Jay Needham
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Jay Charles Needham (born September 30, 1984) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a central defender or defensive midfielder for teams in Norway, Puerto Rico and the United States.
Jay Charles Needham (born September 30, 1984) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a central defender or defensive midfielder for teams in Norway, Puerto Rico and the United States.
College and amateur career
Needham was born in Fort Worth, Texas. He played youth soccer with the Dallas Texans Soccer Club. His team, Dallas Texans Red '85's, won four North Texas State Cup titles (2000–2003), three Southern Regional titles (2000–2002) and twice competed in the U.S. Youth National Championship final four (2001–2002). His team also won the Under 19 Division of the prestigious Dallas Cup in 2003. Other professionals playing for this Texans team were Hunter Freeman and Ramón Núñez. After graduating from Arlington Heights High School, Needham played college soccer at Southern Methodist University. While at SMU, Needham was a member of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Champion in 2003, the Missouri Valley Conference Season and Tournament Champions in 2004. After the 2004 season, SMU participated in Conference USA. The Mustangs were the Conference USA Season Champion in 2005 and the Season and Tournament Champions in 2006. The Mustangs participated in the NCAA Soccer Tournament all four years that Needham played advancing to the College Cup (final four) in 2005. SMU fell to Maryland (the eventual NCAA Champions) in the semi-finals. Needham earned several honors during his career at SMU. He was named to the Missouri Valley Conference 1st Team All Freshman squad in 2003. After SMU moved to Conference USA in 2005, Needham was named 1st Team All Conference in 2005 and 2006. Conference USA named him Defender of the Year in 2006. He earned 1st Team Midwest Region honors in 2005 and 2006. The NSCAA name him 1st Team All American in 2006. Needham was also a Finalist for the Missouri Athletic Club's Hermann Trophy (given to that year's best college soccer player) in 2006. During his time at SMU, Needham played summer soccer in the USL Premier Development League with the DFW Tornados.
Professional career
References
External links
SMU bio
Text derived from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1325377001 under CC BY-SA 4.0; modifications have been made.
References
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