Ross Benjamin Friedman (born January 8, 1992) 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 for the

Columbus Crew The Columbus Crew, formerly known as Columbus Crew SC, is an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The Crew competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference and began play in 1996 as one ...

and the Dayton Dutch Lions as a defender. In high school he was first team All- MSL, first team all-district, first team all-Ohio, and

NSCAA 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 3 ...

all region. At Harvard University, he attained two all-time records at Harvard his senior year with 12 season assists and 17 career assists, and was named 2nd team All-

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight school ...

. Professionally, he played for the

and the Dayton Dutch Lions. He and Team USA won the gold medal at the 2013 Maccabiah Games in Israel.

Early life

Friedman is Jewish, and was born in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, an ...

, to Tod and Cheri Friedman, and his hometown was

Bexley, Ohio Bexley is a suburban city in Franklin County, Ohio, United States. The population was 13,928 at the 2020 census. Founded as a village, the city of Bexley is a suburb of Columbus, the Ohio state capital, situated on the banks of Alum Creek next ...

. He was a member of the

Jewish Community Center A Jewish Community Center or a Jewish Community Centre (JCC) is a general recreational, social, and fraternal organization serving the Jewish community in a number of cities. JCCs promote Jewish culture and heritage through holiday celebrations ...

of Greater Columbus. He began his soccer career at the JCC and on the

Columbus Torah Academy Columbus Torah Academy (CTA) is a Modern Orthodox Jewish K-12 school in Columbus, Ohio. About Columbus Torah Academy provides a comprehensive college preparatory education and a Judaic studies education for Jewish students in the greater Columbus ...

recreational FIFA team. He attends both Temple Israel and

Beth Jacob Congregation Beth Jacob Congregation is a Conservative Jewish synagogue located in Mendota Heights, Minnesota, United States. It was founded in 1985 and has a membership of 400 families. Beth Jacob is a community of Jews who come together to nurture relationship ...

in Columbus.

High school

Friedman attended

Bexley High School Bexley High School (BHS) is a public high school located in Bexley, Ohio, a suburb of Columbus. Athletics Bexley’s athletic program includes teams in the following sports: Football, Basketball, Baseball, Cheerleading, Cross Country, Field Hoc ...

where he was a four-year letter winner and captained the Boys' Soccer Team his junior and senior years. During his tenure at Bexley, he led the team to two state semi-final appearances, earning first team All- MSL as a junior, first team all-district, first team all-state and

all region as a senior. Friedman also played for the Crew Soccer Academy that finished 3rd at the Development Academy finals.

College

Friedman committed to

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

(Government, Economics '14) in 2010. He played in 14 games as a freshman, starting four and scoring the game-winning goal against the

University of Massachusetts The University of Massachusetts is the five-campus public university system and the only public research system in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The university system includes five campuses (Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth, Lowell, and a medical ...

. As a sophomore, he started all 17 games and led the team in points with six assists and six points, receiving an All-Ivy League Honorable Mention. Friedman attained two all-time records at Harvard his senior year by having 12 season assists and 17 career assists, also ranking 6th in the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...

in assists and 5th in assists per game. He was named 2nd team All-Ivy League as well as named to the Academic All-Ivy League. He helped the Columbus Crew Junior win the 2010 and the 2011 Super-20 championship and was named the all-tournament teams in 2010 and 2012. He was also a member of the fraternity AEPi at Harvard.

Maccabiah Games

In 2013 Friedman helped

Team USA The United States national team or Team USA may refer to any of a number of sports team representing the United States in international competitions. Olympic teams Additionally, these teams may compete in other international competitions such as ...

capture the gold medal at the 2013 Maccabiah Games in

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 ...

, leading the tournament in assists. He scored on his penalty kick in the overtime shootout in the championship against Argentina. He said playing in the 2013 Maccabiah Games "was the best and coolest experience in my whole soccer career."

Professional career

Friedman signed as a Homegrown Player with

on January 8, 2014. He was loaned out to their

USL Pro 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 ...

affiliate Dayton Dutch Lions in March 2014. On November 18, 2014, the Crew declined his option. Friedman then played a short while for an Israeli club in southern Tel Aviv. In 2015, a significant injury forced him to retire.

After soccer

Friedman then began a career in real estate, working first for Rockbridge, a private

investment firm An investment company is a financial institution principally engaged in holding, managing and investing securities. These companies in the United States are regulated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and must be registered under t ...

specializing in hospitality investments, from 2015-18. In 2018 he and some partners started Main + High Investments, a

private equity In the field of finance, the term private equity (PE) refers to investment funds, usually limited partnerships (LP), which buy and restructure financially weak companies that produce goods and provide services. A private-equity fund is both a t ...

and real estate firm in Columbus.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Friedman, Ross 1992 births Living people American soccer players Jewish American sportspeople Jewish footballers Harvard Crimson men's soccer players Columbus Crew players Dayton Dutch Lions players Association football defenders People from Bexley, Ohio Soccer players from Columbus, Ohio USL Championship players Maccabiah Games gold medalists for the United States Maccabiah Games medalists in football Competitors at the 2013 Maccabiah Games Homegrown Players (MLS) Bexley High School alumni 21st-century American Jews