Jon Akin 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 ...

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 ...

who is the head coach of the Oglethorpe University men's soccer team.

Player

Youth

Akin graduated successfully from Pensacola Catholic High School. He was a four-year starter on his high school soccer team and played for the North Florida Futbol Club which won the 1995 Florida Youth Soccer Championships. Akin attended the Saint Leo University, playing on the men's NCAA Division II soccer team from 1995 to 1998. He is second on the Lions' career goals and points lists and holds the school record for career assists. Akin was selected as a 1996 Second Team and a 1997 First Team Division II All American. He was inducted into the school's Athletic Hall of Fame in 2005.

Professional

Following graduation from college, Akin spent three months with the Independiente reserve team. In 1999, he returned to the United States when he was drafted by the Charleston Battery in the first round (54th overall) of the USL A-League draft. In his first season with the Battery, Akin saw late game time in nine games and was sent on loan to the Carolina Dynamo of the USL D-3 Pro League. By 2001, he was a regular first team starter. In 2000, he went on loan to

Kilkenny City Kilkenny (). is a city in County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region and in the province of Leinster. It is built on both banks of the River Nore. The 2016 census gave the total population of Kilkenny as 26,512. Kilkenn ...

. In 2002, the Battery traded Akin to the

Atlanta Silverbacks The Atlanta Silverbacks FC were an American professional soccer club based in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1998 as Atlanta Ruckus, the club played in many leagues over the years before folding after the 2015 season. The team played its home game ...

. He spent one season with the Silverbacks. From 2008 to 2009, Akin was a player-assistant coach with the Atlanta Eclipse of the

Premier Arena Soccer League The Premier Arena Soccer League (PASL) is an indoor soccer league with mostly semi-professional teams; along with a number of amateur teams across North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entire ...

. In 2009, he played two games for the

Atlanta Blackhawks Atlanta Blackhawks was an American soccer team based in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Founded in 2009, the team played in the USL Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the Southeast Division of the ...

of the USL Premier Development League.

Coach

In February 2003, Oglethorpe University hired Akins as the school's men's soccer coach. He also served as an assistant coach with the Atlanta Eclipse of the

during the 2007-2008 season. In the spring of 2009, the position as Marist School 7th/8th soccer coach was honorably bestowed upon Jon Akin. As of 2018, Jon remains coach of the 7th/8th grade team.

References

External links

Charleston Battery: John Akin
{{DEFAULTSORT:Akin, Jon 1977 births Living people American soccer coaches Soccer players from Florida American expatriate soccer players Atlanta Blackhawks players North Carolina Fusion U23 players Charleston Battery players Kilkenny City A.F.C. players Oglethorpe University Saint Leo Lions men's soccer players A-League (1995–2004) players USL League Two players Atlanta Silverbacks players Sportspeople from Pensacola, Florida American soccer players Association football forwards High school soccer coaches in the United States Expatriate association footballers in Ireland American expatriate sportspeople in Ireland Player-coaches Expatriate association footballers in the Republic of Ireland League of Ireland players