Jahmali Waite

📖 About

Jahmali Waite (born 24 December 1998) is a professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for El Paso Locomotive in the USL Championship. Born in Kingston, Jamaica, he represents Jamaica at international level.

Club career

Youth career

Waite played as part of the Philadelphia Union academy, also appearing on the bench for the club's USL Championship side during their 2017 season. He was persuaded to move to the club by fellow Jamaican Andre Blake.

College and amateur career

In 2017, Waite attended Fairleigh Dickinson University to play college soccer. In three seasons with the Knights, Waite made 40 appearances. He was named to the Northeast Conference All-Rookie team as a freshman in 2017 and a First Team All-NEC selection in 2018. In his final year with the Knights, he was named the NEC Tournament MVP and helped guide Fairleigh Dickinson to the 2019 NCAA Tournament. 2020 saw Waite transfer to the University of Connecticut, where he made a further 23 appearances. During his time at college, Waite also played in the USL League Two. He made eight regular season appearances and one playoff appearance for Reading United AC during their 2019 season. In 2021, Waite appeared for Ocean City Nor'easters, playing nine times in the league and twice in the playoffs. Following college, Waite went undrafted in the 2022 MLS SuperDraft, but joined Major League Soccer club Chicago Fire for their preseason training camp. However, he did not sign for the club.

Pittsburgh Riverhounds

On 25 March 2022, Waite signed his first professional contract, joining USL Championship club Pittsburgh Riverhounds. He made his debut for the club in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on 5 April 2022. In 2023, Jahmali Waite picked up a clean sheet against New England Revolution, leading the side to a 1–0 win. Following this, Jahmali Waite was man of the match against the Columbus Crew, saving three shots and conceding zero in the 1-0 that allowed the Hounds to make it to Quarterfinals of the U.S. Open Cup for the first time since 2001. Jahmali Waite was man of the match against the Tampa Bay Rowdies in the 1–0 win, saving the only shot on goal.

El Paso Locomotive

On 4 January 2024, Waite signed with El Paso Locomotive for their 2024 USL Championship season.

International career

Waite has represented Jamaica at under-17 level. Waite made his senior international debut on November 10 versus Cameroon. Waite made multiple appearances in friendlies for the Jamaica national team, and earned a call up to Jamaica's 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup squad. He started the 2023 Gold Cup game against Saint Kitts and Nevis, making two saves in the 5–0 win before coming off in the 82nd minute.