Skylar Rutherford Thomas (born July 27, 1993) is a Canadian professional

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 for

Memphis 901 Memphis 901 FC is an American professional soccer team based in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 2018, the team made its debut in the USL Championship in 2019. Stadium The club currently plays on the grounds of AutoZone Park, a baseball stadiu ...

in the

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 ...

Club career

Early career

Thomas began playing soccer at age six with Pickering SC. Thomas attended

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

for four years, playing for the

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

. During his senior year at Syracuse in 2014, he was named All-ACC Second Team and NSCAA All-South Region Second Team. In 2012, he played with

TFC Academy Toronto FC Academy, also known as TFC Academy, is the youth academy and development system of Canadian Major League Soccer club Toronto FC. The academy has divisions from U14 to U19 and includes over 110 young players. The senior academy team is ...

in the

Canadian Soccer League The Canadian Soccer League (CSL; french: Ligue canadienne de soccer — LCS) is a semi-professional league for Canadian soccer clubs primarily located in the province of Ontario, and claims the history of the Canadian National Soccer League (C ...

Toronto FC II

Thomas was drafted in the first round, 11th overall, in the

2015 MLS SuperDraft The 2015 MLS SuperDraft was the sixteenth SuperDraft conducted by Major League Soccer. The SuperDraft is held each year in conjunction with the annual National Soccer Coaches Association of America convention. The 2015 convention was held Januar ...

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 BMO ...

on January 15, 2015. On March 12 it was announced that he had signed with Toronto's affiliate team,

Toronto FC II Toronto FC II is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Toronto, Ontario, who play in MLS Next Pro, a third tier league of the United States soccer league system. It is the reserve team and minor league affiliate of Toronto FC as well as i ...

in the

USL 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, p ...

ahead of their inaugural season. He made his debut on April 19 against

Whitecaps FC 2 Whitecaps FC 2 is a professional soccer team based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada that serves as the reserve team of the Vancouver Whitecaps FC of Major League Soccer. History Prior to the MLS Next Pro iteration the team played its h ...

as a substitute for

Daniel Fabrizi Daniel Fabrizi (born February 22, 1992) is a Canadian soccer player who played as a defender. Club career College soccer Fabrizi played for York University for four years. In his final year in 2014, York won both the OUA and CIS championship ...

Charleston Battery

Thomas would sign with

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 2017 season, and would appear in 8 of the team's 13 clean sheets. Upon completion of the 2017 season, Thomas would have his option with the club exercised for the 2018 season.

Valour FC

Thomas signed for

Canadian Premier League The Canadian Premier League (CPL or CanPL; french: Première ligue canadienne, links=no) is a professional men's Association football, soccer league in Canada. At the top of the Canadian soccer league system, it is the country's primary nationa ...

club

Valour FC Valour Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The club competes in the Canadian Premier League and plays its home matches at IG Field. The team is coached by Phillip Dos Santos and community owned thro ...

in November 2018, having played previously for head coach

Rob Gale Rob or ROB may refer to: Places * Rob, Velike Lašče, a settlement in Slovenia * Roberts International Airport (IATA code ROB), in Monrovia, Liberia People * Rob (given name), a given name or nickname, e.g., for Robert(o), Robin/Robyn * Rob ...

with the Canadian U-23 national team. Upon signing with Valour, Thomas indicated he wanted to be a part of building the league.

Pittsburgh Riverhounds

On February 25, 2020, Thomas joined

Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC is an American professional soccer team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1999 and beginning play in 1999, the club plays in the Eastern Conference of the USL Championship, the second tier of the American so ...

ahead of the 2020 season.

Memphis 901

On March 22, 2021, Thomas moved to USL Championship side

International career

Thomas has represented Canada at the U18 and

U20 U20 or U-20 may refer to: Naval vessels * * , a sloop of the Royal Navy * , a submarine of the Austro-Hungarian Navy Other uses * Great truncated cuboctahedron * Meizu U20, a smartphone * Roland U-20, a synthesizer * Small nucleolar RNA SN ...

level, appearing in camps for both in 2011 and 2012, respectively. In May 2016, Thomas was called to Canada's U23 national team for a pair of friendlies 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 ...

and

Grenada Grenada ( ; Grenadian Creole French: ) is an island country in the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea at the southern end of the Grenadines island chain. Grenada consists of the island of Grenada itself, two smaller islands, Carriacou and Pe ...

. He saw action in both matches.

Personal life

Thomas was born in

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, su ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, to a Canadian mother and a Trinidadian father. When he was five, his family moved to Pickering.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Skylar 1993 births Living people Men's association football defenders Canadian soccer players Soccer players from Toronto Sportspeople from Scarborough, Toronto Canadian sportspeople of Trinidad and Tobago descent Canadian expatriate soccer players Expatriate soccer players in the United States Syracuse Orange men's soccer players Toronto FC players Reading United AC players Toronto FC draft picks Toronto FC II players Charleston Battery players Valour FC players Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC players Memphis 901 FC players Canadian Soccer League (1998–present) players USL League Two players USL Championship players Canadian Premier League players Canada men's under-23 international soccer players Pickering FC players Canadian expatriate sportspeople in the United States