Republic FC Adds Academy Players and Signs Clegg to a 25 Day Contract

Republic FC have announced the addition of six players to the team's roster ahead of the match against Colorado Springs Switchbacks. Tyler Clegg joins the club on a 25-day contract. Jackson Montero, Jackson Martin, Jayden Fitzgerald Boes, Diego Mellado, and Tag Chambers all join on USL Academy contracts. All of these deals are pending league and federation approval.

First, the academy players.

Four of the five players are currently part of Republic FC's Youth Development Academy. And three of these four are committed to play Division I soccer in the upcoming 2025 collegiate season. These academy contracts allow these players to be part of the first team while maintaining their collegiate eligibility. Jackson Montero will be playing for the University of the Pacific. Another former Republic FC player, Ezekiel Padilla, is also playing there. Jackson Martin will be joining the roster of Princeton University. And Jayden Fitzgerald Boes is committed to play at one of my favorite collegiate teams, Stanford University.

Tag Chambers comes to the club via the Open Tryout in January. He was part of the first team's training camp and earned the Academy Contract there. Last season, Chambers was signed under an Academy Contract with the Central Valley Fuego.

Republic FC President & General Manager Todd Dunivant on this group of signings,

"Every year, we look for an opportunity to adding talented young players from our academy and the surrounding region into our first team environment for valuable experience at the professional level. Our region is full of talent and Jackson Martin, Diego, Jayden, and Jackson Montero have shown they are ready to compete and learn in a pro-environment. Adding Tag from Open Tryouts shows once again how important that pathway is to our club.”

Now for Tyler Clegg.

As mentioned, he was signed to a 25-day contract. This is a new tool this season that can be used by clubs as a trial period or something to use in the case of emergencies. In the case of the Republic, there have been several injuries in the Republic's defense. And they're looking to bring in Clegg to reinforce this group. One thing of note is that a team cannot sign the same player to multiple 25-day contracts in one season. So, once the 25 days are up the Republic will have to make a decision if they want to keep Clegg or not. This signing is indicating to me that the injury to Lee Desmond has a longer recovery time. And we have still yet to see either Jared Timmer or Chibi Ukaegbu this season. The centerback position is important to how the Republic operate and Clegg has been given an opportunity to earn his way onto the squad.

Clegg comes to the Republic after spending the last two seasons with the Portland Timbers, after being drafted by them in 2023. He spent those seasons primarily part of their MLS NEXT Pro outfit, Portland Timbers 2. He made 44 appearances with T2, scoring three goals and having an 89.2% passing accuracy. On occasion, he was called up to represent the first team. This includes a couple of appearances in the 2023 Open Cup where he scored his first professional goal against Orange County SC.

Dunivant added,

“Tyler has impressed us in a short period of time and has earned an opportunity to contribute to the club early in the season. With some early season injuries at center back, he’ll provide us with some much needed depth on the backline.”

Welcome to the first team, Jackson Montero, Jackson Martin, Jayden Fitzgerald Boes, Diego Mellado, and Tag Chambers! And welcome to Sacramento, Tyler Clegg!

Image: SacRepublicFC Facebook