Rhett Harty

Harty grew up in Los Angeles and attended Servite High School where he played on the boys’ soccer team. He was a Parade Magazine high school All American in 1987 and 1988. After graduating from Servite in 1988, he entered Stanford University. He played three years, then red shirted a season while he played with the U.S. Olympic soccer team as it qualified for the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. A late injury kept him from travelling with the team. He returned to Stanford and graduated in 1993 with a bachelor's degree in history and classical studies. During his final year of college, Harty had an internship with an electrophysiology doctor. After graduation, the doctor offered him a position in his practice, but Harty declined and became a professional soccer player instead.

In February 1996, the San Jose Clash drafted Harty in the fourth round of the 1996 MLS Inaugural Player Draft; however, he never played a game for his hometown club. When Troy Dayak, who was drafted by the MetroStars, demanded a trade to San Jose, Harty was shipped cross-country in the first trade in MLS history.

In 1989, Harty spent the collegiate off season with the San Francisco Bay Blackhawks of the Western Soccer League (WSL). After graduating from Stanford, Harty was sidelined for nearly two years with a back injury. In 1994, he signed with the expansion San Jose Grizzlies of the Continental Indoor Soccer League. In 1995, he moved to the Monterey Bay Jaguars of USISL.

Rhett Stowe Harty (born March 8, 1970 in Pasadena, California) was an American soccer defender who spent one season in the Western Soccer League, one in the Continental Indoor Soccer League, one in the USISL and three with the MetroStars of Major League Soccer.