Ricardo Velazco (born May 26, 1993) is an American professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player.

Club career

Youth, college and amateur

Velazco spent two years with the Real Salt Lake AZ Academy before beginning his college career at

Cal State San Bernardino California State University, San Bernardino (Cal State San Bernardino or CSUSB) is a public research university in San Bernardino, California. Founded in 1965, it is one of the 23 general campuses of the California State University system. The m ...

. In his only season with the Coyotes, he made 14 appearances and tallied six goals and one assist. After his freshman year, he 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 ...

. In his first year with the Cardinals, he made 20 appearances and recorded seven goals and nine assists on his way to being named First Team All-American Conference and First Team and First Team All-Midwest Region. In 2014, he made 22 appearances and recorded six goals and five assists. Velazco also played in the

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

with

FC Tucson FC Tucson is an American soccer club based in Tucson, Arizona that plays in USL League Two. The club has an amateur women’s team, FC Tucson Women, that play in the WPSL. Organized in 2010, the club first fielded a team in March 2011, then joine ...

. He was named PDL Young (U21) Player of the Year and was selected to the All-League and All-Western Conference Teams in 2014.

Professional

On March 7, 2015, Velazco signed a professional contract with

Real Monarchs SLC Real Monarchs is a professional soccer club playing in the MLS Next Pro, a third division league of American soccer. The team is owned by, and operates as the reserve team of, the Major League Soccer club Real Salt Lake. While the senior club is ...

, a

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 ...

affiliate club of

Real Salt Lake Real Salt Lake, often shortened to RSL, is an American professional soccer franchise based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The club competes as a member club of Major League Soccer (MLS) in the Western Conference. RSL began play in 20 ...

. He made his professional debut on March 23 in a 0–0 draw with

LA Galaxy II LA Galaxy II is an American professional soccer team based in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson, California, United States founded in 2014. It is the reserve team of the LA Galaxy. The team competes in MLS Next Pro, the third tier of the United Sta ...

. Fast forward several months, Velazco was rewarded with a first team contract after two outstanding seasons with the Real Monarchs and signed a professional contract with

on September 6, 2016 making him the first ever player in Real Salt Lake History to move up through the ranks from the Real Salt Lake Academy to the Real Monarchs and finally to Real Salt Lake. On March 4, 2017, Velazco made his

MLS Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

debut while being subbed on against

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club (commonly known as Toronto FC or TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BMO ...

. On May 13, 2017, Ricardo made his first start for Real Salt Lake while playing against

New England Revolution The New England Revolution is an American professional soccer club based in the Greater Boston area that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), in the Eastern Conference of the league. It is one of the ten charter clubs of MLS, having compet ...

Foxborough, Massachusetts Foxborough is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States, about southwest of Boston, northeast of Providence, Rhode Island and about northwest of Cape Cod. Foxborough is part of the Greater Boston area. The population was 18,618 at ...

. In total, Velazco played 9 games over the course of 254 minutes, while registering 5 shots and 1 shot on goal in the 2017 MLS season.

Isidro Metapán

Velazco signed with top flight

Primera División Primera may refer to * Nissan Primera, a car * Primera Air, a former airline * Primera división (disambiguation), multiple top division football leagues * Primera, Texas, a town in Cameron County, Texas * Alí Primera, Venezuelan musician, compos ...

side Isidro Metapán for the Clausura 2018 tournament. Velazco scored two goals in a 2–4 defeat against

Municipal Limeño Club Deportivo Municipal Limeño is a professional Salvadoran football club based in Santa Rosa de Lima, La Unión, El Salvador. Their home stadium is Estadio Jose Ramon Flores, with a capacity of 5,000. Limeño have won five Segunda Divisió ...

in the

Estadio Jose Ramon Flores Estadio Jose Ramon Flores is a multi-use sports complex located in Santa Rosa de Lima, El Salvador. The sports complex is mainly used for its soccer facility. The soccer field is the home field of C.D. Municipal Limeño A CD or compact disc is ...

, in January 2018.

Legal Issue

Velazco was charged with unlawful sexual activity with a minor, a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison. a year later, the district attorney announced that Velazco would plead guilty to the reduce charge of sexual battery. On April 16, 2018, Velazco was sentenced to 45 days in jail, 24 months of probation, and suspended fine of $2,500.

References

External links

Louisville Cardinals bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Velazco, Ricardo 1993 births Living people People from Casa Grande, Arizona Sportspeople from the Phoenix metropolitan area Soccer players from Arizona American soccer players Association football forwards Cal State San Bernardino Coyotes men's soccer players Louisville Cardinals men's soccer players FC Tucson players Real Monarchs players Real Salt Lake players A.D. Isidro Metapán footballers FC Arizona players USL League Two players USL Championship players Major League Soccer players Salvadoran Primera División players American expatriate soccer players American expatriate sportspeople in El Salvador Expatriate footballers in El Salvador Homegrown Players (MLS)