Ajeej Sarkaria (born 7 February 1995) is a Canadian professional

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 last played for

FC Edmonton FC Edmonton was a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club was founded in 2010 and competed in the North American Soccer League (2011–2017), North American Soccer League (NASL) from 2011 t ...

as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

Club career

Early career

Sarkaria played youth soccer with Edmonton Juventus before joining local professional club

in 2011. In 2013, Sarkaria signed his first professional contract with Edmonton as a 17-year-old, but failed to make an appearance that season. He subsequently played overseas in Germany and Sweden before returning to Canada in 2016. In Europe, he joined German organization

SV Wehen Wiesbaden SV Wehen Wiesbaden is a German association football club based in Wiesbaden, Hesse. The club was previously known as ''SV Wehen'' but added ''Wiesbaden'' to its name during the summer of 2007. They left their previous ground, the Taunusstein, t ...

and Swedish club

Vasalunds IF Vasalunds IF is a Swedish football club based in Solna, Stockholm. The club is affiliated with Stockholms Fotbollförbund. History Vasalund was formed in 1934 and play in the Swedish Third Division: Ettan Norra. In 2002 the club merged with Es ...

, as well as briefly for Swedish lower division sixth tier side Fränsta IK, where he scored six goals in eight matches. While in Germany, as an 18 year old, he played with the U23 side, but also tore his MCL.

Calgary Foothills

In 2016, Sarkaria played for

USL Premier Development League 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 ...

side Calgary Foothills, making twelve league appearances and adding another five in the playoffs. The following year, he made another thirteen league appearances, scoring one goal, and made another appearance in the playoffs. In 2018, Sarkaria made eight appearances, scoring three goals, and made another three appearances in the playoffs as the Foothills won the 2018 PDL Championship. While playing for Calgary in the summer Sarkaria attended the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta (also known as U of A or UAlberta, ) is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta, and Henry Marshall Tory, t ...

, where he scored 37 goals in 42 appearances for the Golden Bears. In 2016, he was named the Canada West Player of the Year and in 2018, Sarkaria set the new all-time Canada West scoring record for career points.

FC Edmonton

In November 2018, Sarkaria was drafted in the second round, 8th overall in the

2018 CPL–U Sports Draft The 2018 CPL–U Sports Draft was the inaugural CPL–U Sports Draft, held on November 12, 2018, in Vancouver, British Columbia. Seven Canadian Premier League (CPL) teams selected 21 U Sports athletes in total. The results were announced on Nove ...

by his former club

. On 13 December 2018, he signed with Edmonton ahead of the club's inaugural season in the

Canadian Premier League The Canadian Premier League (CPL or CanPL; ) is a professional Association football, soccer league in Canada and the highest level of the Canadian soccer league system. The league comprises eight teams, from five of provinces and territories of ...

. On 18 May 2019, Sarkaria made his professional debut as a starter in the Al Classico derby against

Cavalry FC Cavalry Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer club based in the Calgary metropolitan region of Alberta. The club competes at the top of the Canadian soccer league system in the Canadian Premier League, and plays their home matches ...

. On November 4 Edmonton announced they were parting ways with Sarkaria following the end of the season.

Honours

University of Alberta *

U Sports U Sports (stylized as U SPORTS) is the national sport governing body for universities in Canada, comprising the majority of degree-granting universities in the country and four regional conferences: Ontario University Athletics (OUA), Résea ...

men's soccer Championship: 2016 Calgary Foothills * Premier Development League Championship:

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sarkaria, Ajeej 1995 births Living people Men's association football forwards Canadian men's soccer players Soccer players from Edmonton Canadian expatriate men's soccer players Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Sweden Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Sweden FC Edmonton draft picks FC Edmonton players Calgary Foothills FC players Alberta Golden Bears players USL League Two players Canadian Premier League players 21st-century Canadian sportsmen Canadian sportspeople of Indian descent University and college men's soccer players in Canada