Steven Beitashour

College and amateur

Beitashour graduated from Leland High School in 2005 where his number 3 jersey was later retired, becoming only the second Leland athlete after Pat Tillman to have a jersey retired. Steven was the captain of his high school's varsity team and was their leading goalscorer his junior and senior years in the number 10 role. He was a four-year letter-winner and was a two-time offensive player of the year before being a divisional first-team selection. In his graduating year at Leland, Beitashour received the inaugural Pat Tillman Award, given to a Bay Area student for outstanding achievements in both athletics and academics. He went on to play four years of college soccer at San Diego State University after receiving a scholarship, redshirting his freshman season. He majored in communication with a minor in biology at San Diego State University, choosing it over several schools including San Jose State University, University of California, Santa Cruz and Notre Dame de Namur University. Coach Lev Kirshner moved Beitashour to the right-back position in order to utilize his quick speed and one-on-one defending abilities. In his senior year at State, Steven earned an all-Pac-10 honorable mention. During his late college years, Beitashour also played for the San Jose Frogs in the Premier Development League. He graduated from San Diego State in December 2009.

Professional

San Jose Earthquakes

Beitashour was drafted in the second round…

Eligibility

Since Beitashour has Iranian Citizenship through Jus sanguinis principles, he is eligible to play for Iran. Beitashour was born in the United States and is an American citizen; he thus had the choice of either playing for Iran or the United States.

When asked about his choice in a 2012 interview, he stated: "I think it's a great position to be in to have two options, to say the least... I've just got to keep playing well here [for the San Jose Earthquakes]. I think that's the main thing, and good things will come from that." Iran national team coach Carlos Queiroz began to recruit eligible players from the Iranian diaspora to reinforce the squad. In June 2012, it was reported that Queiroz was interested in inviting Beitashour.

United States

Beitashour was called up for an international friendly by the United States national football team against Mexico on August 15, 2012; however, he was an unused substitute. Coach Jürgen Klinsmann later explained about his "surprise callup":

"Steven has built his case over the last couple of months and talking with Frank Yallop [Beitashour's coach at Earthquakes] and getting his information was the most important step... We are pleased to bring him in. He will be welcomed here and he'll see it is a very positive and comfortable environment where he can settle in with no problems. We are curious to see him in the couple training sessions that we have. It's not much because we have two and a half days to…

Beitashour has been praised for his crosses and his ability to get around defenders.

Philanthropy

Following his retirement from playing professional soccer, Beitashour announced in December 2023 that he would be running a youth soccer clinic in Denver named Beita Performance Soccer.

Managerial career

On August 12, 2024, the San Jose Earthquakes announced that Beitashour would be the Quakes Academy’s Under-15 head coach for the 2024–25 MLS NEXT season. Under the helm of Beitashour, the Quakes U-15 team went undefeated and achieved first place in their group during his tenure. On February 7, 2025, Beitashour was announced as the assistant coach of Robin Fraser at Toronto FC ahead of the 2025 season.