Griffin McDorman Yow (born September 25, 2002) is an American professional

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 plays as a winger in the

Belgian Pro League The Belgian Pro League,(officially the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons with Jupiler), is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 18 clubs since the 2020–21 season and reduced to 16 team ...

with

Westerlo Westerlo () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality comprises seven towns: * Westerlo centrum * * Tongerlo * Heultje * Voortkapel * Oosterwijk * In 2021, Westerlo had a total population of 25,288. The ...

Club career

D.C. United

Yow joined the

D.C. United D.C. United is a professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. that competes in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer, the top tier of American soccer. Domestically, the club has won four MLS Cups (league championships), four Suppo ...

academy in 2017, and found himself engaging in training sessions with the first team at the age of 15. By 2019, Yow had withdrawn from high school and enrolled in online programs, electing to forego a collegiate soccer career in favor of professional opportunities in the sport. Shortly thereafter, Yow made his professional debut with the club's USL Championship affiliate

Loudoun United Loudoun United FC is an American professional soccer team based in Leesburg, Virginia. The team was founded in 2018 as the reserve team of D.C. United and made its debut in the USL Championship in 2019. History On July 18, 2018, the team was offi ...

, and the following week scored the first goal in club history against Memphis 901 FC. On March 19, 2019, he became the 12th homegrown player to be signed with D.C. United. Yow made his professional debut with

in the 90th minute replacing Paul Arriola against New York City FC on April 21, 2019. This cameo made him the youngest player to appear in

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

during the 2019 season. Yow scored his first non-competitive goal for

in a friendly against

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () or just Betis, is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1907, it plays in La Liga. It holds home games at the Estadio Benito Vill ...

on May 22, 2019. Yow made his first start with D.C. United on July 4, 2019, against

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference in Major League Soccer (MLS). The franchise be ...

, playing 58 minutes in a 0–2 loss. On September 19, 2020, Yow scored his first

goal against

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club (commonly known as Toronto FC or TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BMO ...

, equalizing the game 2–2. Following his departure from the club, Yow stated that he "didn't feel valued" at times during his stint with the team, owing to a lack of minutes and perceived on-field progress. Yow made no more than a dozen league appearances in any of his four seasons with the club between 2019 and 2022.

Westerlo

On July 4, 2022, Yow was sold by D.C. United to recently promoted

. After a quiet season in which he made just five league appearances, Yow broke into the starting eleven in October 2023 after a knee injury forced him to miss the start of the 2023–24 campaign. He enjoyed a hot start to the season, scoring three goals and tallying two assists in his first 10 games. At the end of the year, Yow had registered 29 appearances across all competitions, scoring seven times.

International career

Yow has appeared for the United States under-17 team, scoring his first goal against Brazil's under-17 football team in a friendly tournament. In October 2019, he was named to the squad for the

2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup The 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup was the 18th edition of the FIFA U-17 World Cup, the biennial international men's youth association football, football championship contested by the under-17 national teams of the member associations of FIFA. It was ...

in Brazil. In March 2024, Yow was called up to the United States under-23 team ahead of friendlies against Guinea and France. That summer, Yow was selected to play in the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 2024), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad (french: Jeux de la XXXIIIe Olympiade, links=no) and also known as Paris 2024, is an upcoming international multi-sport event that is s ...

, appearing in all of the team's group stage matches as well as their 4–0 loss to

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

in the quarterfinals.

Career statistics

Club

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Yow, Griffin 2002 births Living people American expatriate sportspeople in Belgium American expatriate men's soccer players American men's soccer players United States men's youth international soccer players Men's association football forwards D.C. United players K.V.C. Westerlo players Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Homegrown Players (MLS) Loudoun United FC players Belgian Pro League players Major League Soccer players People from Clifton, Virginia Soccer players from Fairfax County, Virginia USL Championship players Footballers at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic soccer players for the United States