Richard Jata - Player Bio

This Senior Center Midfielder from Campbell University is not getting the recognition he should be. Jata was heavily recruited by Furman University where he led the team in total points as a Freshman. Jon Leathers and Shea Salinas were both on that team and last year they were selected in the early rounds of the MLS superdraft. After his freshman year he left Furman, Wake Forest was interested, but at the time they could only offer him a half ride. Campbell, on the other hand, offered Jata a full ride and he hasn't looked back since.

Let me go back a few years now to high school. Jata attended IMG Academy as a sophomore where he played under Coach Tom Durkin and was the youngest player ever to play for the IMG PDL team at age 16. Mike Parkhurst, Heath Pierce and Marco Valez were also on that team as well. He scored 35 goals and totaled 19 assists in two years at IMG. Jata trained with the U.S. U17 National Team under Coach John Hackworth and played club soccer for Peter Mannino with the Clearwater Chargers, earning MVP honors at the 2001 Coca-Cola Clearwater Classic. He was a member of the Florida State and Region III ODP teams and captained Florida's ODP team in 2002-03. As a senior in high school, Jata led his squad to a 17-3-4 record and a #5 ranking in Florida. He earned All-State honors and was named 2003-04 Sunshine Athletic Conference Player of the Year while accumulating 33 goals and 17 assists (83 points). Jata was also named the Tampa Tribune Pasco County Player Of The Year and earned All-Conference recognition. He was named Ridgewood's Outstanding Male Athlete and was selected to the Florida Coaches Senior All-State and All-Star teams. Jata also lettered in football at Ridgewood and earned Tampa Tribue First-Team All Conference recognition as a punter.

For the last 3 seasons he has contributed largely to the success of CU. Last year Campbell won the Atlantic Sun Conference tournament and earned its 1st ever bid to the NCAA College Cup. This year they went 9-0 in conference play to secure the conference title and the #1 seed in the A-Sun tournament.

Jata was named Preseason Player of the Year two years in a row by the coaches of the Atlantic Sun Conference and has rapped up several other awards including multiple College Soccer News National Team of the Week and Topdrawer.com Player of the Week ending Nov. 2nd 2008.

This year Campbell started out the season 2-5, but finished off the season with 11 straight victories. Jata missed the first few games this season due to an injury, but has really turned it up when they needed it the most. All 5 of their loses have come on the road and by 1 goal margins. Currently they have 9 shutouts and haven't been scored on in over 570 minutes. CU ended the season with a 13-5 record, including an upset win over, then ranked #7 North Carolina. Richard has scored the game-winning goal the last 2 years in a row against North Carolina and this year he had 6 consecutive game-winning goals bringing his career total to 11. That ties him for 3rd all-time in the A-Sun Conference and he has only played there for 3 seasons.

Campbell is an astonishing 19-0-1 when Jata scores since he joined the team in 2006. A majority of his goals have come from his direct free kicks, which should give Jata a clear edge over the other midfielders you will see at the MLS Combine. He is a true Center Mid with great defensive skills as well. His ball control and ball skill is far superior to any other player in the A-Sun Conference and right now I would seriously consider him a 1st or 2nd round selection in the upcoming MLS Superdraft.

Jata has started for the Carolina Dynamo PDL the last two seasons, a team which included Marcus Tracy, Sam Cronin, Shea Salinas and many more.

Check out gocamels.com and atlanticsun.org for more info