George Tiedemann

George Tiedemann was born January 19, 1944, in Reykjavik, Iceland to Army Air Corps Sergeant Robert Tiedemann and Magunsina Valdimarsdottir, a native Icelander.

From 1953 to 1960 Tiedemann lived in Tripoli, Libya, before returning to the United States at age 17. He began taking pictures and playing soccer in Libya and resumed the photographic interest while in the Marines after taking a point-and-shoot camera along on a parachute jump, getting off a couple of shots before plowing into the ground.

“I continued taking pictures during my year in Vietnam (1966-67); however, the thought of a career in photography never crossed my mind until just before my release from active duty in May of 1968,” said Tiedemann.

After his military service, Tiedemann began a professional career in photography as a newspaper staff photographer. He augmented his newspaper work as the Philadelphia Atoms team photographer moving on to a full-time position as NASL Director of Photography during the Pelé era. Tiedemann’s dramatic images led to a 20 plus year career as a photographer for Sports Illustrated magazine.

In the 1975 Pictures of the Year Competition, the National Press Photographers Association selected Tiedemann’s “Three’s Company”, a picture from an NASL game between the Baltimore Comets and the St. Louis Stars, first place in the Sports Action Picture Category.

Tiedemann’s began playing soccer in Tripoli, Libya for the Wheelus Air Force Base school team and competed against the British, Arabs and Italians. In 1961, upon returning to the United States, he played for Neptune (NJ) High School, scoring 26 goals in his senior year. In 1963 he attended Trenton State and started as a right wing on the varsity team as a freshman. In 1964 Tiedemann joined the Marines and played soccer for the Camp Pendleton base team; however, the team never got to play due to the large troop deployments to South Vietnam.

Tiedemann now lives in New Jersey with his wife, Sharon, has three married sons and five grandchildren.

The Colin Jose Media Award, a tribute to Hall of Fame Historian emeritus Colin Jose who was also a SoccerAmerica and World Soccer correspondent, and is North America’s preeminent soccer historian, is designed to honor members of the media who specialize in communications with respect to soccer in the United States. It is awarded to those whose career contributions in the field are deemed to be of exceptional and sustained quality. Colin Jose Media Award honorees are: