Sam Raben (born May 11, 1997) 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 who plays as a defender. He won a gold medal with Team USA in the

2017 Maccabiah Games The 2017 Maccabiah Games ( he, משחקי המכביה 2017), also referred to as the 20th Maccabiah Games ( he, המכביה ה-20), were the 20th edition of the Maccabiah Games. They took place from 4 to 17 July 2017, in Israel. The Maccabiah ...

in Israel. Before turning pro, he played two seasons in the

Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental association football, soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United Stat ...

with

Colorado Rapids U-23 Colorado Rapids U–23 were an American soccer team based in the Denver suburb of Commerce City, Colorado, United States. Originally founded in 2000 as part of the development system for the Colorado Rapids, the team played in the Premier Develo ...

. In January 2019 the

Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Founded in 1995, as part of the Anschutz Corporation, la ...

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 ...

signed Raben to a guaranteed contract.

Early life

Raben was born 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 ...

, to David and Carrie Raben, and is Jewish. His father is an

oncologist Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with the study, treatment, diagnosis and prevention of cancer. A medical professional who practices oncology is an ''oncologist''. The name's etymological origin is the Greek word ὄγκος (''ó ...

at the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University of Co ...

. His sister Lizzy played soccer for

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 ...

. His hometown is

Greenwood Village, Colorado The City of Greenwood Village is a home rule municipality located in Arapahoe County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 15,691 at the 2020 United States Census. Greenwood Village is a part of the Denver–Aurora–Lakewood, CO Met ...

Soccer career

Raben plays

as a defender. He attended

Cherry Creek High School Cherry Creek High School (commonly Cherry Creek, Creek, or CCHS) is the oldest of seven high schools in the Cherry Creek School District in the Denver metropolitan area. It is located in Greenwood Village, Colorado, and is one of the largest high s ...

. He was second team All-State and All-Conference in 2012. He played for

Wake Forest University Wake Forest University is a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina. The Reynolda Campus, the un ...

. Raben made 91 starts for Wake Forest, tied for third-most in school history. In 2018, he was named third team All-

ACC ACC most often refers to: * Atlantic Coast Conference, an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic conference located in the US *American College of Cardiology, A US-based nonprofit medical association that bestows credentials upon cardiovascular spec ...

and third team All-South Region by

United Soccer Coaches The United Soccer Coaches (formerly known as the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)) is an organization of American soccer coaches founded in 1941. It is the largest soccer coaches organization in the world, with more than ...

. Raben played center back in soccer for Team USA in the

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, winning a gold medal. He was on the ''

Jewish Sports Review ''Jewish Sports Review (JSR)'' is a bi-monthly magazine that was established in 1997. Its editors are Ephraim Moxson and Shel Wallman. The magazine identifies which star and professional athletes are Jewish. It also covers and has all-time lists ...

'' 2017 Division 1 Men's Soccer All-America Team, along with

Jake Rozhansky Jake Michael Rozhansky ( he, ג'ייק מייקל רוזנסקי, born 4 July 1996) is an American soccer player who plays as a midfielder for MLS Next Pro side New England Revolution II. During his career, he has previously appeared for D.C. ...

and

Harry Swartz Harrison "Harry" Swartz (born March 19, 1996) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for USL Championship club New Mexico United. Career Swartz is from Needham, Massachusetts. He played soccer at Needham High Schoo ...

. Before turning pro, Raben played two seasons in the

with

. In January 2019, the

signed Raben to a guaranteed contract. On February 26, 2020, Raben signed with

USL Championship 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 ...

side

Sporting Kansas City II Sporting Kansas City II is a MLS Next Pro club affiliated with Sporting Kansas City of Major League Soccer. For the 2022 season they will play their home games at Rock Chalk Park at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas, as well as Swope S ...

after going on trial with them in the preseason. Raben was released by Sporting Kansas City on November 30, 2020.

References

External links

Wake Forest profile
* Living people 1997 births American men's soccer players Soccer players from Birmingham, Alabama Greenwood Village, Colorado Men's association football defenders Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's soccer players Colorado Rapids U-23 players Colorado Rapids players Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC players Sporting Kansas City II players USL League Two players USL Championship players Competitors at the 2017 Maccabiah Games Maccabiah Games medalists in football Maccabiah Games gold medalists for the United States Jewish American sportspeople Jewish men's footballers Homegrown Players (MLS) 21st-century American Jews {{US-footy-defender-stub