Josh García

Josh García (born 28 July 1993) is an American-Dominican professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for the club Oklahoma City Energy.

Josh García
Personal information
Full name Joshua García[1]
Date of birth (1993-07-28) July 28, 1993
Place of birth Massachusetts, United States
Height 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Playing position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Oklahoma City Energy
Number 21
Youth career
2007–2011 Grant High School
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2011–2013 Northern Oklahoma College 27 (1)
2013–2016 Friends Falcons 8 (1)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2018–2019 Oklahoma City Energy U23 11 (2)
2019– Oklahoma City Energy 1 (0)
National team‡
2019– Dominican Republic 1 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 25 October 2019
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 30 March 2019

Professional career

A troubled youth raised by a single mother, García began playing soccer as a youth to get away from trouble after ending up in a juvenile center for delinquents. He was a membey of the varsity team at Grant High School in Oklahoma City. He was scouted by colleges, and played at Northern Oklahoma College for 2 years, before transferring to the Friends Falcons until 2016.

García broke his foot before joining Friends University, and again shortly after he was recovering. Struggling with depression, he took a break to his hometown only to find more problems when his brother was incarcerated. García turned to drinking and attempted suicide. After this depressive episode, García vowed to prevent his family from further suffering and returned to school and soccer with renewed focus. After graduating college, he only played soccer recreationally and got a job as a service rep for Lincare.[2]

In January 2018, he joined the open tryouts for OKC Energy FC. He ended up joining their U23 team, and eventually captained them. On 10 January 2019, García signed for the senior OKC Energy FC squad for the 2019 season.[3]

International career

García was born in the United States, and is of Dominican descent. He made his professional debut for the Dominican Republic national football team in a 1-0 friendly over win Guadeloupe on 15 February 2019.[4][5]

International goals
Scores and results list the Dominican Republic's goal tally first.[6]
No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.7 September 2019Blakes Estate Stadium, Lookout, Montserrat Montserrat1–01–22019–20 CONCACAF Nations League B

References
  1. "Dominican Republic - J. García - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway". int.soccerway.com. Retrieved 2019-11-22.
  2. "How soccer motivated Energy FC's Josh Garcia to persevere on OKC's south side". NewsOK.com. 4 July 2018.
  3. Vaughn, Tyler (10 January 2019). "Energy FC Sign Local Talent, U23 Captain Josh Garcia". OKC Energy FC.
  4. Strack-Zimmermann, Benjamin. "Dominican Republic vs. Guadeloupe (1:0)". www.national-football-teams.com.
  5. Vaughn, Tyler (10 February 2019). "Josh Garcia Called Up to Dominican Republic National Team". OKC Energy FC.
  6. "Josh García". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman. Retrieved 12 September 2019.


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