Jalen Antonio Ellis-Watson (born March 23, 2000) 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 plays for

Oakville SC Oakville Soccer Club is a semi-professional soccer club based in Oakville, Ontario. The senior men's and women's teams currently compete in League1 Ontario men's and women's divisions. In late 2024, Oakville SC merged with Blue Devils FC to be ...

League1 Ontario League1 Ontario (L1ON) is a semi-professional men's soccer league in Ontario, Canada. The league is sanctioned by the Canadian Soccer Association and the Ontario Soccer Association. League1 Ontario consists of three tiers – League1 Premier ...

Early life

Watson played youth soccer with Erin Mills SC. In August 2017, Watson joined the

Vancouver Whitecaps Academy Whitecaps FC Academy ( sponsor name Whitecaps FC BMO Academy) is the youth system of the professional soccer club Vancouver Whitecaps, based in Vancouver, British Columbia. It fields a men's and women's team in the semi-professional League1 ...

, where he played for two years.

College career

In 2019, Watson began attending

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

, where he played for the men's soccer team. On August 30, 2019, he made his collegiate debut against the

Stanford Cardinal The Stanford Cardinal are the college athletics in the United States, athletic teams that represent Stanford University. Stanford's program has won 138 National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA team championships, the List of NCAA schools ...

. On October 15, 2019, he scored his first collegiate goal against the

Pittsburgh Panthers The Pittsburgh Panthers, commonly also referred to as the Pitt Panthers, are the athletic teams representing the University of Pittsburgh, although the term is colloquially used to refer to other aspects of the university such as alumni, facul ...

. After his freshman season, he was named to the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

All-Freshman Team. In his sophomore and junior seasons, he earned Academic All-Big Ten honours. In his senior season, he was named to the Big Ten All-Tournament team. Over his four years at Penn State, Watson scored one goal and added three assists in 59 appearances.

Club career

At the

2023 MLS SuperDraft The 2023 MLS SuperDraft was the 24th edition of the SuperDraft conducted by Major League Soccer. It was held on December 21, 2022, becoming the first SuperDraft to be held in December, but retained the 2023 branding. The draft was conducted via ...

, Watson was selected in the second round (32nd overall) by

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matc ...

. After attending pre-season with the club, Waston signed a professional contract with the second team,

Toronto FC II Toronto FC II is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Toronto, Ontario, that competes in MLS Next Pro, a third tier league of the United States soccer league system. It is the reserve team and minor league affiliate of Toronto FC as we ...

, in

MLS Next Pro MLS Next Pro (MLSNP) is a men's professional association football, soccer league in the United States and Canada that is affiliated with Major League Soccer (MLS). It launched in 2022 with 21 teams and now comprises 27 reserve sides of MLS clu ...

. He made his debut on April 14 against New York City FC II. In August 2023, he was loaned to

Pacific FC Pacific Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Greater Victoria, British Columbia. The club competes in the Canadian Premier League, playing home matches at Starlight Stadium located in Langford. History On May 5, 20 ...

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 ...

. In 2024, he signed with the

Simcoe County Rovers Simcoe County Rovers Football Club is a Canadian semi-professional soccer club based in Barrie, Ontario, that plays in the League1 Ontario Premier men's and women's divisions. The Rovers won the 2023 League1 Ontario championship and qualified ...

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, Jalen 2000 births Living people Men's association football defenders Canadian men's soccer players Soccer players from Mississauga Toronto FC draft picks Toronto FC II players Whitecaps FC Academy players Penn State Nittany Lions men's soccer players MLS Next Pro players Pacific FC players Simcoe County Rovers FC players League1 Ontario players 21st-century Canadian sportsmen