Caleb Norkus

Personal information
Full name	Joshua Caleb Norkus
Date of birth	March 14, 1979 (1979-03-14) (age 30)
Place of birth	Raleigh, North Carolina, United States
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Playing position	Defender/Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Carolina RailHawks
Number	12
Youth career
1997–2000	North Carolina Tar Heels
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2000	Boulder Nova
2001-02	Charlotte Eagles	49	(6)
2003	Sportfreunde Siegen
2004	Richmond Kickers	9	(0)
2004	Charleston Battery	4	(0)
2004-2005	Unión Española	16	(1)
2005–2006	Puerto Rico Islanders	22	(6)
2007–	Carolina RailHawks	57	(3)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22 October, 2009. † Appearances (Goals).

Caleb Norkus (born March 14, 1979 in Raleigh, North Carolina) is an American soccer player who currently plays for Carolina RailHawks in the USL First Division.

[edit] Career

[edit] College and Amateur

Caleb, who was nicknamed PlayStation by the Puerto Rico Islanders supporters for his tireless work rate, grew up playing youth soccer for the Capital Area Soccer League and was North Carolina High School player of the year in 1996 when he helped lead Sanderson High School to the North Carolina State title. During this time, he was also member of the U17 and U18 United States men's national soccer team set up where he played alongside the likes of Tim Howard, Steve Cherundolo, Carlos Bocanegra and Chris Albright.

Norkus played for University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 1997-2000. In 2000 he scored in overtime to bring the Tar Heels the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament title. In 2000, he played for the Boulder Nova of the Premier Development League.

[edit] Professional

Norkus was drafted by DC United in the fifth round of 2001 MLS SuperDraft. Although he trained with the team, Caleb did not catch on with the MLS side and later signed with Charlotte Eagles of the then United Soccer Leagues A-League.

After two seasons with the Eagles, Norkus moved to Sportfreunde Siegen of the German Regionalliga-Süd (German 3rd Division). In 2004, Caleb returned to the United States with the Richmond Kickers of USL First Division (at the time) but transferred midseason to Charleston Battery of the same league. At the end of that season, Norkus took an opportunity to play in the Primera División of the Liga Chilena de Fútbol with Unión Española and helped the team to the Apertura title.

At the conclusion of the Chilean 2005 Apertura, Norkus moved to Puerto Rico Islanders of USL-1 for the remainder of the USL 2005 season. In 2006, Norkus season got off to a brilliant start as he scored 4 goals in the Islanders' first 10 games before being sidelined with a sports hernia injury. After off-season surgery in Argentina, Norkus returned to the States to sign with the expansion Carolina RailHawks of USL-1.

Throughout Norkus' career, he has continually struggled with a series of unfortunate injuries which have limited his playing time and tenure at many of the clubs he has played for professionally. However in his 2007 season after having surgery to correct a groining injury his fitness was not an issue. Norkus played in 25 games for the Railhawks logging 2,175 minutes.^[1]

[edit] Controversy

Puerto Rico Islanders President Andy Guillemard-Noble accused the RailHawks of piracy^[2] in the signing of Norkus, who was out of contract with the Islanders after the 2006 season. While the club executive insists that the Islanders had a verbal agreement with Norkus to return to Puerto Rico for the 2007 season, the player refutes that accusation^[3], saying the two sides never reached terms and cites the lack of an offered written contract as evidence of their lack of agreement.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Carolina RailHawks bio