Jonahan Artiga "Jonah" Romero (born 17 March 1988), is an American born-Guamanian footballer who plays for SYC United in the United Premier Soccer League and the Guam national football team.[2][3][4]
Early life and career
Jonahan was born in Fairfax, Virginia, to a Salvadoran father, Evelio Romero, and a Guamanian mother, Roxanna Artiga. Jonahan's father, who was a former professional footballer in his native El Salvador influenced him to pursue a football career. While growing up in Lorton, Virginia, he attended high school in Hayfield Secondary School where he became a wrestler for Roy Hill and a footballer for Daniel Drickey.[5] He played two seasons for the University of Memphis, where he earned his Criminal Justice degree. He played 17 games for the Tigers coming off the bench.
Romero went on to play for Bayamon FC in Puerto Rico. After one year at Bayamon, he was transferred to Puerto Rico Islanders. After one and a half years of playing football for the Islanders, he moved to his mother's native Guam, where he played for Cars Plus FC in the 2009-2010 season. He was also listed in the lineup for the Guam national football team. He decided to play in Trinidad and Tobago, in which he got only a 6-month contract. He later moved back to Cars Plus and continued the season. After the 2010-11 season, he was signed by Kaya FC in the United Football League. He played in the 2011 United Football Cup, in which the team finished 4th place.[6]
In 2015 Romero signed with defending Mongolian Premier league champions Khoromkhon FC in order to play in a consistent and challenging league to prepare himself for the upcoming world cup qualifiers. He also became the first Guamanian footballer to play in Mongolia.[7]
As of September 2022, Romero is playing for United Premier Soccer League side SYC United in his native Virginia.[8]
Honours
Club
- Kaya
- United Football League: Runner-up 2011–12
- PFF National Men's Club Championship : Third place 2013
- Loyola
- Rovers FC
Personal life
Romero is married to Courtney May. The couple have a 2 year old daughter Izabel, and share two kids from a previous relationship, Camila 6 and Sebastian 8.He was a teacher at Holy Family Catholic School for one school year.
References
- ^ Jonah Romero at Kaya FC Archived 2012-10-16 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Jonahan Romero collects tattoos abroad". guampdn.com. 30 April 2017.
- ^ "Jonahan Romero - Soccerwire article".
- ^ "Jonahan Romero - Philippines Star article". The Philippine STAR.
- ^ J.R Romero, Memphis Tigers Archived 2014-01-11 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Jonahas Romero:Historical evolution, footballzz.com
- ^ "Matao's Romero to play professionally in Mongolia". Guam Football Association. 24 April 2015. Archived from the original on 27 May 2015. Retrieved 27 May 2015.
- ^ "SYC's Jonah Romero On Managing Guam National Team Duties And Coaching In UPSL". UPSL.com. 7 September 2022. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
- ^ "Rovers DI take Budweiser Soccer League championship". Archived from the original on 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2015-05-27.
- ^ "Rovers DI capture Bank of Guam 7th Annual GFA Cup title". Archived from the original on 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2015-05-27.