David Santamaria (born December 15, 1990) is an American

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player who currently plays for Miami United F.C. of the

National Premier Soccer League The National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) is an American men's association football, soccer league. The league is officially affiliated to the United States Adult Soccer Association (USASA) and has automatic qualification for the U.S. Open Cup. ...

Career

Youth

Santamaria grew up in

Miami, Florida Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

, attended

Miami Sunset Senior High School Miami Sunset Senior High School is a secondary school of the Miami-Dade County Public Schools system. The principal is Rodolfo Rodriguez. It is located in the Kendale Lakes census-designated place in unincorporated Miami-Dade County. - Com ...

, and played for the youth academy of former

USL First Division The USL First Division (USL-1) was a professional men's soccer league in the second tier of the United States league system. It was organized by the United Soccer League as its premier league for men from 1996 to 2010, above the USL Second ...

side

Miami FC Miami FC is an American professional association football, soccer team based in Miami, Florida that competes in the USL Championship, the second tier of the American soccer pyramid. The club began play in the North American Soccer League (201 ...

, before going on to play one season of

college soccer College soccer, called college football in some countries, is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. While it is most widespread in the United States, it is also prominent in Japan, South Kore ...

Jacksonville University Jacksonville University (JU) is a private university in Jacksonville, Florida, United States. Located in the city's Arlington (Jacksonville), Arlington district, the school was founded in 1934 as a two-year college and was known as Jacksonvill ...

Professional

Santamaria turned professional immediately following his freshman college year, and after impressing team owners during the 2010 Traffic combine signed with

Fort Lauderdale Strikers Fort Lauderdale Strikers may refer to: *Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1977–1983), member of North American Soccer League from 1977 to 1983 *Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1988–1994) The Fort Lauderdale Strikers were an American soccer team establishe ...

of the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League (NASL) was the top-level major professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984. It is considered the first soccer league to be successful on a national scale in the ...

. He made his professional debut - and scored his first professional goal - on May 11 in a 4–2 loss to the

Carolina RailHawks North Carolina FC is an American professional soccer team in Cary, North Carolina, a suburb of Raleigh, and member of the USL Championship. Founded in 2006, the team previously was named the Carolina Railhawks. On December 6, 2016, the RailH ...

. After just one season with the Strikers, Santamaria joined the

Atlanta Silverbacks The Atlanta Silverbacks FC were an American professional soccer club based in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1998 as Atlanta Ruckus, the club played in many leagues over the years before folding after the 2015 season. The team played its home game ...

on a season-long loan. On August 8, 2012, the Santamaria and the Silverbacks agreed to terminate the loan agreement after appearing in seven matches and scoring one goal. Santamaria traveled in September 2012 to Europe to open up his horizons. He spent 2 months training and playing practice matches with the Portuguese club

Sporting Clube de Pombal Sporting Clube de Pombal (also known as Sporting de Pombal, SC Pombal or Sp. Pombal) is a Portuguese sports club from Pombal. It was established on 20 October 1922 as the branch number 10 of Sporting Clube de Portugal Sporting Clube de Portug ...

Following that experience, Santamaria traveled for a

trial In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal, w ...

with the Serbian Superliga first division club FK Sloboda Uzice, after spending a month with the club Santamaria turned down an agreement which did not meet his expectations. In December 2013, Santamaria signed with the Mexican side second division club

Cimarrones de Sonora The Cimarrones de Sonora Fútbol Club is a Mexican football club that plays in the Liga Premier de México. The club is based in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico. History The "Cimarrones de Sonora" were born in 2013, when the "Rays" of Poblado Miguel ...

where he played Clausura 2014.

References

External links

Fort Lauderdale bio

Jacksonville profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Santamaria, David 1990 births Living people American men's soccer players Jacksonville Dolphins men's soccer players Fort Lauderdale Strikers players Atlanta Silverbacks FC players Des Moines Menace players FC Miami City players North American Soccer League (2011–2017) players USL League Two players National Premier Soccer League players Soccer players from Florida Men's association football forwards 21st-century American sportsmen