Joshua Javier Calderón Chaparro (born 11 September 1996) is a Puerto Rican

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 plays as a defender.

Early life

Calderón was born in

North Haven, Connecticut North Haven is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States on the outskirts of New Haven. The town is part of the South Central Connecticut Planning Region. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 24,253. North Haven is home ...

to a Colombian father and Puerto Rican mother.

College soccer

Having played soccer at the

St. Benedict's Preparatory School St. Benedict's Preparatory School is a Catholic college preparatory school in Newark, New Jersey run by the Benedictine monks of Newark Abbey. The school serves boys and girls in kindergarten through twelfth grade on a urban campus. The scho ...

's player development academy, Calderón committed to playing college soccer at the

Iona University Iona University () is a private Catholic university with a main campus in New Rochelle, New York, United States. It was founded in 1940 by the Congregation of Christian Brothers and occupies a campus of in New Rochelle and a campus of in Bro ...

. He went on to make a total of fifty-nine appearances over four years for the university soccer team, the

Iona Gaels The Iona Gaels are the athletics teams of Iona University, in New Rochelle, New York. They compete in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) and participate in 21 NCAA Division I programs. Varsity athletic programs Men's basketball ...

, scoring five goals.

Club career

After leaving university, Calderón spent a season with

Elm City Express Elm City Express was a men's soccer club based in New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as deter ...

in 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. ...

in 2018. He later travelled to Colombia and went on trial with

Boyacá Chicó Boyacá is the name of a region in Colombia. It may refer to other connections to Colombia: * Battle of Boyacá * Boyacá Department (Gran Colombia) * Boyacá Department ** Boyacá, Boyacá, a municipality * Boyacá State, a former state * Puerto ...

, before spending six months with

Patriotas Boyacá Patriotas Boyacá, also known as Patriotas, is a professional Colombian football team based in Tunja, that plays in the Categoría Primera B. They play their home games at the La Independencia stadium. History Patriotas was founded in 2003 by th ...

, though he was unable to sign officially with either. He also spent three months in Spain with

UD Ourense Unión Deportiva Ourense is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Ourense, in the autonomous community of Galicia, Spain, Galicia. Founded in 2014, it currently plays in . History UD Ourense (''Unión Deportiva Ourense) ...

, though this appears to be a trial, as no record of him appearing for the club exists. Calderón spent time with Colombian side Acción Cívica in 2019, and was briefly signed with Boca Gibraltar in December of the same year, before spending the 2020 pre-season with American side

Hartford Athletic Hartford Athletic is an American professional association football, soccer team based in Hartford, Connecticut. The club was founded in 2018 and started play in the USL Championship in 2019. It is the only pro soccer team in Connecticut (thoug ...

. He also trained with English

EFL League Two The English Football League Two, simply known as League Two and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Betting & Gaming, Sky Bet League Two, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League Two is the fourth division of the English ...

side

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They currently compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed the U’s, the club h ...

, before his stay was cut short by the

COVID-19 pandemic in England The COVID-19 pandemic was first confirmed to have spread to England with two cases among Chinese nationals staying in a hotel in York on 31 January 2020. The two main public bodies responsible for health in England were NHS England and Public ...

. In October 2020, he was one of five Puerto Rican soccer players to travel to Bolivia to play in the

Copa Simón Bolívar Copa or COPA may refer to: COPA COPA may refer to: * Child Online Protection Act, a former U.S. law to protect minors from certain material on the internet * Canadian Owners and Pilots Association * Cirrus Owners and Pilots Association * Parlia ...

with CD Ferroviario. He returned to the United States in 2021, playing two games for

AC Connecticut AC Connecticut is an American amateur soccer team based in Newtown, Connecticut, playing in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American soccer pyramid. The team colors are blue, black and white. History CFC Azul was founded as a USL PDL tea ...

in the

USL League Two USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States, forming part of the United States soccer league system. The league will featu ...

in May 2021. He signed with Puerto Rican side

Metropolitan FA Metropolitan FA is a Puerto Rican association football club from the capital of San Juan that currently plays in the Liga Puerto Rico. The club plays its home matches at the Parque Reparto Metropolitano. History Metropolitan FA was founded in ...

in July 2021, ahead of the club's participation in the

CONCACAF Champions League The CONCACAF Champions Cup, formerly known as CONCACAF Champions League (2008–2023), is an international association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for clubs from North America, Central America, ...

. Later in the same year, he returned to Colombia to train with

Categoría Primera A The Categoría Primera A (), commonly referred to as Liga BetPlay Dimayor due to Sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by online betting company BetPlay, is a professional association football league in Colombia and the highest level of the Colombian ...

side

América de Cali América de Cali S. A., best known as América de Cali or América, is a Colombian professional football club based in Cali. It competes in the Categoría Primera A, the top-flight league of Colombian football. The team plays its home games at ...

He signed his first professional contract under Juan Carlos Osorio for América de Cali. Because of his affiliation with Metropolitan, the Puerto Rican Federation did not acknowledge him as a free agent and prevented him from debuting in the Colombian 1st Division. In 2022, he made two appearances for the

Western Mass Pioneers Western Mass Pioneers is an American soccer team based in Ludlow, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1998, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American soccer pyramid. The team plays its home games at Lusitano Stadium ...

in the USL League Two, and received a red card in team's 2–0

U.S. Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States. It is the country's oldest ongoing national soccer competition. The competition was first held duri ...

win over Brockton.

Personal life

His younger brother,

Giovanni Giovanni may refer to: * Giovanni (name), an Italian male given name and surname * Giovanni (meteorology), a Web interface for users to analyze NASA's gridded data * ''Don Giovanni'', a 1787 opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, based on the legend of ...

, is also a soccer player, and has also represented Puerto Rico at international level. His older brother, Neekoli, is a former soccer player.

Career statistics

Club

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Calderón, Joshua 1996 births Living people Soccer players from New Haven County, Connecticut Iona University alumni Puerto Rican men's footballers Puerto Rico men's international footballers American men's soccer players American sportspeople of Puerto Rican descent American sportspeople of Colombian descent Men's association football defenders USL League Two players Iona Gaels men's soccer players F.C. Boca Gibraltar players AC Connecticut players Western Mass Pioneers players American expatriate men's soccer players American expatriate sportspeople in Gibraltar Expatriate men's footballers in Gibraltar 21st-century American sportsmen