Cal Jennings (born May 17, 1997) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a forward who currently plays for

Tampa Bay Rowdies The Tampa Bay Rowdies are an American professional soccer team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The club was founded in 2008 and first took the pitch in 2010. Since 2017, the Rowdies have been members of the USL Championship in the second tie ...

in the

USL Championship 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 ...

Early life and college

Born in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, Jennings attended Roswell High School where he played two seasons for the school's soccer team. He also spent a season with

U.S. Soccer Development Academy The U.S. Soccer Development Academy (DA) was an American soccer league. Formed in 2007, the league features youth academies and youth clubs from various organizations, including Major League Soccer and the United Soccer League. The DA's mission ...

club Georgia United. After graduating high school, Jennings enrolled at the

University of Central Florida The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public research university whose main campus is in unincorporated Orange County, Florida. UCF also has nine smaller regional campuses throughout central Florida. It is part of the State University ...

and joined the

UCF Knights The UCF Knights are the athletic teams that represent the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Florida. The Knights participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I ( FBS for football) as a member of the Am ...

college soccer College soccer is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. It is very prominent in United States, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and as well as in South Africa and the Philippines. The United K ...

team. He made his debut on August 26, 2016 against the

Grand Canyon Antelopes The Grand Canyon Antelopes (more commonly referred to as the Lopes) are the 21 athletic teams representing Grand Canyon University, located in Phoenix, Arizona. Most of the university's athletic teams compete at the NCAA Division I level in the ...

. He scored his first and only goal of his freshman season on October 8 against the

Memphis Tigers The Memphis Tigers are the athletic teams that represent the University of Memphis, located in Memphis, Tennessee. The teams compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member of the American Athletic C ...

in a 2–3 defeat. During the

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

season, Jennings scored 7 goals in 16 matches. The next season, Jennings had a breakout season, scoring 20 goals and starting all 18 matches for the Knights. He ended the season tied as the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

Division I top-scorer. During his final season with the Knights, Jennings scored 18 goals in 20 matches, earning several individual accolades. He was named a semifinalist for the Hermann Trophy for the

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

season.

Club career

Memphis 901

On January 9, 2020, Jennings was selected with the 17th overall pick by

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes as a member of the Western Conference in Major League Soccer (MLS). The franchise began play in 1996 as a charter club of the le ...

in the

2020 MLS SuperDraft The 2020 MLS SuperDraft was the 21st edition of the SuperDraft conducted by Major League Soccer. The 2020 SuperDraft was the first SuperDraft held exclusively via conference call and web streaming. The first two rounds of the 2020 SuperDraft wer ...

. However, in late February, he was released from the club's pre-season camp without earning a first-team contract. A few months later, on July 13, Jennings joined

club Memphis 901. Jennings made his professional debut for Memphis 901 on July 15, coming on as a 62nd minute substitute during a 3–0 defeat against

Birmingham Legion Birmingham Legion FC is an American professional soccer club based in Birmingham, Alabama, that competes in the USL Championship, the second division of American soccer. The team was established in August 2013 and played under the name Birmingh ...

. He then scored his first goal for the club on July 18 against

Atlanta United 2 Atlanta United 2 are the reserve team of the Major League Soccer club Atlanta United FC. The team plays in the USL Championship, the second tier of American soccer. The team was established on November 14, 2017 and began their first professional ...

during a 2–2 draw. Jennings ended his first season scoring a hat-trick on October 3 against Birmingham Legion. His three goals helped the club to a 3–1 victory. This was part of a scoring run in which Jennings scored in four games in a row, netting eight goals.

Los Angeles FC

On December 4, 2020, Jennings joined

club

Indy Eleven Indy Eleven is an American professional soccer team based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Founded in 2013, the team made its debut in the North American Soccer League in 2014, before moving to the United Soccer League in 2018. The franchise plays it ...

for the

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season. However, on March 9, 2021, it was announced that Jennings had signed with Major League Soccer club Los Angeles FC without playing a game for Indy Eleven. To make the signing, Los Angeles FC traded their natural third-round selection in the

2022 MLS SuperDraft The 2022 MLS SuperDraft was the 23rd edition of the SuperDraft conducted by Major League Soccer. The SuperDraft is held every January prior to the start of the MLS season and has been conducted via conference calls since 2020. Previously, the Su ...

for Jennings' college rights from

. Following the 2022 season, Jennings was released by LAFC.

Tampa Bay Rowdies

On January 26, 2023, Jennings signed with USL Championship side

Career statistics

Honors

Los Angeles FC *

MLS Cup The MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Cup Playoffs. The game is held in November and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Conferen ...

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...

* Supporters' Shield:

individual * AAC Offensive player of the year:

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

NSCAA The United Soccer Coaches (formerly known as the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)) is an organization of American soccer coaches founded in 1941. It is the largest soccer coaches organization in the world, with more than ...

First-team All-American:

Top goalscorer:

References

External links

Profile
at the Major League Soccer website {{DEFAULTSORT:Jennings, Cal 1997 births Living people People from Roswell, Georgia Sportspeople from Fulton County, Georgia American soccer players Men's association football forwards All-American men's college soccer players UCF Knights men's soccer players FC Dallas draft picks Memphis 901 FC players Indy Eleven players Los Angeles FC players USL Championship players Soccer players from Georgia (U.S. state) Las Vegas Lights FC players Major League Soccer players Tampa Bay Rowdies players