Guillermo Jara (born October 20, 1973) is an American former

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 ...

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 ...

who played four seasons in

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 ...

Youth

Jara grew up in

Sacramento, California Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat, seat of Sacramento County, California, Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento Rive ...

, attending Christian Brothers High School where he was a 1991 ''

Parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually some variety ...

'' magazine high school all-American. Jara also played club soccer with the Tri-Valley Soccer Club. He then played four years 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 ...

at the

University of San Diego The University of San Diego (USD) is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in San Diego, California, United States. Chartered in 1949 as the independent San Diego College for Women and San Diego University ...

from 1992 to 1995. He was the ''

Soccer America ''Soccer America'', the oldest soccer-specific media publisher in the United States, was founded in 1971 by Clay Berling in Albany, California. The magazine is headquartered in Oakland, California. History The magazine was founded by Clay Ber ...

'' magazine Freshman of the Year when he finished second in the US in assists and tied for third in the points list. He holds the university records for both goals and assists with 51 and 48 respectively. In his senior year, he was the 1995 West Coast Conference Player of the Year and a third team

all-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

n. Jara is one of 22 college players to be part of the 40-40 club, having both 40 goals and 40 assists in their college career.

U-23 national team

Jara earned five

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

with the

United States U-23 men's national soccer team The United States U-23 men's national soccer team, also known as the United States men's Olympic soccer team, is a youth Association football, soccer team operated under the auspices of United States Soccer Federation, U.S. Soccer. Its primary r ...

in 1994 and 1995. However, he never played for the senior national team.

Professional

In February 1996, the

Los Angeles Galaxy The Los Angeles Galaxy are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The Gal ...

selected Jara in the first round (7th overall) of the

1996 MLS College Draft The 1996 Major League Soccer College Draft was held on March 4, 1996, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. History As Major League Soccer prepared for its first season, the league began stocking teams with players. As the teams were being created at the ...

. While he played in twenty-one games for the Galaxy in 1996, it was mostly as a late game substitute, amassing only 811 minutes. Consequently, the Galaxy loaned him to the Sacramento Scorpions of the

USISL The United States Interregional Soccer League (USISL) was a semi-professional men's outdoor soccer league that played six seasons from 1989 to 1994. It was the first outdoor league to be operated by the organization known today as the United ...

for several games. Jara plated even less in 1997, a total of only 353 minutes. In 1998, he played one game with the Galaxy before being traded to the

Tampa Bay Mutiny The Tampa Bay Mutiny were an American professional soccer team based in Tampa, Florida. The club competed in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The Mutiny were a charter member of MLS, playing from 1996 to 2001. Th ...

. The Mutiny also used him sparingly, and in July sent him to the MLS Pro-40 team for four games.Pro-40 stats
/ref> Jara began the 1999 season in Tampa Bay, but was traded to the

Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Founded in ...

on June 14, 1999, in exchange for Steve Trittschuh. Jara played only six minutes with the Rapids before the team released him on November 24, 1999. In 2000, Jara spent the season with the San Diego Flash of the

USL A-League 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 Di ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jara, Guillermo 1973 births Living people American men's soccer players LA Galaxy players Tampa Bay Mutiny players Colorado Rapids players USISL Select League players Sacramento Scorpions players San Diego Flash players San Diego Toreros men's soccer players Major League Soccer players MLS Pro-40 players A-League (1995–2004) players Soccer players from Sacramento, California United States men's under-23 international soccer players LA Galaxy draft picks San Jose Earthquakes non-playing staff Men's association football forwards 20th-century American sportsmen