Jayden Da (born April 8, 2002) is an 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 ...

player who plays for

New England Revolution II New England Revolution II is a professional soccer club based in the Greater Boston area that competes in MLS Next Pro, the third division of American soccer. The team is owned by, and operates as the reserve team of the Major League Soccer club ...

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 ...

Early life

Da was born in Boston and also lived in West Africa for eight years during his youth, before returning to the United States. He played youth soccer with the Olney Boys & Girls Club.

College career

In 2020, Da began attending

Washington & Jefferson College Washington & Jefferson College (W&J College or W&J) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Washington, Pennsylvania, United States. The college traces its origin to three Presbyterian m ...

, where he played for the men's soccer team in

NCAA Division III NCAA Division III (D-III) is the lowest division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that do not offer athletic scholarships to student- ...

(the season was delayed to the spring of 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic). On March 21, 2021, he scored his first collegiate goals, netting a brace in a 4–0 victory over the Saint Vincent Bearcats. In April 2021, he was named the

Presidents' Athletic Conference The Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) is an intercollegiate athletic conference which competes in the NCAA's Division III. Of its 11 member schools, all private, liberal arts institutions of higher learning, nine are located in Western Penn ...

Rookie of the Week. On April 13, he scored the overtime winner in double overtime against the Geneva Golden Tornadoes. At the end of the season, he was named the PAC Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year, and was named to the All-PAC First Team and the PAC All-Tournament Team. During his sole season, he helped W&J win the 2020 PAC Championship, and led the PAC in points (17) and assists (5), while finishing tied for second in goals (6). In the fall of 2021, Da transferred to

Duquesne University Duquesne University of the Holy Spirit ( ; also known as Duquesne University or Duquesne) is a Private university, private Catholic higher education, Catholic research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded by members of ...

to play for the men's soccer team in

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

. He made his debut on August 26, 2021, 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 ...

. He made his first start and scored his first goal on November 14, 2021, against the

Saint Louis Billikens The Saint Louis Billikens are the college athletics in the United States, collegiate athletic teams that represent Saint Louis University, located in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri. The Billikens compete in NCAA Division I, Division I of the Natio ...

. On September 9, 2023, he scored a brace against the

Niagara Purple Eagles The Niagara Purple Eagles are athletics teams that represent Niagara University in College athletics, college sports. Part of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division I, Division I, the Purple Eagles field 19 varsity leve ...

in a 2–1 victory. At the end of the 2023 season, he was named to the All-Atlantic 10 Second Team and the All-Southeast Region Third Team. Over his three seasons with Duquesne, he appeared in 46 games, scoring eight goals and adding four assists.

Club career

In 2022, he played with the Patuxent Football Athletics in

USL League Two USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States, forming part of the United States soccer league system. The league will featu ...

. At the

2024 MLS SuperDraft The 2024 MLS SuperDraft was the 25th edition of the MLS SuperDraft, a sports draft to select amateur, usually collegiate, soccer players that are not affiliate with an MLS club, or college soccer players that had their Homegrown player rights r ...

, Da was selected in the first round (29th overall) by the

Columbus Crew The Columbus Crew are an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The team began play in 1996 as one of the 10 cha ...

. In February 2024, he signed a contract with the second team,

Columbus Crew 2 Columbus Crew 2 is a professional soccer team based in Columbus, Ohio that competes in the MLS Next Pro league, the third division of American soccer. The team is owned by, and operates as the reserve team of the Major League Soccer club Colum ...

, in

. Columbus announced they'd declined Da's contract option in on December 4, 2024. Da joined

on a one-year contract on December 5, 2024.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Da, Jayden Living people 2002 births American men's soccer players Men's association football forwards Soccer players from Boston Duquesne Dukes men's soccer players Columbus Crew draft picks Columbus Crew 2 players MLS Next Pro players Washington & Jefferson Presidents athletes 21st-century American sportsmen New England Revolution II players