Avneet Singh Shergill (born December 3, 1985) is a retired American

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, who played as

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for

Ajax Orlando Prospects Ajax Orlando Prospects was an American soccer team, founded in 2002. The team was a member of the United Soccer Leagues Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, until 2006, when the team left the league ...

West Virginia Chaos West Virginia United (formerly West Virginia Chaos and West Virginia Alliance FC) is an American soccer team based in Charleston, West Virginia. Founded in 2003, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. Hi ...

and the

Portland Timbers U23s Capital FC is an American soccer team based in Salem, Oregon, United States. Although founded in 2008 as part of the development system for the Portland Timbers USSF D2 organization, beginning in 2011 they were part of the development system ...

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 syste ...

and for Indian

I-League The I-League (known as Hero I-League for sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp) is the second-tier men's professional football competition of the Indian football league system. It is currently contested by 12 clubs across the country with the w ...

club

Salgaocar SC Salgaocar Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Vasco, Goa, that competes in the Goa Professional League. They have also played in the I-League, then top flight of Indian football league system. Founded in 1956, the cl ...

Career

Shergill was born in

Stockton, California Stockton is a city in and the county seat of San Joaquin County, California, San Joaquin County in the Central Valley (California), Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. Stockton was founded by Carlos Maria Weber in 1849 after he acquir ...

, in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, to

immigrant Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

parents from

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. His mother Navjot Shergill was a

Track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

athlete for Khalsa College in

Punjab, India Punjab (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northern India. Forming part of the larger Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, the state is bordered by the States and union territories of India, Indian states of Himachal ...

. He joined

Tyler Junior College Tyler Junior College (TJC) is a public community college in Tyler, Texas. It is one of the largest community colleges in Texas, with an enrollment of more than 12,500 credit students each year with an additional 20,000 continuing education enroll ...

from the Westside Metros SC in 2004, where he finished the season with 2005 NSCAA Junior College All-West Region Team honours, scoring nine goals. In 2006, he joined the

Marshall Thundering Herd The Marshall Thundering Herd is the intercollegiate athletic collection of teams that collectively represent the Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. Thundering Herd athletic teams compete in the Sun Belt Conference, which are membe ...

. after a season competing with the

from the

. He scored 3 goals in 8 appearances for the Prospects, the American farm team of Dutch club

Ajax Amsterdam Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax (), also known as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam, or simply Ajax, is a Dutch professional football club based in Amsterdam, that plays in the , the top tier in Dutch football. Historically, Ajax (named after the l ...

. After an un-successful Junior season at Marshall, Shergill led the Thundering Herd with his attacking prowess from the flanks, tallying goals against the likes of nationally ranked teams Tulsa, South Carolina, and Kentucky. His college career ended, one game shy of a Conference-USA Championship, and an NCAA Tournament bid. Following his career with Marshall, he returned to the USL Premier Development League playing for

in the 2008 season, scoring three times in twelve appearances. In 2009, he joined the

scoring twice in 15 appearances. In 2009, Shergill transferred to

, competing in the

in India. He became the first Indian American to compete in the newly formed league, where he was later joined by the leading scorer of the Timbers 1st team Mandjou Keita. He scored his first I-League goal for Salgaocar SC on 22 January 2010 in an away match against

Air India FC Air India Football Club is an Indian professional football club, founded by Anand Prajapati in 1952, based in Mumbai, Maharashtra. They are sponsored by Air India, and have enjoyed some success in the MDFA Elite League. They have also competed ...

at the famous Cooperage Ground in the city of Mumbai, which ended in a 2–1 loss. A severe tear in his groin cut his I-League appearances short and returned to his homeland for rehabilitation upon completion of his contract. Later competed for Red Army FC in the Greater Portland Soccer District as well as BC Tigers of the Vancouver Metro Soccer League in British Columbia, Canada before retiring from football as a player. In 2016 as a member of the University of the Pacific Men's Soccer coaching staff, he was part of an NCAA record for single season win percentage from year to year. Pacific ended the season with a loss against Stanford in the NCAA Division-I National Tournament 2nd Round, after revival of the men's soccer program only 3 years prior. Following the season, the Pacific Men's Soccer coaching staff were recognized as the 2016 Far-West Region Coaching Staff of the Year. In 2017, he helped Southern Oregon University Men's Soccer team win both the Cascade Collegiate Conference regular season and conference tournament championships, in only its 3rd year of existence as a program. The Raiders went on to play in the NAIA National Championship Tournament 1st Round. He again led the Raiders to the Cascade Collegiate Conference regular season championship in 2018, as the Raiders fell short in the 2nd Round of the NAIA National Tournament. He has also shown to be in process of attaining United States Soccer Federation coaching licenses.

Honours

Individual

* 2005 NSCAA Junior College All-West Region Team

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shergill, Avneet 1985 births Living people Sportspeople from Stockton, California Association football midfielders American soccer players American sportspeople of Indian descent Expatriate footballers in India American expatriate sportspeople in India Marshall Thundering Herd men's soccer players Ajax Orlando Prospects players Portland Timbers U23s players Salgaocar FC players USL League Two players I-League players Sportspeople from Vancouver, Washington