| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Jamie Watson | ||
| Date of birth | April 10, 1986 | ||
| Place of birth | Arlington, Texas, United States | ||
| Height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder/Forward | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Orlando City | ||
| Number | 77 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2003–2004 | North Carolina Tar Heels | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2004 | DFW Tornados | 5 | (3) |
| 2005–2007 | Real Salt Lake | 38 | (2) |
| 2008 | Austin Aztex U23 | 13 | (7) |
| 2008 | FC Dallas | 1 | (0) |
| 2009 | Charleston Battery | 1 | (0) |
| 2009 | Wilmington Hammerheads | 16 | (12) |
| 2009–2010 | Austin Aztex | 35 | (10) |
| 2011– | Orlando City | 17 | (8) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2003 | United States U-17 | 25 | (10) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of August 13, 2011. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Jamie Watson (born April 10, 1986 in Arlington, Texas) is an American soccer player who currently plays for Orlando City in the USL Professional Division.
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Watson played two years of college soccer at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, but left after his sophomore season to sign a Generation Adidas contract with Major League Soccer. Watson scored 12 goals and had 10 assists in his 2 seasons at UNC. Watson earned the coveted ACC Rookie of the Year after a highly successful freshman year. He was also named to Top Drawer Soccer's All Freshman Team at the conclusion of the season. During his second season, Watson was named to the ACC All-Tournament team and was selected to the All ACC team.
Watson was selected in the first round (13th overall) in the 2005 MLS SuperDraft by Real Salt Lake, but was waived on January 22, 2008, after making 39 first-team appearances and scoring 2 goals with 1 assist. Watson became an instant fan favorite and was well known throughout the community for his contributions on and off the field. He served on the board of directions for Utah Heart to Home, which is the Utah equivalent to Home makeover. Along with Heart to Home, Watson was heavily involved the with Gov. Jon M. Huntsman and the First Lady, Mary Kay Huntsman, in their efforts to raise awareness around Salt Lake City regarding several issues.
After helping Austin Aztex U23 of the USL Premier Development League reach the PDL playoffs for the first time over the summer of 2008, scoring 7 goals in 13 appearances, Watson signed with Major League Soccer's FC Dallas on 1 August 2008,[1] but ultimately made just one first team appearance.
After being waived by Dallas at the end of the 2008 season, he signed with Wilmington, and was loaned out for the opening game of the 2009 season to Charleston Battery in early 2009, and after playing one game, returned to the USL Second Division club Wilmington Hammerheads. Watson enjoyed his best season as a professional, being named to the USL2 All-League team,[2] earning league player of the week, team of the week on several occasions, and eventually all leading up to earning league MVP honors,[3] as well as the scoring title. After the conclusion of the Hammerheads season, Watson was signed to a two year contract by the USL-1 team Austin Aztex, and played his first match with them on 29 August 2009.
His contract with the Aztex was extended to two years in February 2010. Prior to the 2011 season, new owners purchased the club and moved it to Orlando, Florida, re-naming it Orlando City. The club will play in the USL Pro league in 2011.
Watson is one of the few players in American soccer history to score in all four divisions of U.S. soccer.
Watson has played for various youth United States national teams, trained with the United States Under-17 team at the Bradenton Academy as a teenager, and was a starting forward at the 2003 FIFA U-17 World Championship in Lahti, Finland, playing alongside Freddy Adu. Watson scored a goal and contributed an assist in the opening fixture of the tournament against South Korea,[4] while in the following match against Sierra Leone he assisted on Adu's game-winning goal.[5] He finished the tournament with a team high 2 assists and 1 goal.
Watson has scored over 50 goals at youth level and has 10 international goals in youth international matches. His highest level reached at youth national team was representing the Under-23 Men's National Team in a tour of Kunnamoto, Japan against the Japan U-23 Olympic squad.
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