Mar
19
BSC - 0
SAV - 2
7:00 pm ET
Match Center* U.S. Open Cup
WCUSC - 0
MBFC - 2
7:30 pm ET
Match Center* U.S. Open Cup
Mar
20
AFC - 2
CDL - 3
7:00 pm ET
Match Center* U.S. Open Cup
IZFC - 1
MFC - 0
10:30 pm ET
Match Center* U.S. Open Cup
LAF - 2
RFC - 1
10:30 pm ET
Match Center* U.S. Open Cup
CFC - 2
DMM - 3
11:00 pm ET
Match Center* U.S. Open Cup
Mar
21
SCFC - 0
MICH - 1
7:00 pm ET
Match Center* U.S. Open Cup
LM - 2
AMFC - 1
8:30 pm ET
Match Center* U.S. Open Cup
Apr
02
RK
MBFC
7:00 pm ET
Watch* U.S. Open Cup
SGTFC
SAV
7:00 pm ET
Watch* U.S. Open Cup
MNUFC2
MICH
8:30 pm ET
Watch* U.S. Open Cup
Apr
03
MUFC
CDL
6:00 pm ET
Watch* U.S. Open Cup
VCFC
IZFC
10:30 pm ET
Watch* U.S. Open Cup
SVFC
LAF
10:30 pm ET
Watch* U.S. Open Cup
Apr
06
GLSC
MBFC
MICH
SAV
7:00 pm ET
Watch
LAF
IZFC
10:00 pm ET
Watch
Apr
13
GLSC
CDL
SAV
MBFC
5:00 pm ET
Watch
LAF
AMFC
10:00 pm ET
Watch
Apr
14
IZFC
CFC
8:00 pm ET
Watch
Apr
19
MICH
GLSC
7:00 pm ET
Watch
Apr
20
CDL
SAV
7:00 pm ET
Watch
CFC
AMFC
10:30 pm ET
Watch
Apr
27
GLSC
SAV
MICH
CDL
7:00 pm ET
Watch
LAF
CFC
10:00 pm ET
Watch
Apr
28
IZFC
AMFC
8:00 pm ET
Watch
May
04
GLSC
CDL
MICH
MBFC
7:00 pm ET
Watch
LAF
IZFC
10:00 pm ET
Watch
May
08
CFC
LAF
10:30 pm ET
Watch
May
11
GLSC
MICH
May
12
CDL
MBFC
7:00 pm ET
Watch
AMFC
LAF
8:05 pm ET
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May
15
SAV
GLSC
6:00 pm ET
Watch
May
17
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IZFC
10:30 pm ET
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May
18
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CDL
7:00 pm ET
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MBFC
SAV
7:00 pm ET
Watch
May
22
MBFC
GLSC
7:00 pm ET
Watch
May
25
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MICH
SAV
CDL
5:00 pm ET
Watch
May
26
IZFC
CFC
8:00 pm ET
Watch
Jun
01
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MBFC
5:00 pm ET
Watch
Jun
02
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MICH
7:00 pm ET
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Jun
05
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10:00 pm ET
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Jun
07
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MBFC
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7:00 pm ET
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Jun
09
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8:05 pm ET
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Jun
12
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7:00 pm ET
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Jun
14
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10:30 pm ET
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Jun
15
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AMFC
10:00 pm ET
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Jun
19
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7:00 pm ET
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Jun
22
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MICH
5:00 pm ET
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7:00 pm ET
Watch
LAF
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10:00 pm ET
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Jun
23
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8:05 pm ET
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Jun
26
CDL
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7:00 pm ET
Watch
Jun
28
MICH
CDL
7:00 pm ET
Watch
Jun
29
GLSC
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AMFC
10:30 pm ET
Watch
Jul
17
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7:00 pm ET
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AMFC
8:00 pm ET
Watch
Jul
20
GLSC
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CDL
5:30 pm ET
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10:00 pm ET
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CFC
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10:30 pm ET
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Jul
24
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7:00 pm ET
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8:00 pm ET
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8:05 pm ET
Watch
Aug
03
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10:00 pm ET
Watch
Aug
04
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Aug
06
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8:05 pm ET
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10:30 pm ET
Watch
Aug
07
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8:00 pm ET
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Watch
Aug
09
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Aug
10
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10:00 pm ET
Watch
Aug
14
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Watch
Aug
17
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5:30 pm ET
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7:00 pm ET
Watch
Aug
18
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21
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Watch
Aug
24
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GLSC
7:00 pm ET
Watch
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7:00 pm ET
Watch
Aug
25
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Watch
Aug
28
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Watch
Aug
31
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Sep
01
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Sep
04
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6:00 pm ET
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Watch
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07
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Watch
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08
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14
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Watch
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7:00 pm ET
Watch
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15
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Watch
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21
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SAV
7:00 pm ET
Watch
MBFC
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Watch
LAF
CFC
10:00 pm ET
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Sep
22
IZFC
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8:00 pm ET
Watch
23
Giovani Bejarano Navia
Defender
  • Team:
    Stumptown AC
  • Position:
    Defender
  • Date of Birth:
    01/23/1996
  • Age:
    28
  • Country:
    Medellin, Colombia
  • Weight:
    185 lbs
  • Height:
    5.10'
  • Pronounciation:
  • Appearances:
    29
  • Minutes:
    2,565
  • Goals:
    0
  • Assists:
    1
  • Wins:
    9
  • Ties:
    13
  • Losses:
    7
  • Twitter:
  • Instagram:
  • Facebook:
29
Games
2,565
Minutes
0
Goals
1
Assists
9
Wins
7
Losses

From the streets of Colombia to the fields of Charlotte, Giovani Bejarano and Stumptown Athletic Coach Mark Steffens have history. They first met nearly 10 years ago, when Steffens and the Charlotte Eagles visited Medellin, Colombia, where Gio played for the Corporación Social Y Deportivas de Colombia or COSDECOL, a non-profit corporation that aims to use soccer to bring Christ to children who are living in dangerous and poor communities. The COSDECOL team played the Eagles, and Gio remembers Steffens as a coach. Years later, Gio played for the Charlotte Eagles, again crossing paths with Steffens. And today, he’s playing for Steffens as a member of the first Stumptown Athletic team.

Bejarano comes to Stumptown Athletic with strong defender skills, learned at a young age in his home country of Colombia, then polished here in the U.S. at Carroll Christian School in Maryland, where he led the team to a pair of NACA national tournament appearances and earned All State and All-American status, as well as All-State MVP – twice. He earned a full scholarship to John Brown University in Arkansas, where he started in nearly all games and was named the regional defensive player. Gio also played for the USL2 Charlotte Eagles in 2016 and 2017 and the NPSL Ozark FC in 2018. Gio is married; he and his wife, Claire, have a two-year-old son, Isiah.

When did you start playing soccer?

I grew up in one of the worst parts of Colombia, where it’s really dangerous because of the drugs and gangs. A lot of my friends and the kids I grew up with joined gangs – they make it easy and inviting to walk right in and earn money. It was just my sister, my mother and me, and my mom wanted to get me away from that, so I started playing soccer when I was three.

My mom kept me really busy with soccer and martial arts, and we went to church every Sunday and Wednesday. She wanted me to be safe, so if I wasn’t playing soccer or at school, I had to stay inside the house. I thought she was my enemy sometimes because of that, but now I’m thankful for her and everything I do is with her in my mind.

When did your soccer career take off?

When I was 14, I joined the COSDECOL soccer club. They really started molding me and building strong football skills. When I was 15, I was going to play in Sweden, but my mom thought it was too far to go. I was then up for a professional contract in Colombia, but she really wanted me to move to the United States, because Colombia is so dangerous.

The soccer club sends some players to live in Sweden, Brazil and the U.S., and I was blessed to come here when I was 16. I got a scholarship to attend Carroll Christian School in Maryland. I’d finished high school in Colombia, but I enrolled again here for two years to play for the team and to learn English.

I then received a full scholarship to John Brown University in Arkansas, where I played soccer and majored in business administration.

When did you know you wanted to play professional soccer?

When I was 11, and saw the poverty around me. I knew I wanted to get out and do more, and I worked hard.

A local gang almost killed me when I was 14. Almost all my friends were involved with gangs or something criminal, and an incident happened in a casino near my house. We ran, but the gang caught one of my friends and broke his legs. They knew where I lived, and they came to my house, pushed inside and threatened my life, telling my mother they didn’t want to see me on the street again. I think they spared me because some of my friends were in the gang and they saw that I could have a different future.

What made you sign with Stumptown Athletic?

I got other offers, but Coach Mark has a reputation of really caring about his players as people as well as how they play on the field. It’s important to me to be treated fairly as a player and not just as an object, and he encourages his players to be good people and good players, and that impressed me a lot.

It was still a hard decision, because my wife and son are still in Arkansas for a few months. My mom was a single mom, and I didn’t want my wife to be a single mom, even for a short time. But my wife is way stronger than I am and she encouraged me to take the opportunity.

What should fans know about you?

I am so happy to be here. You dream of being a pro soccer player since you can remember, so when you are finally able to make it, it’s a big blessing.

Off the field, I like to joke around and I am a funny guy. On the field, I’m very aggressive and demanding and I have very high standards for myself and those around me.

2024 REGULAR SEASON STATS

Year Team GP GS SI SO Min G A Sh Y R
TOTAL 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

REGULAR SEASON CAREER STATS

Year Team GP GS SI SO Min G A Sh Y R
2021 Stumptown AC 27 27 0 1 2385 0 0 5 7 0
2020 Stumptown Athletic 2 2 0 0 180 0 1 0 0 0
2019 Stumptown Athletic 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
TOTAL 29 29 0 1 2565 0 1 5 7 0

POST SEASON CAREER STATS

Year Team GP GS SI SO Min G A Sh Y R
TOTAL 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

GAME APPEARANCES

Date Type Match Result Appear Min G A Sh Y R
11/13/2021 Regular Season CHAC v SAC L 2 - 1 Start 45 0 0 2 0 0
11/06/2021 Regular Season SAC v ALB D 1 - 1 Start 90 0 0 0 1 0
10/30/2021 Regular Season ALB v SAC D 0 - 0 Start 90 0 0 0 0 0
10/23/2021 Regular Season SAC v DCFC L 0 - 3 Start 90 0 0 0 1 0
10/09/2021 Regular Season SAC v LAF D 0 - 0 Start 90 0 0 0 1 0
10/02/2021 Regular Season LAF v SAC D 2 - 2 Start 90 0 0 0 0 0
09/25/2021 Regular Season SAC v NAFC W 1 - 0 Start 90 0 0 0 0 0
09/18/2021 Regular Season DCFC v SAC W 0 - 1 Start 90 0 0 0 1 0
09/15/2021 Regular Season NAFC v SAC W 1 - 2 Start 90 0 0 0 1 0
09/11/2021 Regular Season SAC v MBFC L 0 - 1 Start 90 0 0 1 1 0
09/04/2021 Regular Season MBFC v SAC D 1 - 1 Start 90 0 0 0 0 0
09/01/2021 Regular Season SAC v MICH D 0 - 0 Start 90 0 0 0 0 0
08/28/2021 Regular Season SAC v CUSFC W 2 - 1 Start 90 0 0 0 0 0
08/21/2021 Regular Season MICH v SAC D 0 - 0 Start 90 0 0 0 0 0
08/14/2021 Regular Season SAC v CHAC L 0 - 1 Start 90 0 0 0 0 0
08/07/2021 Regular Season CFC v SAC L 3 - 1 Start 90 0 0 0 0 0
06/25/2021 Regular Season SAC v MICH D 0 - 0 Start 90 0 0 0 0 0
06/22/2021 Regular Season SAC v ALB W 3 - 1 Start 90 0 0 0 0 0
06/19/2021 Regular Season CFC v SAC W 0 - 1 Start 90 0 0 1 0 0
06/15/2021 Regular Season SAC v CUSFC D 1 - 1 Start 90 0 0 0 0 0
06/05/2021 Regular Season DCFC v SAC D 0 - 0 Start 90 0 0 0 0 0
05/14/2021 Regular Season NAFC v SAC W 0 - 1 Start 90 0 0 0 0 0
05/12/2021 Regular Season SAC v LAF L 0 - 1 Start 90 0 0 0 0 0
05/08/2021 Regular Season MBFC v SAC W 1 - 2 Start 90 0 0 0 1 0
04/22/2021 Regular Season SAC v NAFC W 1 - 0 Start 90 0 0 0 0 0
04/19/2021 Regular Season SAC v CUSFC D 1 - 1 Start 90 0 0 0 0 0
04/16/2021 Regular Season DCFC v SAC L 2 - 0 Start 90 0 0 1 0 0
03/06/2020 Regular Season LAF v STP D 1 - 1 Start 90 0 1 0 0 0
02/29/2020 Regular Season STP v ALB D 2 - 2 Start 90 0 0 0 0 0
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