James "Jems" Geffrard (born 26 August 1994) is a professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

. Born in Canada, he represents the Haiti national team.

Early life

Geffrard began playing futsal at age 12 and began playing football at age 14, where he played youth soccer with CS Rivière-des-Prairies, before later joining the Montreal Impact Academy.

Club career

Geffrard began his career in 2011 by signing with the Montreal Impact Academy, and competed 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 ...

, and USL Premier Development League. In 2016, he signed with the Impact's second team, FC Montreal, in the United Soccer League. In 2017, Geffrard left Canada to play for

Ekenäs IF Ekenäs Idrottsförening (abbreviated EIF or Ekenäs IF) is a sports club from Ekenäs, Raseborg in Finland. EIF was formed in 1905 and they are one of the oldest clubs in the south-west of Finland. The men's football first team currently pla ...

in Finland's second division. The following season he signed to play in the Veikkausliiga with

Rovaniemen Palloseura Rovaniemen Palloseura (RoPS) is a football (soccer), football club founded in 1950 and based in Rovaniemi, Finland. In 2019 RoPS participated in the Finnish Premier Division, (''Veikkausliiga'') marking their 32nd season in the top flight (previo ...

. He joined on a one-year contract with an option for an additional season. He left the club after the 2018 season. In 2019, he joined Fresno FC in the USL Championship. Geffrard made his debut for Fresno FC on 15 May 2019, in a

U.S. Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in men's Soccer in the United States, soccer in the United States of America. It is the oldest ongoing nati ...

match against El Farolito Soccer Club. Ahead of the 2020 season, he was set to attend training camp with the Montreal Impact, but ultimately did not attend. On 18 February 2020, Geffrard signed with Canadian Premier League side

HFX Wanderers HFX Wanderers Football Club, commonly known as HFX Wanderers, and spoken as Halifax Wanderers, is a Canadian professional soccer club in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The club competes in the Canadian Premier League at the top of the Canadian soccer le ...

. His contract with the Halifax-based club expired after the 2021 season. For the 2022 season, he played in the Quebec-based Première ligue de soccer du Québec with

CS Mont-Royal Outremont Club Soccer Mont-Royal Outremont is a Canadian semi-professional soccer club based in the Montreal boroughs of Mount Royal and Outremont. Since 2013, the club has competed in the Première ligue de soccer du Québec. Their women's team has compet ...

International career

Internationally, Geffrard represents the Haiti national team, and made his debut against

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

on 10 October 2017. In May 2019, he was named to the Haitian squad for the

2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 15th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the biennial international men's soccer championship of the North, Central American, and Caribbean region organized by CONCACAF. The tournament was primarily hosted in th ...

, serving as one of the team's best players, and helped Haiti upset his native Canada 3-2 in the quarter-finals. Geffrard also represented Haiti at the

2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 16th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the biennial international men's soccer championship of the North, Central American, and Caribbean region organized by CONCACAF. The tournament was originally scheduled t ...

Honours

HFX Wanderers * Canadian Premier League **Runners-up:

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Geffrard, Jems 1994 births Living people Men's association football defenders Haitian men's footballers Canadian men's soccer players Soccer players from Montreal Canadian people of Haitian descent Citizens of Haiti through descent Haitian Quebecers Black Canadian men's soccer players Canadian expatriate men's soccer players CF Montréal U23 players FC Montreal players Ekenäs IF players Rovaniemen Palloseura players Fresno FC players HFX Wanderers FC players Canadian Soccer League (1998–present) players USL League Two players USL Championship players Ykkönen players Veikkausliiga players Canadian Premier League players Haiti men's international footballers 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Haitian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Finland Haitian expatriate sportspeople in Finland Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Finland Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Haitian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Canadian expatriate sportspeople in the United States CS Mont-Royal Outremont players Ligue1 Québec players