Bruce Bates | |
Fullname: | Bruce Bates |
Birth Date: | 13 June 1960 |
Birth Place: | British Columbia, Canada |
Position: | Defender |
Youthyears1: | 1980 |
Years1: | 1981 |
Years2: | 1982 |
Years3: | 1983 |
Years4: | 1983 |
Years5: | 1985 |
Clubs2: | Tampa Bay Rowdies |
Clubs3: | Tampa Bay Rowdies (indoor) |
Clubs4: | Calgary Mustangs |
Clubs5: | New Westminster Q.P.R. (PRSL) |
Caps1: | 10 |
Caps2: | 9 |
Caps3: | 4 |
Goals1: | 0 |
Goals2: | 0 |
Goals3: | 1 |
Bruce Bates is a Canadian retired professional soccer player.
A native of the Vancouver area, Bates played amateur soccer locally for Richmond Olympic and briefly spent time as a reserve player for the Vancouver Whitecaps.[1] [2] At the age of 20 he impressed the coaches of the Calgary Boomers during open tryouts enough to win a spot with the NASL side.[3] He appeared in ten matches that year, but the Boomers folded after one season. In 1982 he joined Calgary teammates Jürgen Stars and Tom Boric on the Tampa Bay Rowdies roster.[4] He also played for the Rowdies during their run to the 1983 Indoor Grand Prix title.[5]
Before the 1983 outdoor season began, he and Peter Gruber were dealt to Calgary Mustangs of the Canadian Professional Soccer League, where he was later named team captain.[6] [7] The CPSL folded after only one season.
In 1985 he played in the semi-pro Pacific Rim Soccer League[8] for the New Westminster Queens Park Rangers along with other NASL alumni, Garry Ayre, Peter Stanley, and Carl Shearer.[9] He and the Rangers won the season title with a 16-4-4 record,[10] but fell, 3–0, to Vancouver Columbus in the PSRL President's Cup finals.[11]
Champion