Taylor Smith (soccer, born 2007)

Not to be confused with Taylor Smith (soccer, born 1993).

Taylor Smith
Personal information
Full name Taylor Ava Smith[1]
Date of birth (2007-10-14) October 14, 2007[2]
Height 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Position Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Fort Lauderdale United
Number 23
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2024– Fort Lauderdale United 38 (0)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 01:37, December 22, 2025 (UTC)

Taylor Ava Smith (born October 14, 2007) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for USL Super League club Fort Lauderdale United. She debuted for Fort Lauderdale United – which her father owns – at age 16 and signed a professional contract with the club at age 17 in 2025.

Early life

The daughter of Fort Lauderdale United founder and chairman Tommy Smith,[3] Smith grew up Fort Lauderdale, Florida. She began playing soccer around age six and often played with boys growing up.[4] She joined the varsity team at NSU University School in Davie, Florida, when she was in eighth grade.[5] In her freshman season, she scored 17 goals and added 24 assists as she captained the team to the state finals in 2023.[2] She posted 24 goals and 33 assists as a sophomore, returning to the state semifinals, and was named the Miami Herald's Broward 4A-2A Girls' Soccer Player of the Year in 2024.[6] She played ECNL club soccer for FC Prime.[7]

Career

Going into her junior year at University School, Smith joined Fort Lauderdale United on an academy contract (allowing her to retain college eligibility) before the USL Super League's inaugural season.[2][8] She was the youngest player in United's squad at 16 years old.[2][9] She made her first appearance in the club's second game, coming off the bench in a 2–1 loss to the Carolina Ascent on September 6, 2024.[10] After making her starting lineup debut in a 3–1 loss to Brooklyn FC on October 27, she became a regular starter for United and was one of five players to log more than 2,000 minutes across the club's inaugural season.[11][12] On March 20, 2025, United announced that Smith had signed a professional contract with the club, making her the league's first academy player to turn professional and the league's youngest professional player at the time.[8] After placing fourth in the inaugural standings, United managed a 2–1 upset win over the top-seeded Carolina Ascent in the playoff semifinals.[13] On June 14, Smith started and played 77 minutes in the inaugural final against the Tampa Bay Sun, losing 1–0 in extra time.[14]

Honors

References

  1. ^ "Team Captain, Taylor Smith, Leads NSU University School's Soccer Team to the State Championship". KTXL. March 13, 2023. Retrieved May 5, 2025.
  2. ^ a b c d "Taylor Smith". Fort Lauderdale United FC. Retrieved May 5, 2025.
  3. ^ Zbar, Jeff (December 6, 2025). "Meet the SFBJ's inaugural Power Leaders in Sports". South Florida Business Journal. Retrieved August 6, 2025. Tommy Smith ... My daughter, Taylor Smith, who plays defense on the team, is absolutely my favorite athlete
  4. ^ Fort Lauderdale United [@ftlutd]; (April 30, 2025). "She grew up in this city. Now she's playing for it". Retrieved May 5, 2025 – via Instagram.
  5. ^ "Super Signings Recap: July 1-12". USL Super League. July 12, 2024. Retrieved May 5, 2025.
  6. ^ Fernandez, Andre (March 28, 2024). "NSU University School's Taylor Smith is the Broward 4A-2A Girls Soccer Player of the Year". Miami Herald. Retrieved May 5, 2025.
  7. ^ "Taylor Smith". TopDrawerSoccer. Retrieved August 30, 2025.
  8. ^ a b "Taylor Smith Becomes Super League's First Academy Player to Earn Pro Contract". Fort Lauderdale United FC. March 20, 2025. Retrieved May 5, 2025.
  9. ^ Walker, Heather; Hall, Darcelle. "Two teen soccer players help boost South Florida's first professional women's soccer team". WSVN. Retrieved May 5, 2025.
  10. ^ Taylor Smith at Soccerway
  11. ^ Knowles, James (May 7, 2025). "Floridian Rookies Series: Taylor Smith". Beyond the 90. Retrieved August 30, 2025.
  12. ^ "Fort Lauderdale United FC – 2024/2025". soccerway.com. Retrieved August 30, 2025.
  13. ^ Pohly, Kaitlyn (June 13, 2025). "Fort Lauderdale United silences its doubters heading into inaugural USL final". Miami Herald. Retrieved August 6, 2025.
  14. ^ "Tampa Bay Sun FC 1–0 Fort Lauderdale United FC". USL Super League. June 14, 2025. Retrieved August 6, 2025.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.