Giovanni Dwight Calderón Chaparro (born February 8, 2002) is a

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 lea ...

who plays as a defender for the

MLS Next Pro MLS Next Pro (MLSNP) is a men's professional association football, soccer league in the United States and Canada that is affiliated with Major League Soccer (MLS). It launched in 2022 with 21 teams and now comprises 27 reserve sides of MLS clu ...

club

Real Monarchs Real Monarchs is a professional soccer club playing in the MLS Next Pro, a third division league of American soccer. The team is an affiliate of the Major League Soccer (MLS) club Real Salt Lake. Real Monarchs are based in the Real Salt Lake ...

. Born in the mainland United States, he plays for the Puerto Rico national team.

Early life

Calderón was born in

North Haven, Connecticut North Haven is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States on the outskirts of New Haven. The town is part of the South Central Connecticut Planning Region. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 24,253. North Haven is home ...

to a Colombian father and Puerto Rican mother.

Club career

Early career

Calderón first took an interest in soccer from the age of three, and joined his first club, Connecticut Football Club Impact, at the age of eight, playing alongside ten year olds. He played youth soccer for FC Westchester, before going on to play for a number of academy sides, including professional clubs D.C. United and

New York City FC New York City Football Club (often referred to as NYCFC) is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in New York City. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern C ...

College soccer

Calderón was given a scholarship worth $5,000 from the

New York Red Bulls The New York Red Bulls are an American professional association football, 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 (MLS), Eastern Conferenc ...

in November 2018. He played for the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (USNA, Navy, or Annapolis) is a United States Service academies, federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as United States Secre ...

's soccer team, the

Navy Midshipmen The Navy Midshipmen are the athletic teams that represent the United States Naval Academy. The academy sponsors 36 varsity sports teams and 12 club sport teams.California State University, Fullerton California State University, Fullerton (CSUF or Cal State Fullerton) is a public research university in Fullerton, California, United States. With a total enrollment of more than 41,000, it has the largest student body of the California State ...

, where he again represented the university in soccer and captaining the side.

Professional

In May 2021, he signed a contract with

Hartford Athletic Hartford Athletic is an American professional association football, soccer team based in Hartford, Connecticut. The club was founded in 2018 and started play in the USL Championship in 2019. It is the only pro soccer team in Connecticut (thoug ...

of the

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a men's professional association football, soccer league in the second tier of the United States soccer league system#Men's leagues, United States league system. It is organized by the United Soccer League (USL) a ...

, following a trial in March of the same year. He became the first player in the club's history to sign a USL Academy Contract, which allowed him to keep his collegiate eligibility while remaining eligible to represent Hartford Athletic in USL competitions, having already committed to playing for the Navy Midshipmen in December 2020. Despite this, he went on to play for

AC Connecticut AC Connecticut is an American amateur soccer team based in Newtown, Connecticut, playing in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American soccer pyramid. The team colors are blue, black and white. History CFC Azul was founded as a USL PDL tea ...

in the

USL League Two USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States, forming part of the United States soccer league system. The league will featu ...

in the same month. He made three appearances for AC Connecticut, before signing with the

Ventura County Fusion Ventura County Fusion is an American soccer team based in Ventura, California, United States. Founded in 2006, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American soccer pyramid. The team plays its home games in the stadium on th ...

for 2022 - going on to make five appearances in the league and five in the playoffs. While at Ventura County Fusion, he captained the side and won the 2022 USL 2 National Championship. On July 6, 2024, he signed with

New England Revolution II New England Revolution II is a professional soccer club based in the Greater Boston area that competes in MLS Next Pro, the third division of American soccer. The team is owned by, and operates as the reserve team of the Major League Soccer club ...

International career

Calderón made his senior international debut for

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

on September 6, 2019, in a 4–0 friendly loss to

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

Personal life

He has two elder brothers,

Joshua Joshua ( ), also known as Yehoshua ( ''Yəhōšuaʿ'', Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: ''Yŏhōšuaʿ,'' Literal translation, lit. 'Yahweh is salvation'), Jehoshua, or Josue, functioned as Moses' assistant in the books of Book of Exodus, Exodus and ...

and Neekoli, both of whom played soccer, with Joshua also representing the Puerto Rico national football team.

Career statistics

Club

International

References

External links

Development Academy profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Calderón, Giovanni 2002 births Living people Soccer players from New Haven County, Connecticut United States Naval Academy alumni California State University, Fullerton alumni Puerto Rican men's footballers Puerto Rico men's international footballers American men's soccer players Puerto Rican people of Colombian descent American sportspeople of Puerto Rican descent American sportspeople of Colombian descent Men's association football defenders USL League Two players Hartford Athletic players Navy Midshipmen men's soccer players Cal State Fullerton Titans men's soccer players 21st-century American sportsmen