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Jan. 26, 2006

West Texas A&M University men's soccer player Josh Fender was drafted by Houston in the Major League Soccer Supplemental Draft Thursday (Jan. 26). The forward was selected with the 37th pick of the draft, which was the first selection of the fourth round.

All players not selected in the four rounds of the 2006 MLS SuperDraft last Friday and additional players nominated by teams were eligible for selection.

"It feels great, I'm really thrilled," Fender said. "I was taking a nap on my couch when my phone beeped telling me I had a message. It was head coach Dominic Kinnear telling me he had just drafted me. I was shocked - I had to hurry and call my mom and she went crazy."

Fender was a ball boy for the Dallas Burn in 1996 and 1997 as a youngster growing up in Richardson, Texas and will now have the opportunity to play against Dallas, now FC Dallas.

"I've been waiting for something like this for a long time, since playing as a little kid and now to have the chance to play at the next level is just a thrill. I still have to work hard and prove myself as a player. This is a huge relief, I've been worrying about getting drafted for a long time and this is an answer to a lot of praying," Fender said.

Fender will report to Houston on Sunday and begin the two week tryout training on Tuesday.

Fender leaves WTAMU No. 2 on the Career scoring list with 52 career goals. {Photo by www.sportcliks.com}

"I'm really, really happy for Josh," WTAMU head coach Butch Lauffer said. "He's a kid that has worked tremendously hard for this opportunity. All along he had a goal in mind and he set his sights on that goal and reached it. I couldn't be happier for him."

Fender becomes the third WTAMU soccer player to be drafted by an MLS squad, joining Davy Arnaud and Jeremy Piette, who were both drafted in the fifth round of the 2002 MLS draft. Arnaud was drafted and still plays for the Kansas City Wizards, while Piette was drafted by Dallas, and is now playing for Charlotte of the United States A-League.

"This is a nice compliment to the program," Lauffer said. "It shows that we are attracting good players and we have the ability to prepare and promote them to the next level."

Houston 1836 is the MLS organization that recently relocated from San Jose, Calif. Houston 1836 will play their home games at Robertson Stadium on the campus of the University of Houston. The team's inaugural season in Houston will begin April 1.

Fender, a 6-4 midfielder from Richardson, Texas, capped his career with a hat trick in the final match, a 6-1 rout over border-rival Eastern New Mexico University on Nov. 5, giving him 18 goals for the season and 52 for his career, as he leaves No. 2 on the WTAMU Career scoring list, behind Danny Cazalas' 69 goals from 1991-94. Fender led the SSC in goals, goals per game (0.95), points (42), points per game (2.21) and ranked tied for second in assists with six.

Fender also received first-team SSC accolades for the second season in a row, and was also named the SSC Preseason Offensive Player of the Year. Fender earned third-team NSCAA/adidas All-American honors last season after leading WTAMU with a career-high 14 goals and four assists for 32 points. Fender was also a first-team All-Midwest Region selection.

He is the third player in WTAMU men's soccer history to earn All-American honors, joining Collin Mabry in 2002 and Davy Arnaud in 2001.

Fender was recently selected as the Panhandle Sports Hall of Fame men's soccer Athlete of the Year.

-WT-