Rich Balchan

Rich Balchan

Personal information
Full name	Richard Balchan
Date of birth	(1989-01-18) January 18, 1989
Place of birth	Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Playing position	Defender
Club information
Current club	Real Salt Lake
Number	25
Youth career
2007–2010	Indiana Hoosiers
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2008	Fort Wayne Fever	5	(2)
2009	FC Indiana
2009–2010	Chicago Fire Premier	17	(2)
2011–2012	Columbus Crew	19	(1)
2013–	Real Salt Lake	0	(0)
National team‡
2008	United States U20	5	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of November 7, 2011. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of March 21, 2013

Rich Balchan (born January 18, 1989) is an American soccer player who currently plays for Real Salt Lake in Major League Soccer.

Career

College and Amateur

Born in Carmel, Indiana, Balchan attended Carmel High School, and played club soccer for Carmel United Cosmos, before going on to play four years of college soccer at Indiana University. He was named to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team following his first season in 2007, was named to the Big Ten Championship all-tournament team as a sophomore in 2008, was named to the All-Big Ten second-team and the NSCAA All-Great Lakes Region third-team as a junior in 2009, and was an All-Big Ten first team member, a Big Ten All-Tournament team pick and a member of the NSCAA All-Great Lakes region third-team following his senior year in 2010. He finished his college career with 4 goals and 7 assists in 80 games for the Hoosiers.

During his college years Balchan also played in the USL Premier Development League for Fort Wayne Fever^[1] and Chicago Fire Premier,^[2][3] and for half a season with FC Indiana in the National Premier Soccer League in 2009 (he transferred to Chicago half-way through the season). He was part of the Fire squad which reached the 2009 PDL championship game, but did not play in the final itself (which they lost 2–1 to Ventura County Fusion) after suffering an injury in the semi-final against the Cary Clarets.

Professional

On January 14, 2011, Balchan was drafted in the first round (12th overall) in the 2011 MLS SuperDraft by the Columbus Crew.^[4] He made his professional debut on February 22, 2011 in the first leg of the Crew's CONCACAF Champions League quarter-final series against Real Salt Lake,^[5] and played his first league game with the Crew on March 19, 2011 in the season opener against D.C. United.^[6]

Balchan challenging Dwayne De Rosario in a 2011 regular season match

Balchan scored his first professional goal at Red Bull Arena on June 4, 2011 during a regular season match against the New York Red Bulls. He received a cross from Justin Meram and hit a sliding one-timer to equalize the game with about 30 seconds before the final whistle.^[7]

Balchan was released by Columbus following an injury-plagued 2012 season.^[8] He was reported to be on trial with Real Salt Lake in February 2013.

International

Balchan played with United States U-20 National Team in early 2008, and was later a part of a U-20 squad which played England against reserve squads from Manchester United and Bolton Wanderers.

See also

• List of current MLS players

References

External links

• MLS player profile
• Indiana profile