James William Ockford (born June 10, 1992) is an American soccer player who plays for

Colorado Springs Switchbacks Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC is a professional soccer team based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Founded in 2014, the team is a member of the USL Championship, the second tier of the American soccer pyramid. The franchise is owned by Martin E R ...

in the

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, p ...

Career

College and amateur

Ockford began his college career at

Mount St. Mary's University Mount St. Mary's University (The Mount) is a private Roman Catholic university in Emmitsburg, Maryland. It includes the largest Catholic seminary in the United States. The undergraduate programs are divided between the College of Liberal Arts, ...

where he played as a forward for three seasons. In his freshman year with the Mountaineers, Ockford made 17 appearances and finished the year with one assist. In 2011, he made 16 appearances and tallied three goals and three assists. In 2012, he made 17 appearances and tallied two goals. Following the conclusion of the 2012, Mount St. Mary's Athletics announced that it would cut three of their sports programs, including men's soccer. On February 6, 2013, it was announced that Ockford transferred to the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public research university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one of ...

for his senior season. In his lone season with the Cardinals, Ockford was converted to defender and he excelled as he made 20 appearances, tallied four goals and helped the Cardinals record nine clean sheets on their way to winning the

AAC AAC may refer to: Aviation * Advanced Aircraft, a company from Carlsbad, California * Alaskan Air Command, a radar network * American Aeronautical Corporation, a company from Port Washington, New York * American Aviation, a company from Cleveland, ...

regular season title. On November 14, Ockford was named AAC Defender of the Year. During his time in college, Ockford also played in the

USL Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United States soccer league sy ...

for Central Jersey Spartans and Reading United.

North American Soccer League

On January 16, 2014, Ockford was drafted in the second round of the

2014 MLS SuperDraft The 2014 MLS SuperDraft was the fifteenth SuperDraft presented by Major League Soccer. The first two rounds of the four round draft took place on January 16, 2014, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at the Philadelphia Convention Center. Rounds three ...

(21st overall) by

Seattle Sounders FC Seattle Sounders Football Club is an American professional men's soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete as a member of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The club was established on November 13, 2007, and began ...

. He signed with the club on February 26 and was immediately loaned to NASL club

New York Cosmos New York Cosmos may refer to * New York Cosmos (1970–1985), a team in the North American Soccer League (then the top-tier soccer league in the United States and Canada) * New York Cosmos (2010), a team playing since 2020 in the National Independe ...

. On May 28, Ockford made his professional debut and scored his first goal in a 2–0 win over NPSL club

Brooklyn Italians Brooklyn Italians is an American soccer team based in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, United States. Founded in 1949, the team last played in the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL), a national amateur league at the fourth tier of the Ameri ...

in the third round of the

Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States of America. It is the oldest ongoing national soccer competition in that country. The 2023 U.S. O ...

. Three days later, he made his NASL debut and scored in a 3–0 win against Fort Lauderdale Strikers. Ockford scored two goals and made 10 appearances for the Cosmos during the 2014 regular season, helping the team clinch a berth in The Championship. He also scored one goal in three U.S. Open Cup appearances for the Cosmos.

United Soccer League

On January 10, 2017, it was announced that

USL The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, p ...

side and

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional soccer team based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete as a member club of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). Originally as the San Jose Clash, the franchis ...

affiliate

Reno 1868 FC Reno 1868 FC was an American professional soccer team based in Reno, Nevada. Founded in 2015, the team made its debut in the USL Championship in March 2017 and ceased operations after the 2020 season. History Previously, northern Nevada has ...

had signed Ockford. He scored his first goal for the team on May 20, 2017, in Reno's 6–0 rout of his former team

Seattle Sounders FC 2 Tacoma Defiance, formerly Seattle Sounders FC 2, is an American professional soccer team based in Tacoma, Washington, U.S. that competes in the MLS Next Pro, the third tier of the national soccer pyramid, as the reserve team of Seattle Sounder ...

. Ockford made his first appearance for San Jose as a 33rd-minute substitute for Andrés Imperiale on July 14, 2017, during San Jose's 4–1 friendly victory over

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The team is currently playing in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the Germa ...

. Ockford joined

team

Louisville City FC Louisville City Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in Louisville, Kentucky. The team plays in the USL Championship, known through the 2018 season as the United Soccer League (USL), which is currently the second tier of th ...

on a full-time basis on December 5, 2019. On December 24, 2020, it was announced that Ockford would join USL Championship side

ahead of their 2021 season.

Major League Soccer

Ockford was signed by the San Jose Earthquakes on December 14, 2017, along with Reno teammates

Chris Wehan Christopher Wehan (born January 29, 1994) is an American professional soccer player who plays as an attacking midfielder for New Mexico United in the USL Championship. Career Amateur and college Wehan spent five years playing college soccer ...

and Luis Felipe Fernandes. He made his MLS debut on March 3, 2018, during San Jose's season-opening 3–2 victory over

Minnesota United Minnesota United FC is an American professional soccer club based in Saint Paul, Minnesota that plays in the Western Conference of Major League Soccer. The club began play in 2017 as the league's 22nd club, and replaced the North American Soc ...

, substituting on in the 54th minute after Yeferson Quintana was injured.

Statistics

Statistics accurate as of June 13, 2018.

Honors

University of Louisville

American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (The American or AAC) is an American collegiate athletic conference, featuring 11 member universities and five affiliate member universities that compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA ...

regular season champions:

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment ...

Individual

Defender of the Year:

References

External links

*
Louisville Cardinals bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ockford, Jimmy 1992 births Living people American soccer players Louisville Cardinals men's soccer players Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers men's soccer players Central Jersey Spartans players Reading United A.C. players Seattle Sounders FC players New York Cosmos (2010) players Tacoma Defiance players Reno 1868 FC players Nashville SC (2018–19) players Louisville City FC players Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC players Men's association football defenders Soccer players from Pennsylvania Seattle Sounders FC draft picks USL League Two players Major League Soccer players North American Soccer League (2011–2017) players USL Championship players People from Yardley, Pennsylvania San Jose Earthquakes players Sportspeople from Bucks County, Pennsylvania