EL PASO, Texas – August 28, 2018 – El Paso USL has signed forward, Derek Gebhard of Severna Park, MD. Gebhard comes by way of Jacksonville Armada FC where he has been since 2015. In the 2018 season, he has registered two goals and started in 11 matches for the club. Gebhard has also held the honors of being named to the NASL Team of the Week twice, NASL Team of the Month and has been awarded Man of the Match three times.
The 22-year-old is the second player to be signed to El Paso USL and has prior experience playing under EL Paso USL Head Coach Mark Lowry at Jacksonville Armada FC. Derek will be a vital asset in the attack with future teammate Omar Salgado. “Having had the experience of working with Derek in the past at Jacksonville, I am very excited and comfortable bringing him with me to El Paso. He’s a player with bags of pace and he brings a lot to the table. I know that whether he is up top with Omar or playing out wide he will provide a different type of threat that the USL is not accustomed to; he will give defenders a lot of problems. Having him here in El Paso to continue to grow and build the roster is really exciting for us.”
Derek will be joining El Paso USL on December 1st and until then will be on loan to Charlotte Independence for the remainder of the USL season pending league and federation approval. General Manager of Business Operations, Andrew Forrest, “We really want to thank Jacksonville and Charlotte for their commitment to helping us get Derek to El Paso. We know he will get the proper training in Charlotte and we look forward to watching him finish the season and are all wishing him a great playoff run.”
Before his Jacksonville debut, Derek Gebhard played one season with Jacksonville United FC of the NPSL in the spring of 2015 and played one season with Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers, Florida. In 2013 he was selected to the U.S Soccer Region III Olympic Development Program and helped lead his team to a 1-0 win over the Costa Rica U17 Men’s National Team and an overall 4-0-0 record in San Jose, Costa Rica.