Carl Kareem Smith (born 18 January 1985), known as Kareem Smith, is an American-born Trinidadian

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a centre back for

Colorado Springs Switchbacks Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC is a professional soccer team based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Founded in 2014, the team is a member of the USL Championship, the second tier of the American soccer pyramid. The franchise is owned by Martin E ...

in the

USL Professional Division 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, pl ...

and for the Trinidad and Tobago national football team. Previously, he was playing in the TT Pro League for San Juan Jabloteh F.C. Prior to playing in Trinidad & Tobago, he played for Formuladeildin side KÍ Klaksvík as well as in the

MLS Reserve League The MLS Reserve League was a soccer league for the reserve teams of Major League Soccer with teams in both the United States and Canada. It was inaugurated on April 9, 2005, with the first official reserve game being a 2–0 victory by Chivas ...

for New England Revolution reserves side. He is represented by Pan American Calcio. He currently coaches for the Junior Varsity Team in Norwood, Massachusetts.

Career

Youth and college

In his youth, Smith was a member of the United States U18, the Region I Olympic Development Program (ODP) team and helped lead his club team, the South Shore United Blazers, to a U-15 Region I title and three Massachusetts state championships at each of the U-16 through U-18 levels. Smith played high school soccer for Beaver Country Day school and in NCAA for the South Florida Bulls where he started at centre-back with Neven Subotic and later with

Yohance Marshall Yohance Marshall (born January 22, 1986) is a Trinidadian footballer who last played for Kórdrengir in the 3. deild karla in Iceland. Career Youth and college Born in Diego Martin, Trinidad and Tobago, Marshall attended high school at St. Anth ...

. Smith completed his college eligibility in 2006 after collecting Second Team All-BIG EAST accolades. Smith, who played and started in every match during his four-year USF career, helped anchor a defense which recorded a 0.80 GAA (ranking 25th in the nation). The Hyde Park, Mass., native earned BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week honors (Sept. 4) for a strong defensive outing versus a pair of ACC foes (N.C. State and Duke). Smith holds the USF record for consecutive starts (75) and is tied for the school mark in career matches (75).

Club career

On October 21, 2014, Smith signed a 2-year contract with

side,

International career

Smith represented the United States at the U-17 and U-18 level. He later switched to the Trinidad & Tobago U-20 Men's National Team and in January 2008, made his debut for the Trinidad and Tobago national football team against

Guyana Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...

. He is attempting to re-join the national team in hopes of entering the World Cup.

Personal life

Smith is Trinidadian through his father. He has served as high school assistant coach for Beaver Country Day school, one of the top prep high school soccer teams in the country. He is also in the hall of fame at Beaver Country Day School due to his outstanding soccer career (when he attended Beaver Country Day School). He also professionally plays the steelpan.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Kareem 1985 births Living people Soccer players from Boston Trinidad and Tobago men's footballers Men's association football defenders Trinidad and Tobago men's international footballers South Florida Bulls men's soccer players Cape Cod Crusaders players Rochester New York FC players Klaksvíkar Ítróttarfelag players United Petrotrin F.C. players FC Tucson players San Juan Jabloteh F.C. players Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC players TT Pro League players USL League Two players USL Championship players American men's soccer players United States men's youth international soccer players American sportspeople of Trinidad and Tobago descent