from playing, Bluem became a men's college soccer coach.

Player

Bluem attended Hartwick College, playing on the men's soccer team from 1972 to 1974. In 1975, he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history. He was inducted into the Hartwick Warrior, now the Hawks, Hall of Fame in 2002. That year, the Tampa Bay Rowdies selected Bluem in fourth round of the North American Soccer League draft. He played the 1975 NASL indoor season before playing two outdoor seasons with the Rowdies, winning the 1975 NASL championship with them.

Coach

In 1984, Bluem earned a masters degree in sports education from the University of Akron. In 1991, he was hired as head coach of the Fresno State men's soccer team. Over the next six seasons, he took the Bulldogs to four NCAA post-season tournaments and compiled an 86-27-12 record. His best season came in 1996 when Fresno State went 17-5-1, won the first WAC title and finished the season ranked seventh in the nation. In 1997, Bluem moved to Ohio State to coach the Buckeye's men's soccer team. Since then, he has taken Ohio State to six NCAA post-season tournaments and won three Big Ten titles. His greatest success came in the 2007 Division I Men's College Cup when Ohio State finished runner-up to Wake Forest.

Broadcasting

Bluem was the radio color analyst for Columbus Crew home games from 2007-2014.

External links

• NASL stats
• Ohio State: John Bluem
• Tampa Bay Rowdies: John Bluem