Kevin Guppy (born January 29, 1987 in

Chino Hills, California Chino Hills (''Chino'', Spanish for "Curly") is a city located in the southwestern corner of San Bernardino County, California, United States. The city borders Los Angeles County on its northwest side, Orange County to its south and southwest ...

) is a former

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

professional soccer player.

Career

Youth and amateur

Guppy was a two-sport athlete at

Chino Hills High School Chino Hills High School, abbreviated CHHS, is located in Chino Hills, California, United States and is a public comprehensive high school serving a student body from three cities in the Chino Valley Unified School District. The school was establ ...

, where he played four years of soccer under head coach Kyle Shuler, earning All-Sierra League accolades his last two years and being named team MVP in his freshman and sophomore campaigns. His second sport was football. He went on to play four years of

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 K ...

at California State University, Northridge as a goalkeeper, where he received All-Big West Honors four straight years, after being named to the First Team in 2005 in 2008, the Honorable Mention list in 2006, and the Second Team in 2007. In addition, he earned third-team College Soccer News All-Freshman, first-team All-Big West Conference and Goalkeeper of the Year honors in his first season at Northridge. During his college years Guppy also spent three seasons with the

San Fernando Valley Quakes San Fernando Valley Quakes was an American soccer team based in Calabasas, California, United States. Founded in 2006, the team played in the USL Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, until 2008, whe ...

of 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 syst ...

, helping them reach the PDL playoffs in 2007 and 2008, and making 43 career appearances overall.

Professional

Undrafted out of college, Guppy signed with the Major League Soccer as the league pool goalkeeper in 2009, providing cover for any MLS team whose goalkeepers are injured. Despite training in the most part with

Los Angeles Galaxy LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began pla ...

, Guppy was called up to provide cover at

Chivas USA Chivas USA (pronounced ''CHEE-vahs'') was an American professional soccer team based in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson, California. The club played from 2005 to 2014 in Major League Soccer (MLS) and was a subsidiary of Mexican club C.D. G ...

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club (commonly known as Toronto FC or TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BM ...

and Seattle Sounders FC, but never saw any minutes in his debut professional year. Guppy spent most of 2010 on call for

; he was on the Chivas USA bench on numerous occasions during the season due to injuries to Dan Kennedy and

Zach Thornton Zach Thornton (born October 10, 1973) is an American former goalkeeper who spent 16 seasons in Major League Soccer with the New York/New Jersey MetroStars (1996–97), Chicago Fire (1998–2006), Colorado Rapids (2007), New York Red Bulls (2008 ...

, before making his first team debut on September 14, 2010 in an international friendly against

Chivas Guadalajara Club Deportivo Guadalajara (); often simply known as Guadalajara () and their nickname ''Chivas'' (), is a Mexican professional football club based in Zapopan, Jalisco. Guadalajara is one of the ten founding members of the Mexican First Divisi ...

, even saving a spot kick during his team's 4–2 victory on penalties. He was formally added to the regular Chivas gameday roster in October 2010 due to Dan Kennedy's season-ending injury, and made his MLS debut on October 20, 2010 starting in goal against the San Jose Earthquakes. Guppy was not retained by

at the end of the 2010 season, and re-signed with the MLS Goalkeeper Pool in 2011. He was called up by the Portland Timbers in March 2011 for their

US Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States of America. It is the oldest ongoing national soccer competition in that country. The 2023 U.S. Op ...

game – ironically against

– as cover for the injured

Troy Perkins Troy Perkins (born July 29, 1981) is an American former soccer player. During his career, he played for clubs in the United States, Canada, and Norway. The 2006 Major League Soccer Goalkeeper of the Year award winner earned seven caps with th ...

and Adin Brown, but did not feature in the game, and has been training with

for the majority of the rest of the 2011 season.

Post-soccer career

Guppy retired from professional soccer following the conclusion of the 2012 season. He currently works as an

emergency medical technician An emergency medical technician (EMT), also known as an ambulance technician, is a health professional that provides emergency medical services. EMTs are most commonly found working in ambulances. In English-speaking countries, paramedics a ...

, and resides in Fullerton, California, with his wife Brittany Van Voorhis.

References

External links

MLS player profile

Cal State Northridge interview {{DEFAULTSORT:Guppy, Kevin 1985 births Living people American men's soccer players Cal State Northridge Matadors men's soccer players Chivas USA players San Fernando Valley Quakes players California State University, Northridge alumni USL League Two players Major League Soccer players Men's association football goalkeepers Chino Hills High School alumni Soccer players from San Bernardino County, California