Kyle Swords (Swordsy) 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 ...

defender who played professionally in the

USL A-League 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 National Professional Soccer League. Swords was born in

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Day ...

. He attended Wayne High School (class of 1992) in the Dayton suburb of Huber Heights and was an inaugural member of the Wayne Athletic Hall of Fame in 2002. Swords attended

James Madison University James Madison University (JMU, Madison, or James Madison) is a public research university in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Founded in 1908 as the State Normal and Industrial School for Women at Harrisonburg, the institution was renamed Madison Coll ...

, playing on the men’s soccer team from 1992 to 1996. In 1997, he turned professional with the expansion

Hershey Wildcats Hershey Wildcats were a professional soccer team, based in Hershey, Pennsylvania, United States, that played in the USL A-League between 1997 and 2001. The team was owned by Hershey Entertainment and Resorts Company. The team played in Hersheypa ...

in the

USISL A-League United Soccer League (USL), formerly known as United Soccer Leagues, is a soccer league in the United States and Canada. It organizes several men's and women's leagues, both professional and amateur. Men's leagues currently organized are the ...

. Swords would play every season of the Wildcats five-year existence. In 2001, the Wildcats fell to 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 ...

in the 2001 A-League championship. Swords was the A-League.com Defender of the Year that same season. Swords also played indoor soccer beginning in the fall of 1997. That year, he joined the Harrisburg Heat of the National Professional Soccer League. He was selected to the 1997-98 All Rookie Team and is a member of the Harrisburg Heat All-Decade Team. The Heat traded him to the Baltimore Blast following the 2000-2001 season and the Wildcats withdrew from the league in the fall of 2001. On January 11, 2002, Swords signed with the

Charleston Battery The Charleston Battery are an American professional association football, soccer club based in Charleston, South Carolina, and member of the USL Championship. Founded in 1993, the Battery are one of the oldest continuously operating professiona ...

for the 2002 season. On February 1, 2003, he joined the

Baltimore Blast The Baltimore Blast is an American professional indoor soccer team based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. The team is a part of the Major Arena Soccer League. The team has won 10 championships since it was founded in 1980. Beginning with ...

for the second half of the Major Indoor Soccer League season. The Blast won the league title, that season. In 2004, Swords finished his career with a single season with the

Harrisburg City Islanders Penn FC (formerly the Harrisburg City Islanders) was an American professional soccer team based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 2003, the team most recently played in the USL Pro, the second tier of the United States soccer ...

of the

USL Second Division The USL Second Division (commonly referred to as USL-2) was a professional men's soccer league in the United States, operated by United Soccer Leagues (USL). It was at the third tier of soccer in the United States, behind Major League Soccer ( ...

. Following his retirement from professional soccer, Swords entered the coaching ranks. From 2004 to 2007, he coached the Loyola Blakefield High School boys' team, winning the 2005 Maryland state champs. He later served as a volunteer assistant with the University of Cincinnati women’s team.Cincinnati Bearcats: Kyle Swords
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External links

Charleston Battery: Kyle Swords

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swords, Kyle Living people 1974 births American soccer players Baltimore Blast (2001–2008 MISL) players Charleston Battery players Harrisburg Heat players Penn FC players Hershey Wildcats players James Madison Dukes men's soccer players Major Indoor Soccer League (2001–2008) players National Professional Soccer League (1984–2001) players USL First Division players USL Second Division players People from Huber Heights, Ohio Sportspeople from Dayton, Ohio Association football defenders