Jay DeMerit

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Jay DeMerit
Personnel
Surname	Jay Michael DeMerit
birthday	4th December 1979
place of birth	Green Bay , Wisconsin ,  USA
position	Defense
Juniors
Years	station
1998-2001	University of Illinois
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
2001-2002	Chicago Fire Premier
2003-2004	Southall Town	2 (0)
2004	Northwood FC	0 (0)
2004-2010	Watford FC	182 (8)
2011–	Vancouver Whitecaps	0 (0)
National team
Years	selection	Games (goals) 2
2007–	United States	23 (0)
1 Only league games are given. Status: July 15, 2010 2 As of July 15, 2010

Jay Michael DeMerit (born December 4, 1979 in Green Bay , Wisconsin ) is an American football player .

The defender plays for the Vancouver Whitecaps in Major League Soccer .

Youth and college

Until 1998 he attended Bay Port High School in Green Bay. There he was active in three sports at the same time. In addition to football, he also played basketball and was part of the school's athletics team.

After graduating from high school, he attended the University of Illinois at Chicago and played on the local soccer team. While serving as a striker in high school, he was now on defense. With the team he reached the 2000 NCAA play-offs. Towards the end of his college days, he briefly played Chicago Fire Premier in the USL Premier Development League .

After graduating from college, he was not signed by a major league soccer team. He then worked as a waiter for a while before taking the advice of a former teammate and going to Europe. Because his grandfather came from Denmark, he was able to get a work permit in the EU so that he could play for a European club. He left the US in 2003 and played for Southall FC in the English ninth division from 2003 to 2004.

In July 2004 he moved to Northwood FC in the English seventh division, where he played three pre-season games. Northwood also played against Watford FC , who played in the Football League Championship . During the game, DeMerit was discovered by then manager Ray Lewington and invited to a two-week trial session. After this time he signed a one-year contract with the second division club.

Watford FC

In his first season for the club, the team played against relegation. In the 2005/06 season Watford made promotion to the Premier League. On May 21, 2006 DeMerit scored the first goal in the play-off final against Leeds United. With this 3-0 victory, the club rose. He had meanwhile become a regular on the team.

His contract was not renewed in June 2010.

Vancouver Whitecaps

On November 18, 2010, it was announced that DeMerit would be moving to the new MLS franchise, the Vancouver Whitecaps (MLS) | Vancouver Whitecaps. He was the first player to be signed by the Whitecaps.

National team

On March 28, 2007 he made his debut for the US national soccer team against Guatemala. In the same year he also took part in the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup with the national team.

During the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup , DeMerit was used as a defensive midfielder after Carlos Bocanegra was injured. He played both in the semifinals, in the win against Spain, and in the final where the USA lost to Brazil.

At the 2010 World Cup he played in all four games.

Trivia

• When DeMerit left the United States for England in 2003, he only had 1,800 US dollars with him. His first job as a footballer in Southall was making £ 40 a week.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ World Cup 2010: Jay DeMerit warns US over Wayne Rooney ( English ) BBC. June 7, 2010. Retrieved October 15, 2010.
2. ↑ Jay DeMerit is First MLS Whitecap ( English ) Prost America Soccer. November 18, 2010. Accessed on November 29, 2010.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  

Web links

• Jay DeMerit in the database of weltfussball.de