Jake Dancy is a retired American

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 ...

defender who played professionally 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 ...

, 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 ...

and the second Major Indoor Soccer League. He also coached one season in the second MISL.

Player

College

In 1996, Dancy attended

Fresno State University California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California, United States. It is part of the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers 60 ba ...

where he played twenty games, scoring one goal with a team that went to the NCAA quarterfinals. He was named to 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 ...

All Freshman Team.

Professional

Dancy spent time with the

Kansas City Wizards Sporting Kansas City is an American professional soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. The administrative offices are located in downtown K ...

during the 1997

pre-season, but was not signed to a contract. In May 1997, he joined the

Orange County Zodiac Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower ** Orange juice *Orange (colour), the color of an orange fruit, occurs between red and yellow in the vi ...

of the

USISL 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 ...

. The Wizards called him up in August of that year and he played three games at the end of the season. The Wizards kept him on the roster for the 1998 season, but he played only one game in May and one in September with three games on loan to the

Hershey Wildcats Hershey Wildcats were a professional soccer team, based in Hershey, Pennsylvania, United States, that played in the USL A-League between 1997 and 2001. The team was owned by Hershey Entertainment and Resorts Company. The team played in Hershey ...

. In 1999, Dancy played fourteen games for the Wizards. The Wizards released him at the end of the season. In February 2000, the MetroStars selected Dancy in the sixth round (sixty-first overall) of the

2000 MLS SuperDraft The 2000 Major League Soccer MLS SuperDraft, SuperDraft was held on February 6, 2000 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and consisted of six rounds. One of the most successful draft picks was goalkeeper Nick Rimando, a third round pick, who went on t ...

. The team released him on February 22, 2000. Dancy joined the Zodiac for the 2000 season. In 2001, he finished his outdoor career with the Connecticut Wolves. In the fall of 2000, he signed with the

Kansas City Attack The Kansas City Attack, previously the Atlanta Attack and later known as the Kansas City Comets, were an indoor soccer team based for most of its existence in Kansas City, Missouri. In its various incarnations the franchise played in the National ...

of the National Professional Soccer League. In 2001, the Attack was renamed the Comets as the team moved to the second Major Indoor Soccer League. The Comets released Dancy at the end of the 2003 season. In January 2004, he returned to the Comets for the second half of the 2003–2004 season, playing fourteen games for the Comets that season. He then began the 2004–2005 season with the Comets, playing two games before being released. Dancy also played a handful of games as a player-coach for the

Orlando Sharks The Orlando Sharks were a professional American indoor soccer team based in Orlando, Florida Orlando ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, Florida, United States. The city proper had a population of 307,573 at the 2020 censu ...

during the 2007–2008 MISL season.

Coach

On September 25, 2007, Dancy became the head coach of the

of the MISL. The team folded at the end of the season.

Personal

In February 1997, Dancy had an altercation with

Brian Kamler Brian Kamler (born February 12, 1972) is an American soccer coach and former player who is currently the technical director for Wisconsin United FC, a youth affiliate of Minnesota United FC. As a player, he played two seasons in the USISL, winnin ...

during a preseason match. Kamler's face was broken in seven places, including his cheek and around his left eye. Kamler filed a lawsuit against Dancy and the U.S. Soccer Federation for $7.3 million. Dancy was charged with a felony for assault by the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office. A trial was held on May 18, 1998, and Dancy pleaded no contest to the charge. Dancy was sentenced five years probation.

Present Life

Dancy currently works as the Operations Manager and National Sales Director for th
Mystery Shopping Company, Shoppers' Critique International

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dancy, Jake Living people 1978 births American soccer coaches Soccer players from Los Angeles County, California Connecticut Wolves players Hershey Wildcats players Kansas City Comets (2001–2005) players Kansas City Attack players Fresno State Bulldogs men's soccer players Major Indoor Soccer League (2001–2008) coaches Major Indoor Soccer League (2001–2008) players Major League Soccer players National Professional Soccer League (1984–2001) players Orange County Blue Star players Orlando Sharks players A-League (1995–2004) players Sportspeople from Diamond Bar, California New York Red Bulls draft picks Men's association football defenders American men's soccer players