Cal Jennings (born May 17, 1997) is an American 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 plays as a forward for

Charleston Battery The Charleston Battery are an American professional association football, soccer club based in Charleston, South Carolina, and member of the USL Championship. Founded in 1993, the Battery are the oldest continuously operating professional socc ...

in the

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a men's professional association football, soccer league in the second tier of the United States soccer league system#Men's leagues, United States league system. It is organized by the United Soccer League (USL) a ...

Early life and college

Born in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, Jennings attended Roswell High School where he played two seasons for the school's soccer team. He also spent a season with

U.S. Soccer Development Academy The U.S. Soccer Development Academy (DA) was an American soccer league. Formed in 2007, the league featured youth academies and youth clubs from various organizations, including Major League Soccer and the United Soccer League. The DA's mission ...

club Georgia United. After graduating high school, Jennings enrolled at the

University of Central Florida The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public university, public research university with its main campus in unincorporated area, unincorporated Orange County, Florida, United States. It is part of the State University System of Florida. ...

and joined the

UCF Knights The UCF Knights are the sport, athletic teams that represent the University of Central Florida in unincorporated Orange County, Florida near Orlando, Florida, Orlando. The Knights participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NC ...

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 ...

team. He made his debut on August 26, 2016, against the

Grand Canyon Antelopes The Grand Canyon Antelopes (more commonly referred to as the Lopes) are the 20 athletic teams representing Grand Canyon University, located in Phoenix, Arizona. Most of the university's athletic teams compete at the NCAA Division I level in the ...

. He scored his first and only goal of his freshman season on October 8 against the Memphis Tigers in a 2–3 defeat. During the

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

season, Jennings scored 7 goals in 16 matches. The next season, Jennings had a breakout season, scoring 20 goals and starting all 18 matches for the Knights. He ended the season tied as the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

Division I top-scorer. During his final season with the Knights, Jennings scored 18 goals in 20 matches, earning several individual accolades. He was named a semifinalist for the

Hermann Trophy The Hermann Trophy is awarded annually by the Missouri Athletic Club to the United States's top men's and women's college soccer players. History In 1967, Bob Hermann, the president of the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) and th ...

for the

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

season.

Club career

Memphis 901

On January 9, 2020, Jennings was selected with the 17th overall pick by

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The franchise be ...

in the

2020 MLS SuperDraft The 2020 MLS SuperDraft was the 21st edition of the SuperDraft conducted by Major League Soccer. The 2020 SuperDraft was the first SuperDraft held exclusively via conference call and web streaming. The first two rounds of the 2020 SuperDraft we ...

. However, in late February, he was released from the club's pre-season camp without earning a first-team contract. A few months later, on July 13, Jennings joined

club

Memphis 901 Memphis 901 FC was an American professional association football, soccer team based in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 2018, the team made its debut in the USL Championship in 2019. On November 13, 2024, it was announced that the team would be ...

. Jennings made his professional debut for Memphis 901 on July 15, coming on as a 62nd-minute substitute during a 3–0 defeat against Birmingham Legion. He then scored his first goal for the club on July 18 against

Atlanta United 2 Atlanta United 2 are the reserve team of the Major League Soccer club Atlanta United FC. The team plays in MLS Next Pro, the official reserve league of MLS. The team was established on November 14, 2017 and began their first professional seaso ...

during a 2–2 draw. Jennings ended his first season scoring a hat-trick on October 3 against Birmingham Legion. His three goals helped the club to a 3–1 victory. This was part of a scoring run in which Jennings scored in four games in a row, netting eight goals.

Los Angeles FC

On December 4, 2020, Jennings joined

club

Indy Eleven Indy Eleven is an American professional association football, soccer team based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Founded in 2013, the team made its debut in the North American Soccer League (2011–2017), North American Soccer League (NASL) in 2014, b ...

for the

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

season. However, on March 9, 2021, it was announced that Jennings had signed with

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

club

Los Angeles FC Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC) is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Los Angeles. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. It was establi ...

without playing a game for Indy Eleven. To make the signing, Los Angeles FC traded their natural third-round selection in the 2022 MLS SuperDraft for Jennings's college rights from

. Following the 2022 season, Jennings was released by LAFC.

Tampa Bay Rowdies

On January 26, 2023, Jennings signed with USL Championship side

Tampa Bay Rowdies The Tampa Bay Rowdies are an American professional soccer team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The club was founded in 2008 and first took the pitch in 2010. Since 2017, the Rowdies have been members of the USL Championship in the second tie ...

. He left Tampa Bay following their 2024 season.

Charleston Battery

On February 18, 2025, Jennings signed with USL Championship side

.https://www.charlestonbattery.com/news/2025/02/18/battery-sign-all-league-striker-cal-jennings-to-2025-roster/

Career statistics

Honors

Los Angeles FC *

MLS Cup MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Playoffs. The game is held in November or December and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Confere ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

Supporters' Shield The Supporters' Shield is an annual award given to the Major League Soccer team with the best regular season record, as determined by the MLS points system. The Supporters' Shield has been annually awarded at the MLS Supporters' Summit since 199 ...

individual *

All-League First-team:

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

All-League Second-team:

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

AAC AAC may refer to: Aviation * Advanced Aircraft, a company from Carlsbad, California * Airborne aircraft carrier, a type of aircraft * Alaskan Air Command, a radar network * American Aeronautical Corporation, a company from Port Washington, New ...

Offensive player of the year:

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 ...

* First-team All-American:

Top goalscorer:

References

External links

Profile
at the

website {{DEFAULTSORT:Jennings, Cal 1997 births Living people Sportspeople from Roswell, Georgia American men's soccer players Men's association football forwards All-American college men's soccer players UCF Knights men's soccer players FC Dallas draft picks Memphis 901 FC players Indy Eleven players Los Angeles FC players USL Championship players Soccer players from Georgia (U.S. state) Las Vegas Lights FC players Major League Soccer players Tampa Bay Rowdies players Charleston Battery players 21st-century American sportsmen