is a Japanese professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player who plays as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

club D.C. United.

Early life and career

Kijima spent his early childhood in

Yokohama is the List of cities in Japan, second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous Municipalities of Japan, municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a popu ...

and attended an

international school International schools are private schools that promote education in an international environment or framework. Although there is no uniform definition or criteria, international schools are usually characterised by a multinational student body an ...

where English was spoken. Inspired by the success of Japanese tennis player

Kei Nishikori is a Japanese professional tennis player. He is the only Japanese man in the Open Era to have been ranked in the top five in singles, reaching his career-high ranking of world No. 4 in March 2015, and the second man in history to do so after ...

and after learning that he had attended

IMG Academy IMG Academy is a University-preparatory school, preparatory boarding school and sports training destination in Bradenton, Florida, United States. The organization is set across over 600 acres (243 ha) and features programs consisting of sport ca ...

, a sport-focused

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. They have existed for many centuries, and now extend acr ...

Bradenton, Florida Bradenton ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Manatee County, Florida, Manatee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city's population is 55,698, up from 49,546 at the 2010 census. It is a pri ...

, United States, Kijima attended an IMG summer camp in 2014 and then enrolled fulltime at age 12. He went on to play

college soccer College soccer, called college football in some countries, is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. While it is most widespread in the United States, it is also prominent in Japan, South Kore ...

at Wake Forest, where he scored 9 goals and assisted 10 in 63 games over 4 seasons.

Club career

Kijima played for the semi-professional

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 ...

club Sarasota Paradise in the 2023 season.

St. Louis City SC

Hosei Kijima was selected 17th overall in the

2024 MLS SuperDraft The 2024 MLS SuperDraft was the 25th edition of the MLS SuperDraft, a sports draft to select amateur, usually collegiate, soccer players that are not affiliate with an MLS club, or college soccer players that had their Homegrown player rights r ...

St. Louis City SC St. Louis City Soccer Club (stylized as St. Louis CITY SC) is an American professional association football, soccer club based in St. Louis. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Con ...

and signed a first-team contract with the club on February 20, 2024. Later that same day, he made his debut for St. Louis in their

CONCACAF Champions Cup The CONCACAF Champions Cup, formerly known as CONCACAF Champions League (2008–2023), is an international association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for clubs from North America, Central America, a ...

match against

Houston Dynamo Houston Dynamo Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in Houston. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Established on December 15, 2005, the club was founded after their fo ...

, scoring the game-winning goal after coming on as a substitute in the 86th minute. On March 16, 2024, Kijima made his MLS debut for

, coming in as a substitute in the 71st minute to replace Aziel Jackson.

D.C. United

On December 11, 2024, Hosei Kijima was one of five players selected in the

2024 MLS Expansion Draft The 2024 MLS Expansion Draft was a special draft (sports), draft for the Major League Soccer expansion team San Diego FC that was held on December 11, 2024. The list of eligible players was revealed on December 10, 2024, which included 354 playe ...

by San Diego FC. Immediately following the announcement of Kijima's selection, San Diego traded Kijima to D.C. United in return for $400,000 in general allocation money.https://www.dcunited.com/news/d-c-united-acquires-midfielder-hosei-kijima-from-san-diego-fc

Career Statistics

Club

References

External links

* 2002 births Living people Japanese men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's soccer players St. Louis City SC players Association football people from Yokohama St. Louis City 2 players USL League Two players Major League Soccer players MLS Next Pro players D.C. United players {{Japan-footy-midfielder-stub