Goalkeeper Drake Callender initially joined Inter Miami in December 2019 ahead of its inaugural season after the Club acquired his Homegrown Player Rights from the San Jose Earthquakes, and following two seasons in the Club’s development pathway with Inter Miami CF II he went on to make the First Team starting goalkeeper position his own in 2022. Overall in 2022, the Sacramento, Ca. native registered 24 regular season starts and also started in the team’s Audi 2022 MLS Cup Playoffs matchup in October, while also finishing the season amongst the finalists for Allstate MLS Goalkeeper of the year. He also made the MLS Team of the Week on three occasions in 2022, including a stellar Week 12 performance in which he kept a clean sheet against eventual Eastern Conference leaders Philadelphia Union and made a SportsCenter Top 10 save. Callender provided essential saves at key moments throughout the campaign, notably making his mark in the final stretch of the regular season with match-winning saves in the late stages of matches against Columbus Crew and D.C. United, followed by a clean sheet against Toronto FC.
Callender played NCAA Division I soccer at the University of California, Berkeley. He was a key member for the school’s team for four years, making 54 appearances and keeping 16 clean sheets. The goalkeeper made a career-high nine saves on two separate occasions, once as a freshman against Oregon State University and once as a sophomore against the University of Portland. Callender was named to the United Soccer Coaches NCAA All-Far West Region First Team and the All-Pac-12 First Team for the 2017 season. For the 2018 season, he was named to the preseason MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List and earned United Soccer Coaches NCAA All-Far West Region Third Team and All-Pac-12 Second Team honors.
