Heath Pearce (born August 13, 1984) is an American former 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 played as a defender for teams in Europe and North America. He represented his national team on 35 occasions. Pearce is currently the host of "The Mixer", "KPR" (Kick Power Rankings) and "WTF" (Walk Talk Football), all programs on the

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

channel COPA90 US (formerly known as KICKTV).

Career

College and amateur

Pearce played his high school soccer at

Peter Johansen High School Peter Johansen High School is public school located in the eastern portion of Modesto, CA. It is part of Modesto City Schools and serves students in grades 9-12. The school is a two-story structure with brick exterior. It features an Olympic-si ...

Modesto, California Modesto () is the county seat and largest city of Stanislaus County, California, United States. With a population of 218,464 at the 2020 census, it is the 19th largest city in the state of California and forms part of the Sacramento-Stockton- ...

before playing his

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 Ki ...

at the University of Portland, where he was an All-West Coast Conference honorable mention selection. In his final year at Portland, he started all 20 games, scoring two goals and racking up five assists. During his college years he also played for the

Bradenton Academics IMG Academy Bradenton is an American soccer team based in Bradenton, Florida, United States. Founded in 1998, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. The team is associated with IMG Academy and the Uni ...

in 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 ...

FC Nordsjælland

Pearce signed with

FC Nordsjælland Football Club Nordsjælland, commonly known as FC Nordsjælland, Nordsjælland () or FCN, is a professional Danish football team from the North Zealand town of Farum. Founded as ''Farum Boldklub'' from the merger of the town's two football club ...

and began his professional career in the 2004–05 Danish Superliga season. He made 75 league appearances and scored two goals for club in his two and a half seasons there.

Hansa Rostock

After stating that he would leave Nordsjælland after the 2007 season with a goal to be signed by a team in Germany, Scotland, or the Netherlands, Pearce signed a two-year contract with

Hansa Rostock FC Hansa Rostock () is a German association football club based in the city of Rostock, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The club is also called as "the cog" because of its club crest. They have emerged as one of the most successful clubs from the for ...

on July 16, 2007. In January 2008, Pearce was briefly suspended for being late to return to the club from international duty, but was eventually allowed back on the team. On April 13, 2009, Pearce was permanently suspended from Hansa Rostock's first team and demoted to the reserve squad. At the end of the season, Pearce was released from his contract.

FC Dallas

On September 2, 2009, Pearce reportedly signed a two-year contract with Turkish team

Bursaspor Bursaspor Kulübü Derneği (), commonly known as Bursaspor, is a Turkish sports club located in the city of Bursa. Formed in 1963, the club colours are green and white, with home kits usually featuring both colours in a striped pattern. In th ...

, but the next day it had emerged that a deal was not reached until after the transfer window had closed. After his failed move to Turkey, he signed with

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 Cana ...

side

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes as a member of the Western Conference in Major League Soccer (MLS). The franchise began play in 1996 as a charter club of the le ...

on September 11, 2009. In his first full season in Dallas Pearce helped the club to the 2010 MLS Cup final.

Chivas USA

On February 15, 2011, after two seasons with Dallas, Pearce was traded to

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 ...

in return for allocation money. Pearce was traded to

New York Red Bulls The New York Red Bulls are an American professional soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The club was established in October 1994 and be ...

on May 17, 2012 with allocation money and future considerations in exchange for forward

Juan Agudelo Juan Sebastián Agudelo (born November 23, 1992) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a striker for USL Championship club Birmingham Legion. After moving from Colombia to New Jersey at an early age Agudelo began his care ...

. Pearce scored his first MLS goal on June 20 versus the Vancouver Whitecaps helping New York to earn a 1–1 draw with his late equalizer.

New York Red Bulls

Midway through the 2013 season, Pearce elected to have hip surgery that ruled him out for the remainder of the season. New York and Pearce mutually parted ways at the end of the 2013 MLS season. He entered the 2013 MLS Re-Entry Draft but was not selected.

Montreal Impact

On March 6, 2014, Pearce signed with Montreal Impact. Pearce appeared in 29 matches in his lone season in Montreal. After one season in Montreal, in December 2014 Pearce was selected by

Orlando City SC Orlando City SC is an American professional soccer club in Orlando, Florida, that competes as a member of the Eastern Conference in Major League Soccer (MLS). Orlando City SC began play in 2015 as the 21st franchise in MLS, succeeding the US ...

in the

2014 MLS Expansion Draft The 2014 MLS Expansion Draft was a draft for the Major League Soccer expansion teams New York City FC and Orlando City SC that took place between November 19 and December 10, 2014. The first two rounds of the draft (which were known as the 2014 MLS ...

IFK Göteborg

On January 29, 2015 Pearce signed a five-month-long contract with

Allsvenskan Allsvenskan (; en, the All-Swedish, also known as Fotbollsallsvenskan, en, the Football All-Swedish) is a Swedish professional league for men's association football clubs. It was founded in 1924 and is the top tier of the Swedish football lea ...

club

IFK Göteborg Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Göteborg (officially IFK Göteborg Fotboll), commonly known as IFK Göteborg, IFK (especially locally) or simply Göteborg, is a Swedish professional football club based in Gothenburg. Founded in 1904, it is the ...

International career

Pearce made his international debut in November 2005 against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. Pearce was included by

Bruce Arena Bruce Arena (born September 21, 1951) is an American soccer coach who is the head coach and sporting director of the New England Revolution. He is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame and the NJCAA Lacrosse Hall of Fame. Arena has had ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

training camps and friendly matches prior to the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host th ...

but did not make the team. Under

Bob Bradley Robert Frank Bradley (born March 3, 1958) is an American soccer coach who is the head coach and sporting director of Toronto FC. A native of New Jersey and graduate of Princeton University, Bradley coached in the American college game and Maj ...

, Pearce became a regular starter for the national team. With relatively little competition in the U.S. player pool at left back, Pearce played the most minutes of any American field player in 2008. But as his club situation deteriorated, Pearce has seen less time with national team. Though a member of the squad at the

2009 FIFA Confederations Cup The 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup was the eighth Confederations Cup, and was held in South Africa from 14 June to 28 June 2009, as a prelude to the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The draw was held on 22 November 2008 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Jo ...

, he did not make an appearance in the tournament as

Jonathan Bornstein Jonathan Rey Bornstein (born November 7, 1984) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a left-back. He has captained and made 38 appearances for the United States national team. In addition to also playing for Chivas USA in Majo ...

and

Carlos Bocanegra Carlos Manuel Bocanegra (born May 25, 1979) is an American sports executive and former professional soccer player. A two-time MLS Defender of the Year, Bocanegra also played professionally in England, Scotland, France, and Spain. He earned over ...

were the preferred choices. Pearce was a member of the second-tier U.S. team for the

2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the tenth edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup competition, and the twentieth soccer championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF). It was played from July 3 to 26, 2009 in the United State ...

. Lately he has not seen much action due to the return of Bornstein and also Bocanegra and

Jonathan Spector Jonathan Michael Paul Spector (born March 1, 1986) is an American former soccer player who played as a defender. In his 16-year career playing first-team soccer he played over 400 games for club and country, and helped the United States win the ...

both being versatile enough to play in that position. Pearce was included on the 30-man preliminary roster for the

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

, but did not make the final 23 man squad.

Personal life

Pearce has one younger adopted sister and two brothers. His sister Lindsay has starred in the TV series '' The Glee Project'' where she won a role on the Fox hit show '' Glee''. Pearce is an avid car and racing enthusiast. He has partnered with Matt Young as a co-owner in a professional sports car racing venture, Matt Young Motorsports with Heath Pearce. Pearce now works in the field of media and broadcast. He has replaced his former Chivas USA teammate

Jimmy Conrad James Paul Conrad (born February 12, 1977) is an American retired association football player who played as a defender. During his 13-year MLS career, he was four-time MLS Best XI and the 2005 MLS Defender of the Year. He also earned 27 caps w ...

as host of the

channel KICK, now known as COPA90 US. Since 2023, Pearce has been a match analyst for MLS Season Pass on

Apple TV An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus '' Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancesto ...

Career statistics

Club

International

Honors

Portland Pilots *

West Coast Conference The West Coast Conference (WCC) — known as the California Basketball Association from 1952 to 1956 and then as the West Coast Athletic Conference until 1989 — is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I consisting of ...

Regular Season: 2002 FC Dallas *

Western Conference Championship:

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

New York Red Bulls *

Supporters' Shield:

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

Montreal Impact *

Canadian Championship The Canadian Championship (french: Championnat canadien) is an annual soccer tournament contested by premier Canadian professional teams. The winner is awarded the Voyageurs Cup and Canada's berth in the CONCACAF Champions League. It is contes ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wa ...

IFK Göteborg *

Svenska Cupen Svenska Cupen (, ''The Swedish Cup'') is a knockout cup competition in Swedish football and the main Swedish football cup. Svenska Cupen usually refers to the men's tournament, although a women's tournament is also held. Each year 96 teams compe ...

: 2014–15

References

External links

*
U.S Soccer Player Bio
*
Career statistics
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pearce, Heath Living people 1984 births Association football defenders American soccer players Major League Soccer All-Stars Sportspeople from Modesto, California Soccer players from California Portland Pilots men's soccer players IMG Academy Bradenton players American expatriate soccer players FC Nordsjælland players Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark American expatriate sportspeople in Denmark FC Hansa Rostock players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players Major League Soccer players American expatriate soccer players in Germany FC Dallas players Chivas USA players New York Red Bulls players CF Montréal players Expatriate soccer players in Canada IFK Göteborg players Expatriate footballers in Sweden United States men's international soccer players 2007 Copa América players 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup players USL League Two players United States men's youth international soccer players United States men's under-20 international soccer players