Esai Easley (born May 9, 2000) is an 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.

Career

Youth

Easley born in

Kailua-Kona, Hawaii Kailua-Kona is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Hawaii County, Hawaii, Hawaii County, Hawaii, United States. It is also known as Kailua (a name it shares with Kailua, Honolulu County, Hawaii, a community located o ...

played club soccer for local side Kona Crush, before heading to Europe in 2013 for trials with

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

, and again in 2014 for trials with Chievo and West Ham United. In 2015, Easley joined the

Seattle Sounders FC Seattle Sounders Football Club is an American professional men's soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete as a member of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The club was established on November 13, 2007, and began ...

academy, and then Californian side De Anza Force for their 2017-18 season.

College & amateur

In 2018, Easley committed to playing

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 Kingd ...

at Grand Canyon University. In four seasons with the 'Lopes, Easley made 43 appearances, scoring two goals and tallying four assists. In 2019, he was named an All-WAC Honorable mention, First team All-WAC in the 2020-2021 season, and WAC Defensive Player of the Year, All-WAC First Team, and was selected to the United Soccer Coaches All-Far West Region Second Team in his senior year in 2021. While at college, Easley also appeared in the

USL League Two 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 ...

with Portland Timbers U23s in 2021, making seven regular season appearances.

Professional

On January 11, 2022, Easley was selected 22nd overall 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 ...

Sporting Kansas City Sporting Kansas City, often shortened to Sporting KC, is an American men's professional Association football, soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The administrative offices are located in Downtown Kansas City, Missouri, and t ...

. He signed with the club's MLS Next Pro side Sporting Kansas City II on March 11, 2022.

References

External links

Esai Easley
MLS profile
Esai Easley - Men's Soccer
Esai Easley at GCU Antelopes {{DEFAULTSORT:Easley, Esai Living people 2000 births American men's soccer players Men's association football defenders Grand Canyon Antelopes men's soccer players Major League Soccer players MLS Next Pro players Capital FC players Soccer players from Hawaii Sporting Kansas City draft picks Sporting Kansas City II players USL League Two players People from Kailua-Kona, Hawaii De Anza Force players