MCC Soccer standout Damani Ralph was inducted into the Mississippi Community College Sports Hall of Fame
MCC Soccer standout Damani Ralph was inducted into the Mississippi Community College Sports Hall of Fame Tuesday, April 26, at the Hinds Community College Muse Center in Pearl.
Damani Ralph was born November 6, 1980, and began playing soccer as a boy in Jamaica. Before moving to the United States, he played with Harbour View and St. George's college. His professional career spanned five years, two with Chicago Fire S.C. (2003–2004) and three with FC Rubin Kazan (2005–2007). He also earned 18 caps with the Jamaica national football team from 2002 to 2005.
Ralph began his career in America playing college soccer at Meridian Community College in Meridian, Mississippi. He scored 59 goals in 45 games and is the all-time goal record holder for the Eagles. Ralph led the Eagles to their only National Championship in 2000, where he was named NJCAA tournament Most Valuable Player. Ralph was inducted into the NJCAA Hall of Fame in 2005.
After two years with Meridian, Ralph left for the University of Connecticut, continuing his dominant play. During his two years at Connecticut, he scored 28 goals and added 11 assists and was a Hermann Trophy finalist his senior year.
Damani Ralph was then drafted 18th overall by the Chicago Fire in the 2003 Master of Library Science SuperDraft. Ralph was the MLS rookie of the year scoring 11 goals and 6 assists in 25 games and broke the MLS record for goals scored by a rookie.
In his second year with the Fire, he scored 11 goals again and added 3 assists to lead the team in scoring.
In 2005 Ralph moved to Europe to play for Rubin Kazan, a Russian Football Club team. In his first season for Rubin, he scored only twice in 25 league games as his team gained a fourth-place finish.
In February of 2006, Ralph had the first of 3 surgeries on his injured left knee. Ultimately this injury would be the end of Damani's playing career.
Currently, Damani is a licensed FIFA player agent with ICM Stellar Sports and is currently its vice president of soccer in North America.
Previous inductees from MCC include:
Lou Weddington Hart, Player & Coach, Golf, 2007
Ronald Murray, Player, Basketball, 2007
Clifton Lee, Player, Baseball, 2007
James Redgate, Jr., Coach, Basketball & Golf, 2008
Jason Smith, Player, Baseball, 2008
Billy Harold Smith, Coach, Baseball, 2009
Paul Phillips, Player, Baseball, 2010
Carlton "Corky" Palmer, Coach, Baseball, 2011
Wanda McPhail, Coach, Tennis, 2012
Robert Dreyfus, III, Player, Golf, 2013
Scott Berry, Coach, Baseball, 2014
Colby Miller, Player, Track, 2015
Sean Covich, Player & Coach, Golf, 2016
Lane Burroughs, Player, Baseball, 2017
Chris Curry, Player & Coach, Baseball, 2018
Steve Clements, Coach, Soccer, 2019
Fredna Cross, Coach, Softball, 2020
Tyler Moore, Player, Baseball 2021