Wojtek Krakowiak

Youth

Krakowiak was born in Kielce, Poland. He moved to Clifton, New Jersey with his family in 1993, and became a United States citizen in March 2000. He graduated from Clifton High School in 1995 and is a member of the Clifton High School Hall of Fame. During his two seasons at Clifton, he scored seventy-nine goals, a school record. In the fall of 1995, he entered St. John's University where a torn anterior cruciate ligament led him to redshirt his freshman season. In 1996, he was part of the Red Storm team which won the NCAA Men's Division I Soccer Championship. He transferred to Clemson University for his junior season where he scored thirty-one goals and added eight assists. That year, he was selected as an All-American and won the Hermann Trophy.

Professional

Krakowiak left Clemson at the end of the season and moved to Europe where he had trials with teams in Belgium and Germany. On February 7, 1999, the San Jose Clash selected Krakowiak in the second round (fifteenth overall) in the 1999 MLS College Draft. Krakowiak had dropped so low in the draft because his pursuit of a European career. He returned to the United States during the summer of 1999 to train with the Clash, but did not sign with them before returning to Europe to play in the German third division. He also played three games with the Charleston Battery of the USL A-League in August 1999. In February 2000, he signed with the San Jose Earthquakes, playing two seasons before being…

Krakowiak coached the Kent Place School girls' and the Wayne Valley High School boys' soccer teams. In 2006, Krakowiak served as an assistant coach with the Rutgers–Newark men's soccer team. In November 2007, the school elevated Krakowiak to head coach of its women's soccer team. In 2010, he served as the assistant soccer coach to the Montana State University Billings women's team. After helping to lead the team to their first ever NCAA appearance, he was promoted to head coach. The 2016 season was Krakowiak's last with Montana State University Billings. Krakowiak currently coaches with North Carolina FC Youth (2019), where he plans to retire.