Dayne St. Clair

St. Clair was named to the Canada U-23 provisional roster for the 2020 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Championship on February 26, 2020. He accepted an invite for the Canada senior national team camp for January 2021. He made his debut for the senior team on June 5, 2021, playing the whole game in a 7–0 FIFA World Cup qualification victory over Aruba at an empty IMG Academy stadium in Florida amid the COVID-19 pandemic; St. Clair later said that despite barely touching the ball, he felt he had helped Canada move toward qualifying for the World Cup for the first time in 40 years. On July 1 St. Clair was named to the Canada squad for the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup. During this period, St. Clair competed with Maxime Crépeau for the backup role behind starter Milan Borjan, with St. Clair later noting he believed Crépeau, who had been with the program since 2016, initially expected to be the natural successor. In November 2022 St. Clair was named to Canada's squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, after Crépeau suffered a broken leg and was sent off during LAFC's MLS Cup Final loss to the Philadelphia Union just weeks before the tournament, ending Crépeau's own World Cup hopes; St. Clair has said he felt for Crépeau, who "worked so hard" and "deserved to be there". St. Clair served as backup to Borjan for all three of Canada's matches at the tournament. In June 2023, St. Clair was called up to the 23-man squad contesting the 2023 CONCACAF Nations League Finals. On June 19 he was named…

Early career

St. Clair played primarily as a central defender through his early teens, but volunteered to fill in as goalkeeper for Pickering Soccer Club whenever the team's regular goalkeeper missed games due to hockey tournaments, later saying "I'd rather go in net than sit on the bench". He initially split time between goalkeeping and playing outfield before moving into goal full-time at age 14. St. Clair played for League1 Ontario club Vaughan Azzurri in 2014 and 2015, helping the club win the inaugural 2014 League1 Ontario Cup, and developed a lasting mentorship with Vaughan Azzurri coach Patrice Gheisar. During the 2016 and 2017 PDL seasons, St. Clair made thirteen appearances with K–W United FC. During the 2018 PDL season, St. Clair made three appearances for the New York Red Bulls under-23 team.

Minnesota United

On January 4, 2019, ahead of the 2019 MLS SuperDraft, St. Clair signed a Generation Adidas contract with Major League Soccer, forgoing his final season of eligibility. On January 11, 2019, St. Clair was drafted seventh overall in the 2019 MLS SuperDraft by Minnesota United FC, the highest a goalkeeper had been selected since Toronto FC took Alex Bono sixth overall in 2015. St. Clair said of getting drafted, "I wanted to make a statement to the person I am, the player I am. This is my statement." In his rookie season, St. Clair was behind starter Vito Mannone and did not make a first-team appearance. In April 2019, St. Clair was loaned out…

Entering the 2015 NCAA Division I men's soccer season, St. Clair was redshirted. During his redshirt freshman year in 2016, he served as a backup to Cody Niedermeier and briefly considered transferring after not playing regularly in his first year. Entering the 2017 NCAA Division I men's soccer season, St. Clair became the regular starter for Maryland, making his first college soccer start for the Terrapins on August 25, 2017, in a 4–2 win against Santa Clara. In his final season, he helped Maryland win the 2018 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament, keeping five consecutive clean sheets in the competition, and was named the defensive Most Outstanding Player of the tournament. St. Clair finished his Maryland career making a total of 43 appearances for the program.

St. Clair was born in Pickering, Ontario, to a Trinidadian father and a Scottish Canadian mother. He grew up in Scarborough, where a soccer ball was his favourite toy and he would juggle a balloon for long periods when he could not play with a ball indoors. As a child he was often photographed wearing Celtic jerseys, reflecting his mother's Scottish background, and he spent weekends watching his father Fabian play as a goalkeeper in local Sunday leagues before joining other children on the pitch at half-time and after matches. He began playing soccer at age three with the Epiphany Church Soccer League before joining North Scarborough SC at age four. St. Clair played primarily as a central defender in his early youth career and spent time with Pickering SC, Ajax SC, and the Vaughan Azzurri. He has said that he often volunteered to play in goal when his team's regular goalkeeper was unavailable, preferring to go in net rather than sit on the bench, and that after being selected as a goalkeeper for the provincial team and encouraged by coach Gerald Pennant, who had worked with the Jamaican national team, he committed to the position full-time and began focusing more on his positioning and angles to complement his athleticism.