# Richard Chinapoo > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Richard_Chinapoo > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Richard_Chinapoo.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Chinapoo > Source revision: 1329347314 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) **Richard Chinapoo** (born 18 January 1957) is a Trinidad and Tobago former footballer who played as a [defender](/source/Defender_(association_football)), primarily in the United States. He spent two seasons in the [North American Soccer League](/source/North_American_Soccer_League_(1968%E2%80%931984)), eight in the [National Professional Soccer League](/source/National_Professional_Soccer_League_(1984%E2%80%932001)) and at least eight in the [Major Indoor Soccer League](/source/Major_Indoor_Soccer_League_(1978%E2%80%931992)). He also played with the [Trinidad and Tobago national team](/source/Trinidad_and_Tobago_national_football_team). ## College career Chinapoo first attended college at [Trinity College](/source/Trinity_College,_Moka) in Trinidad. In 1978, he entered [Long Island University](/source/Long_Island_University) in the United States. In addition to his studies, he played on the men’s soccer team from 1978 to 1981, earning second team [All-American](/source/All-America) recognition in 1978, 1979 and 1980. In 1981, he was selected as a [first team All-American](/source/Division_I_First-Team_All-American_(soccer)). He finished his four seasons with the Blackbirds with fifty-five career goals and was inducted into the Long Island, University Athletic Hall of Fame in 2001.[1] ## Professional career On 16 March 1982, Chinapoo signed a one-year contract with the [New York Cosmos](/source/New_York_Cosmos_(1971%E2%80%931985)) of the [North American Soccer League](/source/North_American_Soccer_League_(1968%E2%80%931984)). He ultimately spent two seasons with New York. Some sources show Chinapoo as playing for two Trinidad clubs, Malvern and [San Juan Jabloteh](/source/San_Juan_Jabloteh), but the dates are unknown.[2] At some point, he joined the [Baltimore Blast](/source/Baltimore_Blast_(1980%E2%80%931992)) of [Major Indoor Soccer League](/source/Major_Indoor_Soccer_League_(1978%E2%80%931992)) (MISL). On 8 September 1988, Chinapoo signed as a free agent with the [Dallas Sidekicks](/source/Dallas_Sidekicks_(1984%E2%80%932004)). He spent two seasons with the Sidekicks before returning to Baltimore on 6 August 1990. On 15 October 1991, Chinapoo signed as a free agent with the Sidekicks. This time, he played only a year. In 1992, MISL collapsed and several teams and most of the players jumped to the [National Professional Soccer League](/source/National_Professional_Soccer_League_(1984%E2%80%932001)) (NPSL). Chinapoo left Dallas and signed with the [Harrisburg Heat](/source/Harrisburg_Heat_(1991%E2%80%932003)) of NPSL. He would remain in Harrisburg for the remainder of his professional career, retiring from playing in 2000. He was inducted into the Heat Hall of Fame on 3 November 2001.[3] ## International career Chinapoo played numerous games with the [Trinidad and Tobago national team](/source/Trinidad_and_Tobago_national_football_team), but the numbers and dates are unknown. His name first appears on current records during a 17 August 1980 World Cup qualification victory over [Haiti](/source/Haiti_national_football_team). He played with the national team until at least 11 June 1989 when he played another World Cup qualification game, this time a 0–1 loss to [Costa Rica](/source/Costa_Rica_national_football_team).[4] ## Coach career In 1998, Chinapoo became a player-coach with the [Harrisburg Heat](/source/Harrisburg_Heat_(1991%E2%80%932003)). After he retired from playing in 2001, Chinapoo became a full-time head coach. In 2001, he was named the NPSL Coach of the Year.[5] On August 11, 2002, after posting a 10-34 record during the 2001-2002 season, the Heat management released Chinapoo. He is currently the Technical Director of the Capital Area Soccer Association in [Harrisburg, Pennsylvania](/source/Harrisburg,_Pennsylvania). In the summer of 2012, Richard was named the head coach of the new [Professional Arena Soccer League](/source/Professional_Arena_Soccer_League) team, the [Harrisburg Heat](/source/Harrisburg_Heat_(2012%E2%80%93present)). He retired from coaching and moved to Florida after the [2013–14 Harrisburg Heat season](/source/2013%E2%80%9314_Harrisburg_Heat_season).[6][7] ## References 1. [Long Island Athletic Hall of Fame](http://www.liuathletics.com/Sports/gen/2007/rchinapoohof.asp) 1. [Best of Trinidad](http://www.bestoftrinidad.com/soccer/chinapoo.html) 1. [Heat Release Chinapoo](http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-6504.html) 1. [Trinidad and Tobago – Details of World Cup Qualifiers](https://www.rsssf.org/tablest/trin-intres-detwcq.html) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20080613234035/http://www.rsssf.com/tablest/trin-intres-detwcq.html) June 13, 2008 at the Wayback Machine 1. [MISL Coach of the Year](http://www.misl.net/news/?cat=1&id=1207) 1. Bullock, Michael (January 22, 2014). ["Harrisburg Heat's weekend dates could be Richard Chinapoo's final Farm Show appearances"](http://www.pennlive.com/sports/index.ssf/2014/01/post_434.html). *[The Patriot-News](/source/The_Patriot-News)*. [Harrisburg, PA](/source/Harrisburg,_PA): [Advance Publications](/source/Advance_Publications). Retrieved January 23, 2014. 1. Bristol, Jason (January 22, 2014). ["Retiring Chinapoo prepares for final Heat home games"](https://web.archive.org/web/20140128093724/http://local21news.com/sports/features/local-sports/stories/retiring-chinapoo-prepares-final-heat-home-games-789.shtml). [Harrisburg, PA](/source/Harrisburg,_PA): [WHP-TV](/source/WHP-TV). Archived from [the original](http://www.local21news.com/sports/features/local-sports/stories/retiring-chinapoo-prepares-final-heat-home-games-789.shtml) on January 28, 2014. Retrieved January 23, 2014. Richard Chinapoo, "I took pride in punishing a goalkeeper" [https://www.hail-caribbean-sport.com/richard-chinapoo-trinidad-football](https://www.hail-caribbean-sport.com/richard-chinapoo-trinidad-football) ## External links - [Dallas Sidekicks profile](http://www.kicksfan.com/players/chinapoo/index.htm) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Richard Chinapoo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Chinapoo) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Chinapoo?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.