The 2026 Spring Bulletin featured an Alumni Profile highlighting Taylor Washington ’11. Read it below.

Taylor Washington ’11 possesses a life force that is irrepressible. A quick perusal of his accomplishments is enough to make anyone pause for breath. Meeting him is equally disarming as it is impressive–he is funny, intelligent, and articulate. Yet Taylor takes it all in stride, leading with humility and warmth.

A standout athlete, Taylor racked up scores of MVP, state, collegiate and All-American honors at Rye Country Day, Boston University, and George Mason University. After his successful collegiate career, he went on to play professional soccer with the Nashville Soccer Club for 10 years before retiring in October of 2025. And when not on the pitch, he volunteered untold hours with such organizations as Special Olympics Tennessee, the Nashville Rescue Mission, Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, The Bridge Ministry and more. These purpose driven pursuits earned Taylor Nashville SC’s Humanitarian of the Year award five years in a row. Amazingly, he was just getting warmed up.

These days, Taylor serves as brand ambassador for his former team; acts as Director of Community Activation for sports-centric organizations FairWhistle and FairSpaces; and serves as a coach and and mentor for good friend Steve Guppy’s 1V1, a top-tier soccer training program designed to elevate the skills of grassroots players. He does all of this while working on his master’s degree in ministry at Asbury Theological Seminary. “I believe in multiplying the good. If you see good, you want to do good. I do acts of service to inspire others to act.”

Despite these myriad accomplishments and many related accolades, he is knowingly insistent that service is an act of joy that returns blessings tenfold. Taylor is guided by aletheia—a Greek word meaning uncovered truth or sincerity. “I don’t know how it will manifest—whether aletheia for me will be a church, a movement, a platform—but I feel called to dedicate myself to helping others learn the intimacies of God and live out the gospel.”

Kindness, joy, and service are life affirming for Taylor, and he feels fortunate to be able to share that message with others. “At one point in my life, I dreamed of being a cardiologist, but I failed my college chemistry class, so I had to let that aspiration go,” he confesses with a chuckle. Now he’s certain that he’s found another way to heal: “I sit with people and listen to what’s in their hearts,” he says simply.

Soccer, a passion he nurtured at RCDS, figures largely into Taylor’s active volunteerism. For years, he has energetically cultivated personal connections to soccer with an eye to enriching peoples’ lives physically, socially, and emotionally. A case in point is his development work with FairSpaces, an organization that supports the development of grassroots soccer initiatives in underserved communities. Taylor recruits business partners within the community who want to give back, by building a soccer pitch, for example, or supplying uniforms or equipment for a local youth team. 

“Soccer brings people together,” he explains. “Some of my happiest memories from Rye Country Day were time spent with my soccer teammates and Coach Pereira. A soccer field is a place where neighborhood kids can come together, gain life skills, and develop a sense of community. They build relationships with fellow team members and coaches and embrace the joy of the game.” And they potentially lay the groundwork for future endeavors, Taylor notes.“For example, one of our goals is to create pipelines and pathways for a Nashville kid to play in Major League Soccer one day.”

Taylor’s philosophy is clearly to cherish every moment, an approach he has cultivated since his years at Rye Country Day. “My time at Rye Country Day taught me to always do more than what’s necessary; do what’s needed and then go a step further,” he continues. “When I think about the school’s motto, Not for Self, but for Service, I immediately think of my amazing classmates and the variety of ways that they are making a difference in the world.

“At RCDS, I learned that how you live matters. Excellence is important and every moment is significant. It’s all about how you show up.”