{{short description|American soccer player}} {{Infobox football biography | name = James Kiffe | fullname = James Alexander Kiffe | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1989|1|24}} | birth_place = Santa Barbara, California, United States | height = {{Height|ft=5|in=11}} | position = Defender | currentclub = | clubnumber = | youthyears1 = | youthclubs1 = San Marcos Royals | collegeyears1 = 2007 | college1 = SBCC Vaqueros | collegecaps1 = | collegegoals1 = 9 | collegeyears2 = 2009–2011 | college2 = UC Santa Barbara Gauchos | collegecaps2 = 45 | collegegoals2 = 3 | years1 = 2011–2014 | clubs1 = Ventura County Fusion | caps1 = 31 | goals1 = 3 | years2 = 2014–2017 | clubs2 = Sacramento Republic | caps2 = 89 | goals2 = 2 | years3 = 2018 | clubs3 = Reno 1868 | caps3 = 7 | goals3 = 0 | years4 = 2018 | clubs4 = Charlotte Independence | caps4 = 3 | goals4 = 0 | years5 = 2019 | clubs5 = El Paso Locomotive | caps5 = 31 | goals5 = 0 | club-update = October 25, 2019 }}

'''James Alexander Kiffe''' (born January 24, 1989) is an American soccer player.

==Early life and education== Kiffe was born on January 24, 1989, in Santa Barbara, California. He played for local side Santa Barbara Soccer Club before playing high school soccer at San Marcos High School.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Paterson |first=Bill |date=March 2, 2016 |title=Republic FC's James Kiffe says goal doesn't count, but it's a start |url=http://www.sacbee.com/sports/mls/article63699557.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306145454/http://www.sacbee.com/sports/mls/article63699557.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 6, 2016 |newspaper=The Sacramento Bee |access-date=December 27, 2016}}</ref> He played for Santa Barbara City College in 2007 before transferring to the University of California, Santa Barbara.

While enrolled at UC Santa Barbara, he was a student-athlete on the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's soccer team from 2009 to 2011. As a sophomore, he appeared as a substitute in 3 games and assisted on 1 goal.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://ucsbgauchos.com/sports/m-soccer/stats/2009-2010/teamcume.html |title=2009 UC Santa Barbara Overall Team Statistics |date=December 1, 2009 |website=UC Santa Barbara Gauchos |access-date=December 27, 2016}}</ref> His junior year saw him start 12 of his 20 appearances en route to 1 goal and 4 assists.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://ucsbgauchos.com/sports/m-soccer/stats/2010-2011/teamcume.html |title=2010 UC Santa Barbara Overall Individual Statistics |date=December 17, 2010 |website=UC Santa Barbara Gauchos |access-date=December 27, 2016}}</ref> In his final year in Santa Barbara, Kiffe started 21 of the 22 games he played in and scored 2 goals and 6 assists.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://ucsbgauchos.com/sports/m-soccer/2011-12/teams/ucsantabarb?view=profile&r=0&pos=kickers |title=UC Santa Barbara Lineup |website=UC Santa Barbara Gauchos |access-date=December 27, 2016}}</ref> He ended his UCSB career with a total of 45 games played and 3 goals scored and was named the Big West Conference Defender of the Year for 2011.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bigwest.org/story.asp?story_id=15231 |title=Big West 2011 Men's Soccer All-Conference Team Unveiled |date=November 14, 2011 |website=Big West Conference |access-date=December 27, 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161224091816/http://www.bigwest.org/story.asp?story_id=15231 |archive-date=December 24, 2016 }}</ref>

==Career== While enrolled at UCSB, Kiffe played with Ventura County Fusion of the PDL. After his senior season, he was selected in round four of the 2012 MLS Supplemental Draft by the San Jose Earthquakes.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://presidiosports.com/2012/01/pontius-kiffe-taken-in-mls-supplemental-draft/ |title=Pontius, Kiffe taken in MLS Supplemental Draft |date=January 17, 2012 |website=PresidioSports.com |access-date=December 27, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.sjearthquakes.com/post/2012/01/18/quakes-select-four-mls-supplemental-draft |title=Quakes select four in MLS Supplemental Draft |last=Lepper |first=Geoff |date=January 17, 2012 |website=San Jose Earthquakes |access-date=December 27, 2016}}</ref> He didn't make the Earthquakes roster and spent much of 2012 recuperating from a high ankle injury sustained at the end of his senior year at UCSB. In 2013 he continued his rehabilitation and played with the Fusion. In the fall of 2013, he went on trial with a team based in Slovenia which also didn't produce a professional contract.<ref name="sacbeelatearrival">{{Cite news |last=Paterson |first=Bill |date=September 17, 2014 |title=Late arrival James Kiffe has found a home with Republic FC |url=http://www.sacbee.com/sports/mls/article2610177.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161228033822/http://www.sacbee.com/sports/mls/article2610177.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 28, 2016 |newspaper=The Sacramento Bee |location=Sacramento, California |access-date=July 22, 2016}}</ref> At the insistence of Sporting Kansas City, Kiffe returned to the United States to find that the club had signed a different player for the 2014 season.<ref name="sacbeelatearrival"/> He continued to play with the Fusion in 2014, ultimately serving as their longest-tenured player and team captain.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Curley |first=Joe |date=August 19, 2014 |title=Captain Kiffe steers Fusion's playoff run |url=http://archive.vcstar.com/sports/captain-kiffe-steers-fusions-playoff-run-ep-517550428-351290581.html |newspaper=Ventura County Star |location=Camarillo, California |access-date=December 27, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Paterson |first=Bill |date=July 2, 2016 |title=Republic FC players set aside day jobs to play under lights |url=http://www.sacbee.com/sports/mls/article87428777.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160708054717/http://www.sacbee.com/sports/mls/article87428777.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 8, 2016 |newspaper=The Sacramento Bee |location=Sacramento, California |access-date=July 22, 2016}}</ref>

After seeing Kiffe play for the Fusion against Sacramento Republic FC in the 2014 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup and the 2014 PDL playoffs, Sacramento Republic signed Kiffe for the remainder of the 2014 USL Pro season.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Paterson |first=Bill |date=August 16, 2014 |title=Republic FC can clinch playoff berth with win against Orange County |url=http://www.sacbee.com/sports/mls/article2606905.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161228033704/http://www.sacbee.com/sports/mls/article2606905.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 28, 2016 |newspaper=The Sacramento Bee |location=Sacramento, California |access-date=December 27, 2016}}</ref>

2014: Signed with Republic FC before the USL Roster Freeze Deadline ... Started the final four regular season matches and started all three of Republic FC's playoff matches ... Recorded two assists in the playoffs including Thomas Stewart's 90th-minute goal in the USL Championship Match on September 27 ... Was named to the USL Team of the Week in week 25.

2015: Appeared in 29 matches for Republic FC in all competitions, including 24 USL appearances ... Recorded an assist on the season.

2016: Made 36 appearances for Republic FC in all competitions, including 29 USL matches. He scored a goal and added five assists in USL play, second-most on the club. His goal was his first as a professional and was a match-winning goal over Oklahoma City Energy FC on Aug. 2. He recorded his first 2,000+ USL minute season, playing 2,527 minutes, second-most of any Republic FC player in 2016.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sacrepublicfc.com/james-kiffe |title=James Kiffe |website=www.sacrepublicfc.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161228032444/http://www.sacrepublicfc.com/james-kiffe |archive-date=2016-12-28}}</ref>

2017: Played every minute of Republic FC's 2017 regular season and postseason, recording 3,090 total minutes. Kiffe broke the 100-appearance mark played with Republic FC on Sept. 2 against Colorado Switchbacks FC, becoming only the second player to achieve this feat. He also made his 100th career start for Republic FC on Sept. 30 against Phoenix Rising FC. Kiffe held 61 key passes and 64 interceptions this season. The 28-year-old defender recorded a career-high six assists in the regular season and had a 75.6 percent tackle success rate and 79.5 percent pass success rate, completing 1,189 successful passes. The defender also scored one of the penalty kicks during Republic FC's Western Conference Quarterfinals penalty shootout against Real Monarchs, which helped the club advance to the conference semifinals.<ref name="sacrepublicfc.com">{{Cite web|url = http://www.sacrepublicfc.com/news_article/show/853998|title = Defender James Kiffe Named to 2017 USL All-League Second Team|date = 8 November 2017|access-date = 18 January 2018|archive-date = 18 January 2018|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180118122555/http://www.sacrepublicfc.com/news_article/show/853998|url-status = dead}}</ref> Kiffe was named to the 2017 USL All-League Second Team. Kiffe was in the running "Defender of the Year" in 2017 <ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.uslsoccer.com/news_article/show/836289|title = USL Top Five – Defenders|date = 22 September 2017}}</ref> and he was the only fullback in the USL to be named to either the First or Second All USL League Team that year.<ref name="sacrepublicfc.com"/>

==Honors and awards== ===Individual=== *USL All-League Second Team 2017 *Big West Conference Defender of the Year: 2011 * Big West Conference All-Big West First Team 2011 * NCAA D1 All-Far West First Team 2011 * ESPN College All-Stars Los Angeles Area 2011<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.espn.com/blog/los-angeles/soccer/post/_/id/13414/college-our-all-area-teams|title=COLLEGE: Our all-area teams|date=25 December 2011}}</ref> * USL Premier Development League Defender of the Year: 2014

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * [http://www.sacrepublicfc.com/james-kiffe Sacramento Republic FC player profile] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161228032444/http://www.sacrepublicfc.com/james-kiffe |date=2016-12-28 }} * [http://ucsbgauchos.com/sports/m-soccer/2011-12/bios/kiffe%20james00.html UC Santa Barbara player profile] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20140903222158/http://www.uslsoccer.com/teams/66628072/6188518-66628139/36244333.html USL player profile] * {{USL player|james-kiffe}} * {{Soccerway|james-kiffe/193540}}

{{PDL Defender of the Year}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kiffe, James}} Category:1989 births Category:Living people Category:Sportspeople from Santa Barbara, California Category:Soccer players from Santa Barbara County, California Category:American men's soccer players Category:Men's association football defenders Category:UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's soccer players Category:Ventura County Fusion players Category:USL League Two players Category:Sacramento Republic FC players Category:Reno 1868 FC players Category:Charlotte Independence players Category:El Paso Locomotive FC players Category:USL Championship players Category:San Jose Earthquakes draft picks Category:San Marcos High School (Santa Barbara, California) alumni