Photo: JMU Athletics
It was just a normal day at home for JMU’s Tyler Clegg, sitting at home doing a puzzle with his mother. His family was already in good spirits, as his older brother Brandon had just signed a professional contract with the Maryland Bobcats, so the last thing on Tyler’s mind was the VaSID Awards that were taking place that day. After finishing the puzzle with his mom, he checked his phone, and he was shocked to find he had won Defender of the year.
“I was in shock, it’s a huge award and honestly didn’t think I was gonna win it,” said Clegg. “There’s so many great defenders in Virginia so to be able to win it was a great heartwarming experience winning an award like that”.
This isn’t something new for Tyler Clegg though. While attending Forest Park High School in Woodbridge, Virginia, he was an instant standout his first year on varsity. He decided to play for Forest Park exclusively his sophomore year as he outgrew the youth team he played for. It was clear even initially that he was a force to be reckoned with in the Cardinal district as he was listed as an honorable mention at the end of his sophomore year. Tyler kept this momentum going, being named First team all Conference both his junior and senior year. He was also named Cardinal Distract Player of The Year as a senior. Throughout his high school career he was heavily recruited, but knew early on that James Madison University (JMU) was the only place he wanted to call home.
“I fell in love with it whilst my brother was touring schools my sophomore year. I fell in love with JMU even before soccer came into play. So when my junior year came around and they started to recruit me they were obviously my number one school. Once their offer was on the table I put pen to paper.”
Tyler’s college career started a little differently than most. He was recruited as a midfielder who then started playing striker up top, and eventually transitioned to a center back.
His freshman year started out with a bang, scoring his first goal against Longwood and later starting his first game against UC Irvine. Things started to heat up for him his collegiate sophomore year as he was named to the All-CAA third team after scoring four goals and recording two assists. His junior year was off to a hot start as he started all nine games at the back for JMU in a season that was eventually cut short due to the pandemic. That didn’t stop him from being named to the All-CAA second team. This last season as a redshirt junior, Tyler Clegg and JMU seemed poised for a deep CAA (Colonial Athletic Association) Tournament run and hopefully the NCAA Tournament. Tyler was named to the Preseason All-CAA Team and ranked 11th in TopDrawerSoccer’s Preseason Top 20. During the season he was named to the CAA team of the week twice, was an honorable mention for the National Team of the week on 9/14 and eventually to the All-CAA First Team. Then came the hitch in the road, the CAA had made the shocking decision to ban any JMU teams from participating in their postseason if JMU had decided to join the Sun-Belt Conference. Once JMU had announced they were planning on joining Sun Belt for the 2022-23 seasons, the CAA followed through on what many believed to be simply a scare tactic. On a Thursday Morning, JMU Athletic Director, Jeff Bourne called a meeting with the remaining fall sports and broke the news. JMU would not be allowed to participate in any CAA-run Tournaments, a decision that left many in a place of shock, said Clegg:
“He (Jeff Bourne) said he was going to try to fight the decision but obviously that didn’t happen. He left the room and we all just sat there shocked,not knowing what to say. Even the coaches were in a state of disbelief, it was a really unhappy time for our team.”
It’s no secret that JMU joining the Sun Belt is going to be a step up in competition for athletics at the University, but this level of talent won’t be new to Clegg. Since the age of 14, he’s been playing and training with Northern Virginia Football Club (NoVa FC), a team that competes in the 4th tier of the US Soccer pyramid in the United Soccer League Two (USL2). Despite being the 4th tier, the USL2 is filled with high end current Division One players, as the USL2 is the highest level in which they can participate whilst keeping amateur status.
Last summer was Tyler’s best playing for NoVa FC, as he started nine games and accumulated over 700 minutes. He was tied in 2nd for most goals on NoVa FC as the team just narrowly missed out on the playoffs, an experience Tyler cites as beneficial, saying “I played my first game for them when I was 15 or 16, I was just a young kid trying to get better so I could play college soccer. I have to say thank you to the Sheta family, they are great people and great coaches, they knew that I needed help at the time to take that next step. They took me in and let me play with the older kids and just from last summer alone the progression I made being able to play next to former professional players and being able to be in a environment that was all towards helping players grow definitely helped get ready for the jump up the Sun-Belt where I’m certain the competition will be better.”
As for 2022-23 seasons the goal is clear for Clegg: the MLS draft. He explains, “For 2022 I’m hoping to have a quick recovery from my injury and be able to play this summer and then have that transition into a strong fall season with JMU, the goal is to sign a professional contract and keep my dream going.” Whatever happens next for the Woodbridge native is unknown as of right now, but what we do know is that Tyler Clegg has no intention of slowing down.
