Kyle Helton (born May 20, 1986, in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

) is an American former

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 last played for

Mjøndalen Mjøndalen is a built up area in Drammen municipality in Viken county (formerly Buskerud county), Norway. It is situated south of the Drammenselva River opposite of Krokstadelva. History Mjøndalen has traditionally been a railway site most k ...

Career

Youth and amateur

Helton grew up in Birmingham, Alabama before moving to

Alpharetta, Georgia Alpharetta is a city in northern Fulton County, Georgia, United States, and is a part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. As of the 2020 US Census, Alpharetta's population was 65,818 The population in 2010 was 57,551. History In the 1830s, the Ch ...

, attended Milton High School, and 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 ...

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...

where he earned a degree in economics and public policy at age 21. He was named to the Parade Magazine All-America team in 2003, was selected to play in the McDonald's All-America High School game, was part of the ACC All-Freshman Team in 2003, and was named to the Second Team All-ACC in 2006. He also played club soccer with the Atlanta Fire, leading the team to the national championship in 2002, third place at the nationals in 2001 and two regional championships. During his college years Helton also played with Augusta Fireball in the

USL Premier Development League 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 ...

Professional

Helton was drafted in the fourth round (51st overall) of the

2007 MLS SuperDraft The 2007 MLS SuperDraft was held in Indianapolis, Indiana on January 12, 2007. It was the eighth annual Major League Soccer SuperDraft. The first selection belonged to expansion team Toronto FC. The SuperDraft was followed by the 2007 MLS Supp ...

New England Revolution The New England Revolution is an American professional soccer club based in the Greater Boston area that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), in the Eastern Conference of the league. It is one of the ten charter clubs of MLS, having compet ...

Helton made his professional debut on July 10, 2007, in the third round of a US Open Cup game against the

Rochester Rhinos Rochester New York FC, formerly known as the Rochester Rhinos, are an American professional soccer team based in Rochester, New York, United States. Founded in 1996, as the Rochester Raging Rhinos, they changed their name to Rochester Rhinos to ...

, entering the game in the 84th minute. He also played extensively in the

MLS Reserve Division 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 ...

until the end of 2008. Helton signed with

Austin Aztex U23 Austin Aztex U23 was an American soccer team based in Round Rock, Texas, United States. Founded in 2007, the team played in the USL Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, until 2009, after which the fra ...

of the

for the 2009 season. After making three starts for the U23 team, Helton was promoted up to the

Austin Aztex The Austin Aztex were a soccer team based in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 2011 as a member of the Premier Development League, the team played the 2015 season in the United Soccer League, the second tier of the United States soccer pyr ...

senior team in May 2009, and made his debut for the team on May 17, 2009, in a game against Montreal Impact. In Spring 2011 signed for Norwegian club Mjøndalen IF.

International

Helton joined the United States Under-17 National Team as a sophomore and played in more than 60 matches with the U.S. Youth National team in 2002–2003. He was part of the United States squad at the

2003 FIFA U-17 World Championship The 2003 FIFA U-17 World Championship, was the tenth edition of FIFA U-17 World Championship. It was held in the cities of Helsinki, Tampere, Lahti and Turku in Finland between 13 and 30 August 2003. Players born after 1 January 1986 could particip ...

Lahti, Finland Lahti (; sv, Lahtis) is a city and municipality in Finland. It is the capital of the region of Päijänne Tavastia (Päijät-Häme) and its growing region is one of the main economic hubs of Finland. Lahti is situated on a bay at the southern e ...

Honors

New England Revolution

Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in men's Soccer in the United States, soccer in the United States of America. It is the oldest ongoing nati ...

(1):

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

References

External links

MLS player profile

Duke University bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Helton, Kyle Living people 1986 births American men's soccer players Duke Blue Devils men's soccer players Augusta FireBall players New England Revolution players Austin Aztex U23 players Austin Aztex FC players Mjøndalen IF Fotball players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' soccer) Soccer players from Birmingham, Alabama USL First Division players USL League Two players United States men's youth international soccer players New England Revolution draft picks Men's association football defenders