Tayt Ianni (born December 6, 1971, in

Lodi, California Lodi ( ) is a city in San Joaquin County, California, United States, in the center portion of California's Central Valley (California), Central Valley. The population was 66,348 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History When a gro ...

) is a former U.S.

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 ...

defender.

Career

College

Ianni grew up in

, and attended Lodi High School where he was a two time

Parade Magazine ''Parade'' was an American nationwide Sunday newspaper magazine, distributed in more than 700 newspapers nationwide in the United States until 2022. The most widely read magazine in the U.S., ''Parade'' had a circulation of 32 million and a read ...

high school

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

n soccer player. After high school, Ianni attended

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

where he played on the men's soccer team from 1990 to 1993. He started eighty-two games during his four seasons with the Bruins, and was the team captain his senior year. His freshman year, the Bruins won the

NCAA championship The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

Professional

In 1994, Ianni signed with the East Los Angeles Cobras of

USISL The United States Interregional Soccer League (USISL) was a semi-professional men's outdoor soccer league that played six seasons from 1989 to 1994. It was the first outdoor league to be operated by the organization known today as the United ...

. He then moved to German Third Division (Regionalliga) club TuS Celle for the 1994–1995 season. He returned to the United States in 1995 and joined the Monterey Bay Jaguars for the last month of the 1995 USISL regular season. The Jaguars won the Divisional title, to advance to the Sizzlin’ Nine tournament. At the end of the USISL season, he moved to

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

where he signed with

First Division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...

club Rajpracha-UCOM. He spent the 1995–1996 season in Thailand and played with

Raj Pracha FC Rajpracha Football Club () is a Thai professional football club. The club is currently playing in the Thai League 3. History Rajpracha was formally founded in 1966 by Pol Maj-Gen Mom Rajawongse Jetjan Prawit in the name of the "Ratchaprachanukro ...

in the

Asian Cup Winners Cup The Asian Cup Winners' Cup was an Asian football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-Asian club competition organised by Asian Football Confedera ...

. In February 1996, the

Tampa Bay Mutiny The Tampa Bay Mutiny were an American professional soccer team based in Tampa, Florida. The club competed in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The Mutiny were a charter member of MLS, playing from 1996 to 2001. Th ...

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

(MLS) picked Ianni in the eighth round (seventy-seventh overall) of the Inaugural MLS Draft. Ianni joined the Mutiny on the completion of the Thai season, appearing in several pre-season MLS games. Ianni made his first MLS start July 31, 1996, against the

New England Revolution The New England Revolution are an American professional association football, soccer club based in the Greater Boston area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. It is on ...

at right back. However, the Mutiny waived him on July 1, 1996, and the next day, the San Jose Clash claimed him off waivers. Over the course of the 1996 season, Ianni played in ten games and scored one goal with the Clash. The Clash waived Ianni on May 18, 1997. After being released by the Clash, Ianni joined the

Orange County Zodiac Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower ** Orange juice *Orange (colour), the color of an orange fruit, occurs between red and yellow in the vi ...

for the 1997 season. Then, that fall, he moved to Japan to play professional beach soccer.
/sup> In February 1998, the

Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Founded in ...

selected Ianni in the third round (35th overall) of the MLS Supplemental Draft
/sup> However, they never signed him to a contract. Instead, he continued to play for the Zodiacs through the 2000 season. That year, they club was renamed the Orange County Waves.

International

In 1988, Ianni played five games with the United States under-18 men's national soccer team, U.S. U-18 national team. The next two years, he was part of the U.S. U-20 team which qualified for the 1991 U-20 FIFA World Championship, but he did not play in that tournament. From 1992 to 1994, he played several games with the U.S. National "B" Team. Ianni earned his only

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

with the U.S. national team in a 4–1 loss to

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

on October 16, 1996. Ianni, along with several teammates in the game, was called up when the regular national team players went on strike and refused to play.

Personal life

Ianni now works as a mortgage broker for Nation's Funding Limited in Newport Beach, California. He married his wife Nicole, the daughter of former UCLA football coach

Terry Donahue Terrence Michael Donahue (June 24, 1944 – July 4, 2021) was an American football coach and executive. He served as the head coach at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) from 1976 to 1995, compiling a record of 151–74–8. His 15 ...

, in 1996 and has three children. His brother

Patrick Patrick may refer to: *Patrick (given name), list of people and fictional characters with this name * Patrick (surname), list of people with this name People *Saint Patrick (c. 385–c. 461), Christian saint * Gilla Pátraic (died 1084), Patrick ...

also played soccer in Major League Soccer and for the United States under-23 men's national soccer team.

References

External links

Sams-Army bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ianni, Tayt 1971 births Living people American men's soccer players Soccer players from California American expatriate men's soccer players United States men's international soccer players San Jose Earthquakes players USISL players East Los Angeles Cobras players California Jaguars players Orange County Blue Star players TuS Celle FC players Tampa Bay Mutiny players Sportspeople from Lodi, California American people of Italian descent Major League Soccer players USL Second Division players A-League (1995–2004) players Colorado Rapids draft picks Men's association football defenders Lodi High School (California) alumni American expatriate men's soccer players in Germany American expatriate sportspeople in Thailand Expatriate men's footballers in Thailand 20th-century American sportsmen