Players

2011 was a frustrating season for Kevin Friedland, as injuries limited to just two substitute appearances. He made his impact elsewhere, though, serving on the touchline as an assistant coach, as well as tackling a business development role in the Stars front office. Friedland was instrumental in the design and execution of the Stars 2011 Admiral kit, which produced more replica sales than the three previous seasons combined in Minnesota pro soccer.

He joined the NSC Minnesota Stars on March 4, 2010 as a player and assistant coach. Friedland has been playing professionally in the Twin Cities since joining the Minnesota Thunder in 2004. Friedland plays primarily as a right back.

Friedland grew up in Irvine, Calif., and played his youth soccer for the Irvine Strikers Soccer Club, one of the country’s best youth clubs, and represented Woodbridge High School. He attended Southern Methodist University in Dallas, earning second-team All-American honors in 2002. His head coach at SMU was Schellas Hyndman, current coach of Major League Soccer’s FC Dallas.

Drafted in the sixth round of the 2003 MLS Superdraft, Friedland spent a season with the Kansas City Wizards before signing with the Thunder in 2004. He appeared 115 times for the team and scored six goals.

Friedland represented the United States in the 2005 Maccabiah Games, an international athletics competition held every four years in Israel. Friedland’s teammates at the competition included current U.S. National Team players Benny Feilhaber and Jonathan Bornstein. The Americans finished second, losing to Israel’s Under-20 national team in the final. In 2007 he and Stars teammate Kyle Altman won a gold medal at the Pan American Maccabi Games in Argentina as the United States defeated the host Argentines 2-0 in the final. In December 2011, he played in his fifth Maccabi event, helping the United States to a second place finish in the Pan Am Games in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Off the field, Friedland enjoys painting, reading and stand-up paddling. He speaks English and Spanish.