Mackenson Altidor
Bahamian footballer (born 1984)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mackenson "Mack" Altidor (born 20 June 1984) is a Bahamian former footballer who played as a centre-back. He made six appearances for the Bahamas national team. After playing in domestic leagues, he played college soccer at Northern Oklahoma College before transferring to Temple University in Philadelphia.[2] After graduating, he played club football in the United States for the Ocean City Barons and the Lancaster Inferno before returning the Bahamas where he played for a local team. Altidor also represented his country at the junior and senior level playing in Olympic and World Cup qualifiers.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 20 June 1984 | ||
| Place of birth | Marsh Harbour, Bahamas | ||
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[1] | ||
| Position | Centre-back | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2005–2006 | Northern Oklahoma College | ||
| 2007 | Temple University | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2008 | Ocean City Barons | 3 | (0) |
| 2008 | Lancaster Inferno | ||
| 2009–2015 | Bears FC | ||
| International career | |||
| 2004–2011 | Bahamas | 6 | (0) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Early life and education
Altidor was born in Marsh Harbour, Abaco. He attended Abaco Central High School[3] where he was captain of the basketball team.[3] He only started playing football in 2002 when he was 18.[4]
In 2005, he was one of six Bahamian footballers to receive scholarships to play college soccer in the United States, when he secured a scholarship to play at Northern Oklahoma College.[5]
Altidor played college soccer for Northern Oklahoma College,[2] where he earned an associate degree in Business Administration[6] before he secured a scholarship in 2006 to play at Temple University in Philadelphia.[7]
In December 2009, Altidor obtained a bachelor's degree in marketing from Temple and secured a position with a marketing firm in New Jersey.[6]
Career
Altifor played before 2005 with the Abacom United Football Club[6] where he was named league MVP and helped his team win the Bahamas national championships.[5] Altidor moved to the capital, where he played for the national team for three years before he was recruited by a college.[8]
He played college soccer for Northern Oklahoma College from 2005 to 2007[9] where he helped to lead the team to the national championships.[8]
Altidor was courted by numerous teams,[8] choosing Temple.[10] He transferred to Temple University in 2007 where he impressed early[9] helping them to win the Drexel Invitational Tournament in September 2007, where he was named defensive MVP.[2] The same week, he was named the Atlantic 10 Conference co-player of the week.[11] Later in the season, he was an Honourable Mention on the All Conference Team, and was named the only defender on the Philadelphia All-Star Team.[7][12]
Altifor represented his country at junior and senior level,[5] including serving as team captain.[6] He played in Olympic qualifiers in 2003 and World Cup qualifiers in 2006.[5][13][14]
During the summer of 2007, he trained in New York City and in France, where he was offered a professional contract, which he turned down.[7] In December 2007, he trained in Nassau with the national team for a World Cup qualifier against the British Virgin Islands.[7] In 2008, he helped Temple to the semi-finals of the A-10 Conference Semi-finals.[15] During his senior year at Temple, Altidor was shot off campus[16] in a spate of incidents affecting students near campus.[17][18]
After college, Altidor played senior football for the Ocean City Barons[19] and the Lancaster Inferno.[1] From 2009 to 2015, he played in Nassau with the Bears FC.[1] Altidor now works as a real estate agent.