Jason Garey (born July 19, 1984) 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 and College

Born in

Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of counties i ...

, Garey, who grew up in

Gonzales, Louisiana Gonzales is a city in Ascension Parish, Louisiana, United States. As of the 2020 census, it has a population of 12,231. Known as the "Jambalaya Capital of the World", it is famous for its annual Jambalaya Festival, which was first held in 1968. S ...

,Witz, Billy. "Playing for Columbus, but Fighting for the Lands Back Home," ''The New York Times'', Sunday, August 15, 2010.
/ref> attended

St. Amant High School St. Amant High School is a high school located in unincorporated Ascension Parish, Louisiana, United States, in the Census-designated place of St. Amant. It is within the Ascension Parish School Board, currently one four high schools operated by ...

and played for the Baton Rouge Soccer Club. He continues to hold Louisiana high school records for most goals in a season (73) and in a career (170). Garey played

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 the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...

. In his senior season, he scored 22 goals in 25 games, was named a first-team All-American, won the

Hermann Trophy The Hermann Trophy is awarded annually by the Missouri Athletic Club to the United States's top men's and women's college soccer players. History In 1967, Bob Hermann, the president of the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) and the ...

as the best college player, and led the Terrapins to the College Cup.

Professional

Garey was drafted by

Columbus Crew The Columbus Crew, formerly known as Columbus Crew SC, is an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The Crew competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference and began play in 1996 as one ...

in the first round (third overall) at the 2006 MLS SuperDraft and was with the club when they won the

2008 MLS Cup MLS Cup 2008 was the 13th edition of the MLS Cup, the championship match of Major League Soccer (MLS). The soccer match took place on November 23, 2008, at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California, near Los Angeles. It was contested betw ...

. After five seasons with Columbus Crew, Garey's rights were traded to

Houston Dynamo Houston Dynamo FC (formerly officially, but still commonly, called the Houston Dynamo) is an American professional soccer club based in Houston. The Dynamo compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Establi ...

in exchange for a fourth-round draft pick in the

2015 MLS SuperDraft The 2015 MLS SuperDraft was the sixteenth SuperDraft conducted by Major League Soccer. The SuperDraft is held each year in conjunction with the annual National Soccer Coaches Association of America convention. The 2015 convention was held Januar ...

. At the end of the 2011 season, Houston declined his 2012 contract option and he entered the 2011 MLS Re-Entry Draft. Garey was not selected in the draft and became a free agent. Garey signed with

Carolina RailHawks North Carolina FC is an American professional soccer team in Cary, North Carolina, a suburb of Raleigh. Founded in 2006, the team plays in USL League One, the third tier of the American league system. The team has played its home games a ...

of the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...

on January 20, 2012.

Honors

;Columbus Crew *

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 ...

Eastern Conference Championship:

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

MLS Cup:

Supporter's Shield:

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

Beyond the pitch

Garey is a spokesman for Vanishing Paradise, a joint campaign by

Ducks Unlimited Ducks Unlimited (DU) is an American nonprofit organization 501(c) dedicated to the conservation of wetlands and associated upland habitats for waterfowl, other wildlife, and people. It has had a membership of around 700,000 since January 2013. ...

and the

National Wildlife Federation The National Wildlife Federation (NWF) is the United States' largest private, nonprofit conservation education and advocacy organization, with over six million members and supporters, and 51 state and territorial affiliated organizations (includin ...

to raise awareness for

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

s preservation in his home state of Louisiana. Garey serves as color commentator for

North Carolina FC North Carolina FC is an American professional soccer team in Cary, North Carolina, a suburb of Raleigh. Founded in 2006, the team plays in USL League One, the third tier of the American league system. The team has played its home games a ...

television broadcasts. He also serves on the board of directors for NCFC Youth. In 2012, Garey self published Geauxing Galt, a libertarian novel inspired by

Atlas Shrugged ''Atlas Shrugged'' is a 1957 novel by Ayn Rand. It was her longest novel, the fourth and final one published during her lifetime, and the one she considered her '' magnum opus'' in the realm of fiction writing. ''Atlas Shrugged'' includes eleme ...

References

External links

*
lahssoccer.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Garey, Jason 1984 births Living people American soccer players Maryland Terrapins men's soccer players Columbus Crew players Houston Dynamo FC players North Carolina FC players Sportspeople from Baton Rouge, Louisiana Major League Soccer players North American Soccer League players Columbus Crew draft picks Association football forwards Soccer players from Louisiana People from Gonzales, Louisiana Hermann Trophy men's winners All-American men's college soccer players NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament Most Outstanding Player winners