Mehdi Ballouchy

Early life

At the age of 13, he joined SCC Mohammédia and played there to the age of 16. He then moved to the United States in 2000, initially living with his brother in Denver before attending Gunn High School in Palo Alto, California with a host family. He attended college and played one year of college soccer at Creighton and two at Santa Clara, where he was named first team all-American in 2005. He also briefly played with Boulder Rapids Reserve in the USL Premier Development League.

Ballouchy has played for various youth Moroccan national teams, including the Moroccan U-17 and U-16 national teams prior to moving to the United States at the age of 16. He wasn't called to play for the Morocco national football team at senior level.

As of match played May 18, 2016

The son of Driss and Malika Ballouchy, his father is a former French second division football player. Ballouchy received a U.S. green card in January 2013, which qualifies him as a domestic player for MLS purposes.