Jared Smith made his professional debut with New England Revolution II on April 12.
Photo credit: New England Revolution
LONGMEADOW — Longmeadow native Jared Smith is taking his soccer career to the next level in his home state after signing his first professional contract with the New England Revolution II, the organization’s development team.
It is a one-year contract for the remainder of the 2026 season with a club option for 2027.
Smith started playing when he was 5 years old and said he quickly realized he was pretty good for his age. He said it was fun being good at a sport, which led him to follow through with it. He went on to play for Longmeadow High School, winning a Western Massachusetts title in 2017 and a state championship as captain during an undefeated senior season in 2019.
He played for the Quinnipiac University Bobcats for two seasons, citing Coach Tobias Esche as helping him develop through extra work during periods he wasn’t a starter.
“He sat me down and he told me that he saw a lot of potential in me and then my junior year, the starting left back pulled his hamstring so it was my turn,” Smith said. “I played every game, except for one because I got a red card. We won a regular season and won the conference and I started to love the game even more as I was in college. I wanted to play the best because I wanted to play professionally.”
Smith decided to transfer to Seton Hall University for his 2023 and 2024 seasons, where his position changed to left wing.
“I would say I grew there the most, technique wise,” Smith said. “I had two pretty good years there. My first year, I was injured so I didn’t really play that much but I still had like two goals, five assists. My last year, I started every match, was the leading goal scorer. We were ranked eighth in the country.”
He also spent parts of five seasons with Western Mass Pioneers from 2021-2025 and went through a trial with SC Tulsa until an elbow injury. He made his way back into New England after a trial with the Revolution, where he said they liked what they saw and decided to sign him.
“[Playing professionally] wasn’t always a thought of mine because I thought when you were in high school, it was either professional after high school or you just stopped playing,” Smith said. “There was not that much exposure at the time when I was going through the recruiting process for college, so I wasn’t really informed. When I got to college, I would say I started getting better, and then that was like, okay maybe I could really do this. After my junior year, when I had my breakout year, I was like, yeah I could definitely do this.”
He said it is always a lifelong dream that starts as a kid to be a professional athlete and that sacrifices he’s made during his “younger years” have made it all worth it.
“I obviously work really hard to do the things I want to do and be good at, and now that it happened, I don’t know, it just doesn’t feel real to be honest,” Smith said. “I never gave up, I always had a ton of obstacles and I would say that I have an iron sharp mentality, I feel like nothing can stop me. As long as you work as hard as possible, the world is yours.”
The team next plays on May 3 against Connecticut United.
