Former Warrior goal keeper goes pro

This story first appeared in the February 2018 edition of The Hilltop.

Former Warrior, Jordan Farr, recently signed a contract with the Indie Eleven United Soccer Team.

Farr is currently in preseason training with the team until it begins March 14.

“I am so thankful to be here,” he said. “I know it’s really difficult for any college player, let alone a former NAIA player. It’s not something you see every day.”

As an NAIA All-American athlete, Farr has set many school records, including setting the current NAIA record of 44 shutouts throughout his collegiate soccer career.

Farr’s teammates, coaches and wife of eight months are equally happy to see him pursue a professional career.

His contract allows him to train and play with the Indie Eleven team, a team new to the United Soccer League division, for one full season with the option of continuing after the season comes to a close if the team and Farr decide it’s a good fit.

He is excited to embark on this new journey and is seeking to trust the Lord through it all.

“I don’t want to be known as ‘Jordan the soccer player,’” he said. “I want to be known as ‘Jordan, the son of God and the husband.’”

In addition to the excitement, there were also some nerves.

“We’ve both grown up in Salem our entire lives,” he said. “We’ve never been anywhere but Salem or Turner, so yeah, it was kind of scary.”

As a teammate, Farr is the only rookie on the team and is focusing on being encouraging.

Farr’s career has spanned over five years, being the main goalkeeper for the Warriors in 2013. He also is known for setting goalkeeper records in 2015 and 2016, ranking No. 2 of all time for NAIA and signing with a professional team in 2018.

Farr is continuing to trust the Lord as he plants his feet in the professional soccer world.

“He knows exactly what we need,” Farr said. “He prepared our hearts to pursue this dream.”

Despite continuously being one of the best goal-keepers in the country throughout college, Farr became more skeptical of going into professional soccer as the years went by.

“The more I went through college, the more negative I got toward the dream,” he said. “The NAIA is a hard division to get an offer out of. I knew a lot of things had to go correctly for me to get this chance. I was very hopeful, but I remained realistic because I knew how hard it was to get here.”

There have only been three other Corban soccer athletes to sign professionally with a team, and Farr is the fourth.

His season in the Premier Development League “got me out front,” he said. The push gave him the boost he needed to be recognized outside of Corban’s team.

Farr is thankful for his coach, Aaron Lewis, as he starts to embark on this new journey.

“I just can’t thank him enough. He’s been so behind me and so for me,” he said. “My family and wife have been so encouraging, of course, but Aaron really implemented a strategy to get me to this level. Most people don’t have the network for that opportunity.”

Farr is also extremely thankful for his wife as she continues to trust the Lord in this new beginning.

“We knew when we got married that soccer could take us all over,” he said. “I couldn’t do it with anybody else. Ale is truly the only woman that could give me the support and love I need to pursue this dream.”

The couple has been comforted by the goodness of God throughout this journey.

“He knows exactly what we need,” Farr said. “We needed to be out of our comfort zone. He prepared our hearts to pursue this dream and he seems to be drawing us into maturity and unity and oneness as a couple.”

His wife continues to trust in the Lord as well.

“We’re excited to see what this season brings and what this community brings. It’s been such a whirlwind, but we’re loving it,” Farr’s wife said. “We’re taking it all and trusting in the Lord and putting our faith in Him, and He’s been so good. We’re just going to continue to trust Him.”

Farr is focusing on soccer but may continue his MBA later. Ale has a degree in exercise science and hopes to get connected to a high school and use her degree in education.