Minnesota Thunder midfielder Kevin Anderson has been selected to play for the A-League/USISL select team that will face a squad of college all-stars at the 1999 Umbro Select All-Star Classic in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Feb. 4-7.

The A-League/USISL Select Team, which was selected by a committee of A-League and USISL coaches, will face 16 of the best men's college seniors from NCAA/NAIA affiliated schools at 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 6, at Lockhart Stadium.

The Major League Soccer (MLS) college and supplemental drafts are scheduled Feb. 7. At last year’s supplemental draft, Thunder defender Don Gramenz was selected in the second round (13th overall) by the expansion Chicago Fire, and forward Amos Magee was chosen in the third round (26th overall) by the Los Angeles Galaxy.


“I am very much hoping to go down there and have a very good performance,” said Anderson from his off-season home in Connecticut. “I’m also hoping that on the seventh, when they have the draft, my name is in it.”

Anderson was named team MVP and second team all-league after scoring 10 goals and adding four assists for the Western Conference champion Thunder. He led Minnesota in playoff scoring (three goals, two assists) and was named A-League Player of the Week after sparking the Thunder’s 5-1 opening-round rout of the defending league champion Milwaukee Rampage with two goals and an assist.

The USISL, or United Systems of Independent Soccer Leagues, features over 130 teams in six leagues and is the official development system for MLS. The U.S. Soccer-sanctioned system of leagues consists of the A-League, a 30-team Division II professional league; the D3 Pro League, a 28-team Division III pro league; and the Premier Development Soccer League, a 39-team "open" league. The USISL also includes the 34-team W-League, the only national league for women, as well as the I-League, a regional indoor league, and the Y-League, a youth program set to begin in 1999.

A-League/USISL Select Team Roster

Joe Cannon, GK, San Diego Flash (A-League)
Dusty Hudock, GK, Seattle Sounders (A-League)
Craig Demmin, DEF, Rochester Raging Rhinos (A-League)
Gabe Eastman, DEF, Nashville Metros (A-League)
Andrew Restrepo, DEF, New Orleans Storm (A-League)
Lovelace Ackah, DEF, Chicago Stingers (D3 Pro)
Craig Waibel, DEF, Spokane Shadow (PDSL)
KEVIN ANDERSON, MID, MINNESOTA THUNDER (A-League)
Mark Phillips, MID, Indiana Blast (A-League)
Ivailo Ilirianov, MID, Charleston Battery (A-League)
Yari Allnutt, MID, Rochester Raging Rhinos (A-League)
Jason Cairns, MID, Cincinnati Riverhawks (A-League)
Mike Burke, FWD, Charleston Battery (A-League)
Mike Butler, FWD, Western Mass. Pioneers (D3 Pro)
Clay Harty, FWD, Central Coast Roadrunners (PDSL)
Jimmy Glenn, FWD, Rochester Raging Rhinos (A-League)
Pat Ercoli, COACH, Rochester Raging Rhinos (A-League)