Cris Vaccaro

Vaccaro's father was born in Argentina and his mother in Puerto Rico.[1] He was born and grew up in New Jersey where he graduated from Camden Catholic High School in 1976. He then attended Mercer County Community College from 1976 to 1978 and the University of Baltimore from 1978 to 1980.

In 1980, the Seattle Sounders of the North American Soccer League signed Vaccaro, but he saw no first team games. In 1981, he signed with the Baltimore Blast of the Major Indoor Soccer League and played seven games. The Blast released him at the end of the season. In October 1981, he had a trial with the Philadelphia Fever, but was not offered a contract. He then attended a trial with the New Jersey Rockets, but again failed to gain a contract. However, the team told him that they would call him if any of the Rocket's goalkeepers were hurt. Two weeks later, Alan Mayer was injured and Vaccaro signed with the Rockets.[2] At the end of the season, the Rockets traded Vaccaro to the Cleveland Force where he spent the next five seasons. On June 5, 1987, the Force sent Vaccaro to the Chicago Sting in exchange for Victor Nogueira.[3] He was the Sting's starting goalkeeper for most of the season, but Vaccaro became a free agent and signed with the Wichita Wings during the summer of 1988. In September 1989, Vaccaro signed with the Tacoma Stars. The Wings filed a grievance, but the Stars won the appeal and kept Vaccaro's contract.[4] He spent two seasons in Tacoma, but was released in July 1990 as part of cost reduction effort.[5] Vaccaro rejoined the Stars in October and played the 1990-1991 season with them.[6][7] In 1991, he returned to outdoor soccer with the Penn-Jersey Spirit of the American Professional Soccer League.[8] In the fall of 1991, he signed as a free agent with the Baltimore Blast. In December 1991, he scored his league record seventh career goal.[9] However, both the Blast and MISL collapsed in 1992. Vaccaro then joined the Baltimore Spirit of the National Professional Soccer League. He played five seasons with the Spirit before retiring in 1997.

Vaccaro's mother and father retired to Puerto Rico. When Vaccaro visited them in 1987, he discovered the island had a national team. After meeting with the team's head coach, Vaccaro was offered a position on the team.[1]