Stephen Basso (born August 22, 1987) is a

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

n-born

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 ...

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. Basso currently plays for the Harrisburg Heat in the Major Arena Soccer League, as well as serving as the head coach for

Wake FC Wake FC is an American soccer club that currently competes in both the USL League Two for the men's team and the USL W League The USL W League (USLW) is a pre-professional women's soccer league in the United States which began play in May 2 ...

in the Women's Premier Soccer League.

Career

Youth and Amateur

Basso started playing soccer at age 5 in

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

where his father, a foreign service officer with the State Department, worked. Basso eventually settled in

Columbia, Maryland Columbia is a census-designated place in Howard County, Maryland. It is one of the principal communities of the Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area. It is a planned community consisting of 10 self-contained villages. Columbia began with ...

, where he played on Soccer Association of Columbia/Howard County teams and high school soccer at Hammond High School, but did not attended college; instead, he left high school early and went to Germany when his father was assigned to Frankfurt. Basso signed for German lower-league side PSV Blau Gelb in 2003. Basso spent a year with Blau Geld, before returning to the United States to join the youth academy of

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 ...

side

D.C. United D.C. United is a professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. that competes in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer, the top tier of American soccer. Domestically, the club has won four MLS Cups (league championships), four Suppo ...

, foregoing

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 ...

, Basso spent two years there, helping his team to the U17 National Championship Semi-Finals in 2004 and the U19 National Championship Semi-Finals in 2005.

Professional

Having not been offered a professional contract by DC, Basso initially returned to Germany, signing his first professional contract for

SV Darmstadt 98 Sportverein Darmstadt 1898 e.V., commonly known as Darmstadt 98 (), is a German football club based in Darmstadt, Hesse. The club was founded on 22 May 1898 as FC Olympia Darmstadt. Early in 1919, the association was briefly known as ''Rasen-Spo ...

. Basso spent the majority of his time in Darmstadt playing for team's reserves, never making a first team appearance, and returned to the United States in 2008 to sign for USL Second Division expansion franchise

Real Maryland Monarchs Real Maryland F.C., commonly known as the Real Maryland Monarchs, was an American soccer team based in Rockville, Maryland, United States. Founded in 2007, the team played in the USL Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the Americ ...

. He made his professional debut on April 20, 2008 in Maryland's season opening 1-0 loss to the Western Mass Pioneers. Basso signed for Crystal Palace Baltimore in 2009. On March 16, 2010 Baltimore announced the re-signing of Basso to a new contract for the 2010 season. He went on to make 24 league appearances for CPB over two seasons before leaving the club when it ceased operations at the end of 2010. Basso signed with Harrisburg City Islanders of the USL Pro league on April 1, 2011. He scored his first professional goal in his fifth pro year, on May 22, 2011 in a 3-1 loss to Orlando City. Harrisburg City re-signed Basso in February 2012.

References

External links

Crystal Palace Baltimore bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Basso, Stephen 1987 births Living people Sportspeople from Columbia, Maryland Costa Rican emigrants to the United States USL Second Division players Soccer players from Maryland USSF Division 2 Professional League players USL Championship players Crystal Palace Baltimore players D.C. United players Penn FC players Evergreen Diplomats players Real Maryland F.C. players Richmond Kickers players Costa Rican expatriate sportspeople in Germany Men's association football defenders Costa Rican men's footballers Rochester Lancers (1967–1980) players Harrisburg Heat (MASL) players Major Arena Soccer League players Major Indoor Soccer League (2008–2014) players Ontario Fury players American soccer coaches