Justin Springer (born 8 July 1993) is a former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

and current coach. Born in Canada, he represented the Saint Kitts and Nevis national team.

University career

Springer began attending the

University of Guelph The University of Guelph (abbreviated U of G) is a comprehensive Public university, public research university in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. It was established in 1964 after the amalgamation of Ontario Agricultural College (1874), the MacDonald I ...

in 2012, where he played for the men's soccer team. In his first season, he played all sixteen games and was named an OUA West First Team All-Star. In his second season, he was once again named an OUA First Team All-Star and was invited to play in the OUA Showcase in the spring. He was once again named an OUA West First Team All-Star in both his third and fourth seasons. In his fifth and final season, he captained the team and helped the team with the OUA championship and earn a third-place finish in the 2016 CIS Championship. He was named an OUA First Team All-Star for the fifth consecutive year, while also being named a

U Sports U Sports (stylized as U SPORTS) is the national sport governing body for universities in Canada, comprising the majority of degree-granting universities in the country and four regional conferences: Ontario University Athletics (OUA), Résea ...

Second Team All-Canadian.

Club career

Springer began playing for

USL PDL 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 feature ...

club K–W United FC in 2015. In 2016, he made 13 appearances, scoring one goal and appearing in one playoff match. In 2017, Springer made another 11 appearances for K–W, scoring one goal and making one playoff appearance. He then spent a couple months on trial with

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 2018, Springer joined

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 ...

club

Vaughan Azzurri Vaughan Azzurri is a Canadian semi-professional soccer team based in Vaughan, Ontario, that currently competes in the League1 Ontario men's and women's divisions. The semi-professional team was founded in 2014 by the Vaughan Soccer Club, which ...

, making nine appearances in the regular season and appearing in Vaughan's first two playoff matches of the group stage. He then played in the final against

Woodbridge Strikers Woodbridge Strikers Soccer Club is a Canadian semi-professional soccer club based in Woodbridge, Ontario. The club was founded in 1976 as a youth soccer club and added its semi-professional club in League1 Ontario in 2014. The team plays home g ...

, winning the league championship. On 8 February 2019, Springer signed his first professional contract with

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 ...

side York9. He made his debut for York9 in their inaugural match against

Forge FC Forge FC, also known as Forge Football Club, Forge FC Hamilton, or Hamilton Forge FC, is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Hamilton, Ontario, that competes in the Canadian Premier League, the top tier of Canadia ...

on April 27, 2019. He played in 11 league matches in 2019. While serving as the

Guelph United FC Guelph United F.C. is a Canadian semi-professional association football, soccer club based in Guelph, Ontario. The club includes men's and women's teams that play in League1 Ontario. Both teams initially played at the University of Guelph's Alum ...

associate coach, he appeared in two matches in 2021, playing the full 90 minutes each time.

International career

Springer was born in Canada to a Kittitian father. He represented Canada at the 2015 FISU Universiade. He made his debut for the

Saint Kitts and Nevis national football team The Saint Kitts and Nevis national football team is the national team of Saint Kitts and Nevis, and is controlled by the St. Kitts and Nevis Football Association. They are affiliated to the Caribbean Football Union of CONCACAF. The team has n ...

in a friendly 0–0 tie with

Nicaragua Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...

on 31 August 2016. In September 2019, he declined a national team call-up to pursue minute with his club team, but returned to the squad the for the next set of call-ups in October and November.

Coaching career

He has served as the assistant coach of the

Gryphons soccer team since 2018 and also serves as the Technical Manager of the youth Guelph Soccer Club. In 2021, he was named as co-head coach of Guelph United F.C. in

, alongside Keith Mason. In 2021, after Guelph United won the league title, he was named co-coach of the year with fellow Guelph Associate coach Keith Mason. In 2023, he became the full-time head coach, with Mason becoming the General Manager. At the end of the 2024 season, he stepped down as coach of the first team for personal reasons, but would remain with the club in another capacity.

Career statistics

Honours

K–W United * USL PDL Championship:

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

Vaughan Azzurri *

League1 Ontario Championship 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, ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

Guelph United *

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

Individual * OUA First Team All-Star: 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 *

Second Team All-Canadian: 2015

References

External links

Guelph Gryphons profile
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Springer, Justin 1993 births Living people Saint Kitts and Nevis men's footballers Men's association football defenders Saint Kitts and Nevis men's international footballers Saint Kitts and Nevis football managers Soccer players from Burlington, Ontario Canadian men's soccer players K–W United FC players York United FC players Vaughan Azzurri players USL League Two players League1 Ontario players Canadian Premier League players Canadian soccer coaches Canadian people of Saint Kitts and Nevis descent Sportspeople of Saint Kitts and Nevis descent Guelph United F.C. players Guelph Gryphons men's soccer players Guelph Gryphons men's soccer coaches Competitors at the 2015 Summer Universiade 21st-century Canadian sportsmen University and college men's soccer players in Canada