December 21, 2023 – United Soccer League Championship (USL) – Tampa Bay Rowdies News Release
Midfielder Blake Bodily with the San Diego Loyal
(Tampa Bay Rowdies)
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla – The Tampa Bay Rowdies announced today that midfielder Blake Bodily has inked a deal to join the club for the upcoming 2024 USL Championship season. The contract is pending league and federation approval.
“Blake is an outstanding attacking left wingback that creates and scores goals, as shown by his five goals and 9 assists for San Diego this year,” said Rowdies Head Coach Robbie Neilson. “Along with those abilities, Blake also possesses strong defensive capabilities and we know he will bring excellent quality and competition to the squad for 2024.”
Bodily is coming off a breakout season in 2023 for USL Championship side San Diego Loyal, in which he posted career-highs in both goals and assists over 32 appearances.
“I’m super excited to get down to Tampa Bay after talking with Coach Robbie,” said Bodily. “In the first meeting I had with him, he really laid out a great picture and plan for what he expects from the team and what he expects from me. After speaking with a couple of guys I know over there, it was really a no-brainer for me. There was nowhere else I wanted to be. Being able to play consistently last year and build confidence was huge for me. Hopefully I can just keep that momentum going into next year and just build on that.”
Born in Idaho, Bodily made his professional debut in 2015 as an academy signing with Portland Timbers 2 in the USL Championship. He notched four goals in 35 matches for Timbers 2 from 2015-2017 before enrolling at the University of Washington, where he was teammates with Rowdies defender Freddy Kleemann. In three seasons with Washington, Bodily had 17 goals and 18 assists across 56 appearances, earning Pac-12 Player of the Year in his final season.
Following his career at Washington, Bodily signed a Major League Soccer Homegrown player contract with the Portland Timbers in 2020. Over three seasons with Portland, the 25-year-old played in 12 MLS matches while also spending time on loan with Timbers 2. In 2021, Portland sent Bodily on loan to San Diego Loyal, where he made three appearances and logged 151 minutes of action.
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