‘Counting On’: What to Remember About Jeremy Vuolo’s Soccer Career

Jeremy Vuolo is known for being on the TLC series Counting On, the spinoff of 19 Kids and Counting. He is married to Jinger Duggar Vuolo, tying the knot in 2016 after meeting on a mission trip to Central America in 2015. The couple has two kids, with the second child being born in November. But before Vuolo was on a hit reality series, the 33-year-old was playing soccer professionally.

Vuolo began playing college soccer in 2006 at Hartwick College before transferring to Syracuse University in 2010. In his one season with the Orange, Vuolo played in 16 games with 15 starts and totaled 79 saves and three shutouts. He also had at least nine saves in three straight games, the first Syracuse goalie to reach that mark since Charlie Wilke in 1988. Vuolo was also the team captain and named team MVP.

After college, Vuolo signed with Finnish Club AC Oulu and appeared in 24 games while recording 11 clean sheets. His production helped the AC Oulu finish third in the league. From there, Vuolo signed with the New York Red Bulls of the MLS in 2012. He then stepped away from soccer to focus on full-time ministry but returned in April 2013 and signed with the San Antonio Scorpions of the NASL. He was with the team for two seasons and appeared in 20 games before ending his soccer career.

“My lifelong passion of playing soccer for a living began to dwindle as a burning desire to serve God as a preacher and a pastor was growing,” Vuolo wrote on a blog post, per CheatSheet. Once Vuolo stepped away from soccer, he was allowed to oversee a small church in Laredo, Texas. He then became an ordained pastor and Grace Community Church and began his family with Jinger.

“I began getting involved in the weekend party scene,” Duggar wrote in the blog post when talking about his left in high school and college. “This continued into college, and my sin just continued to spiral my life downward,” he wrote. He then added, “But as my life in the party-scene continued to decline, my performance on the field, as well as the relationships with those around me, also declined. It did not take very long for me to realize that my sin was catching up with me quickly.”