Darian Michelle Jenkins (born January 5, 1995) is an American retired 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 played 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 ...

. Having played

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 ...

for the

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Big Ten Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF ...

, Jenkins won the 2013 National Championship and was selected seventh overall in the

2017 NWSL College Draft The 2017 NWSL College Draft was the fifth annual meeting of National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) franchises to select eligible college players. It was held on January 12, 2017 at the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Convention in ...

. She played professionally for

North Carolina Courage The North Carolina Courage are an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Cary, North Carolina, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). It was founded on January 9, 2017, after Stephen Malik acqui ...

OL Reign Seattle Reign FC is an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Seattle, Washington, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Founded in 2012, it is one of eight inaugural members of the NWSL. Since J ...

and

Kansas City Current The Kansas City Current are an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Kansas City, Missouri, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). It was founded as an NWSL expansion, expansion team in 2021 NWSL ...

in the NWSL as well as

Melbourne Victory Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria. Competing in the country's premier men's competition, the A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL), Victory ...

of the Australian W-League and French

Division 1 Féminine Division may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication *Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military *Division (military), a formation typically consisting of 10,000 to ...

team

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

. Internationally she represented the United States at under-17, under-18, under-20 and under-23 level.

Early life

Growing up in

Riverton, Utah Riverton is a city in Salt Lake County, Utah Salt Lake County is located in the U.S. state of Utah. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 1,185,238, making it the most populous county in Utah. Its county seat and largest ...

, Jenkins started playing in a rec league at the age of 10 before joining a competitive squad as an 11-year-old and immersed herself in training, first earning the attention of the U.S. Youth National Team through the I.D. camp program as a U14 in 2009. At Riverton High School, Jenkins was an All-Region and All-State honoree. She was also a high school track & field athlete, running sprints. Playing club soccer for Sparta United, she won the Utah State Cup in 2012.

College career

Jenkins played

at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

while majoring in American Literature & Culture. She was a four-year starter for the

, scoring 29 goals and 12 assists in 76 appearances. As a freshman in 2013, Jenkins was one of two Bruin players to start all 26 games and led UCLA in scoring with 11 goals. Helping the Bruins go unbeaten in conference play to capture their first Pac-12 Championship since 2008, she was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Year and earned first-team All-Pac-12 honors before also helping the team capture the 2013 National Championship title. Ahead of her 2016 senior season, Jenkins was named as a co-captain. In the 2016 season opener, Jenkins scored a first half

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

against

San Diego State Aztecs The San Diego State Aztecs are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent San Diego State University (SDSU). The university fields 17 varsity teams (6 men's, 11 women's) in National Collegiate Athle ...

, the first Bruin to score a hat-trick since

Sydney Leroux Sydney Rae Leroux (; born May 7, 1990) is a Canadian-born American professional soccer player who plays as a forward for Angel City FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Born in Canada to a Canadian mother (Sandi Leroux) and an Am ...

in 2011. Leading the Pac-12 with seven goals at the time, Jenkins suffered a broken

fibula The fibula (: fibulae or fibulas) or calf bone is a leg bone on the lateral side of the tibia, to which it is connected above and below. It is the smaller of the two bones and, in proportion to its length, the most slender of all the long bones. ...

against

Oregon Ducks The Oregon Ducks are the College sports in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Oregon, located in Eugene, Oregon, Eugene. The Ducks compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCA ...

on October 2, 2016, ending her collegiate career. While at college, Jenkins also played in the

Women's Premier Soccer League The Women's Premier Soccer League (WPSL) is an amateur women's soccer league in the United States. History The WPSL is the longest-running active women's soccer league as it enters its 25th season in 2023. The WPSL is also the largest women ...

with SoCal FC in 2015 and 2016. In 2015, SoCal FC won the Pacific-South division and reached the championship final before losing to Chicago Red Stars Reserves 2–1.

Club career

North Carolina Courage, 2017–2018

On January 12, 2017, Jenkins was drafted in the first round (7th overall) of the

. She signed with the Courage on April 10 and was immediately placed on the 45-day disabled list while she continued to recover from the broken leg suffered in college. She was ultimately not added to the active roster during the 2017 season as she continued to rehab. On March 24, 2018, Jenkins made her Courage debut as a 67th-minute substitute in the season opener against

Portland Thorns Portland Thorns FC is an American professional soccer team based in Portland, Oregon, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Established in 2012, the team began play in 2013 in the then-eight-team NWSL, which received supp ...

. She made a total of 14 appearances for the Courage in 2018, all as a substitute, but did not score. She was a stoppage-time substitute in the 2018 NWSL Championship final as the Courage beat Portland Thorns 3–0.

OL Reign, 2019–2020

On December 17, 2018, Jenkins was traded to

Reign FC Seattle Reign FC is an American professional soccer team based in Seattle, Washington, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Founded in 2012, it is one of eight inaugural members of the NWSL. Since June 2024, the Reign ar ...

in exchange for the 9th overall pick in the

2019 NWSL College Draft The 2019 NWSL College Draft was the seventh annual meeting of National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) franchises to select newly eligible college players for the 2019 NWSL season. It was held on January 10, 2019, in conjunction with the United S ...

. She made her debut for the club as a starter in the season opener on April 14, 2019, and scored her first senior professional goal in the game as Reign drew 1–1 with

Houston Dash The Houston Dash are an American professional soccer team based in Houston, Texas, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). The Dash began play in the 2014 season. The team plays its home games at Shell Energy Stadium. His ...

. She made a total of 18 appearances in 2019, finished third on the team in goals with four. In the NWSL offseason, Jenkins joined Australian W-League team

on loan for the

2019–20 W-League The 2019–20 W-League season was the twelfth season of the W-League, the Australian national women's association football competition. Nine teams competed in the league, with most of the players from Australia but 33 of them from 11 other cou ...

season. She started all 12 games and scored five goals as Melbourne Victory finished second in the regular season before losing to

Sydney FC Sydney Football Club, commonly known as Sydney FC, is a professional association football, soccer club based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. They compete in the top-tier men's league in Australia, the A-League Men. Established in 2004, ...

in the playoff semi-finals. She was named to the Team of the Season. With the

2020 NWSL season The 2020 National Women's Soccer League season was the eighth season of the National Women's Soccer League, the top division of women's soccer in the United States. Including the NWSL's two professional predecessors, Women's Professional Soccer ( ...

disrupted by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Jenkins made five appearances for the newly rebranded OL Reign during the

2020 NWSL Challenge Cup The 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup was a tournament during the 2020 National Women's Soccer League season to mark the league's return to action from the COVID-19 pandemic. It was the first professional team sports event to return to play in United States ...

before missing the four-game friendly Fall Series to join French

side

on loan until February 2021.

Kansas City Current, 2021

On January 4, 2021, Jenkins was traded to the Kansas City NWSL team (later rebranded Kansas City Current) along with the rights to Meg Brandt and the 38th pick in the

2021 NWSL Draft The 2021 NWSL Draft was the ninth annual meeting of National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) franchises to select eligible college players. It was held on January 13, 2021. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was the first NWSL Draft to be held virtua ...

in exchange for Tziarra King and a second-round pick in

2022 NWSL Draft The 2022 NWSL Draft was the 10th annual meeting of National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) franchises to select eligible college players. It was held on December 18, 2021, and hosted remotely by CBS Sports. Format * All 12 teams of the National ...

. She made 23 appearances in all competitions and tied for the team-lead in goals with three as Kansas City finished bottom of the NWSL.

Orlando Pride, 2022

On January 11, 2022, Jenkins was acquired by

Orlando Pride The Orlando Pride are an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Orlando, Florida, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). The Pride began play in the 2016 National Women's Soccer League season, 2016 ...

in exchange for $75,000 in allocation money and Orlando's natural second-round pick in the 2023 NWSL Draft. The move reunited Jenkins with her UCLA head coach Amanda Cromwell who had been appointed Pride head coach the previous month. Jenkins announced her retirement from professional soccer on January 18, 2023.

International

In May 2012, Jenkins represented the United States under-17 at the

2012 CONCACAF Women's U-17 Championship The 2012 CONCACAF Under-17 Women's Championship was the third edition of the U-17 women's championship in football for the CONCACAF region. It was held in Guatemala City from May 2 to 12 in 2012. The three best-placed teams qualified for the 201 ...

, making two appearances and scoring in the 7–0 semi-final win over

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

. The United States won the tournament and qualified for the

2012 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup The 2012 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup was the third edition of the women's football tournament, and was held in Azerbaijan from 22 September to 13 October, following a decision by the executive committee on 19 March 2010. Defending champions Sou ...

in Azerbaijan. Jenkins was again named to the squad and played the entirety of all three group games, scoring in a 1–1 draw with

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

as the United States finished level on points with North Korea and France but was eliminated on goal difference tiebreaker. In 2014, Jenkins was a starter for the United States under-18 team at the 10 Nations Tournament. Jenkins was frequently called up to United States under-20 training camps and squads during the cycle for the

2014 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup The 2014 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup was an international association football tournament and the world championship for women's national teams under the age of 20, presented by Grant Connell, organized by the sport's world governing body FIFA. I ...

and was named to the final camp prior to the tournament but did not make the final roster. In August 2018, Jenkins appeared for the United States under-23 team at the Nordic Tournament.

Career statistics

College

Club

Honors

UCLA Bruins *

Pac-12 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I level for all sports, and its Co ...

regular season: 2013, 2014 *

NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Championship The NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Championship, sometimes known as the Women's College Cup, is an American college soccer tournament conducted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), and determines the Division I women's natio ...

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

North Carolina Courage *

NWSL Championship The NWSL Championship is the annual championship game of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), the top-flight women's soccer league in the United States. It is the culmination of the NWSL playoffs, which is contested by the teams with the ...

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 ...

NWSL Shield The NWSL Shield is an annual award given to the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) team with the best regular season record as determined by the NWSL points system. The NWSL Shield has been awarded annually since 2013 and is recognized as a ...

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 ...

International *

CONCACAF Women's U-17 Championship The CONCACAF Women's Under-17 tournament is a football (soccer) competition for women's national teams under 17 years of age in North America, Central America, and the Caribbean region and is the qualification tournament for the FIFA U-17 Women's ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

Individual *

Freshman of the Year: 2013 * PFA W-League Team of the Season: 2019–20

References

External links

Darian Jenkins
at U.S. Soccer (archived) *
Darian Jenkins
at

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jenkins, Darian 1995 births Living people African-American soccer players American women's soccer players UCLA Bruins women's soccer players Women's Premier Soccer League National Women's Soccer League players North Carolina Courage draft picks North Carolina Courage players Seattle Reign FC players Melbourne Victory FC (women) players FC Girondins de Bordeaux (women) players Kansas City Current players Orlando Pride players Women's association football forwards American expatriate women's soccer players American expatriate sportspeople in Australia Expatriate women's soccer players in Australia American expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate women's footballers in France Soccer players from Utah People from Riverton, Utah Sportspeople from Salt Lake County, Utah 21st-century American sportswomen 21st-century African-American sportswomen United States women's youth international soccer players