| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Kaitlyn Parks | ||
| Date of birth | August 30, 2001 | ||
| Place of birth | Upper Marlboro, Maryland, United States | ||
| Height | 1.71 m (5 ft 7 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Goalkeeper | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Sporting JAX | ||
| Number | 13 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2016–2019 | Northern Patriots | ||
| College career | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2019–2022 | Wake Forest Demon Deacons | 48 | (0) |
| 2023–2024 | Michigan State Spartans | 42 | (1) |
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2025– | Sporting JAX | 1 | (0) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of August 27, 2025 | |||
Kaitlyn Parks (born August 30, 2001) is an American professional soccer goalkeeper for Sporting JAX in the USL Super League. She previously played college soccer for the Wake Forest University and the Michigan State University.
Parks attended Northern High School, where she was a four-year starter in goal. During her high school career, she was named second-team All-State and All-Met, Calvert County Player of the Year as a senior, and led Northern to a Maryland 3A State Championship. [1]
Parks began her collegiate career at Wake Forest University in 2019, redshirting her freshman season due to injury. As a redshirt freshman during the 2020–21 season, she started eight matches and posted a 1.50 goals-against average and a .786 save percentage. She was named Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Defensive Player of the Week in consecutive weeks, becoming the first player in conference history to do so.
In 2021, Parks earned United Soccer Coaches (USC) Second-Team All-American honors after recording nine shutouts and a 0.79 goals-against average. She was also named to the All-ACC Academic Team. [2]
Parks transferred to Michigan State University for the 2023 season. As a senior, she started all 22 matches, recording nine shutouts, 14 wins, a 0.99 goals-against average, and a .734 save percentage, helping lead the Spartans to the third round of the NCAA tournament. [3]
In 2024, as a graduate student, she appeared in 20 matches and recorded 12 wins and eight shutouts. She posted a 0.95 goals-against average and a .824 save percentage. Parks also became the first goalkeeper in Michigan State history to score a goal, converting a penalty kick in a match against the Ohio State Buckeyes. [4] She was named Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Week twice during the season and received multiple academic honors. [5] [6] [7]
| Season | Games | Goalkeeping | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Minutes | Saves | GAA | Shutouts | ||
| Wake Forest Demon Deacons | |||||||
| 2019 | Injured – Did not participate | ||||||
| 2020–21 | 9 | 8 | 781 | 43 | 1.50 | 4 | |
| 2021 | 20 | 20 | 1,725 | 58 | 0.78 | 9 | |
| 2022 | 19 | 19 | 1,663 | 49 | 0.87 | 8 | |
| Michigan State Spartans | |||||||
| 2023 | 22 | 22 | 1,907 | 58 | 0.99 | 8 | |
| 2024 | 20 | 20 | 1,806 | 89 | 0.95 | 8 | |
| Career | |||||||
| Career Total | 90 | 89 | 7,882 | 297 | 1.02 | 37 | |
On July 1, 2025, Parks signed with Sporting JAX ahead of the club’s inaugural season in the USL Super League. [8]
Parks is the daughter of Janet and Stephen Parks and has one older brother. Both of her parents were collegiate athletes at Gannon University. She earned a degree in Studio Art from Wake Forest and completed graduate coursework in Digital Media at Michigan State. [9]