San Jose Earthquakes rookie midfielder Cameron Cilley knows all about the excitement and the benefits of playing for his hometown club. Not only does he understand the hype of playing for the hometown club, but to him, there’s nowhere else he’d rather be.

“I think I take it for granted that any game I’ve played, I’ve had some family there, some friends there every single time,” he said to Town FC. “I”ve always played with a guy or two from home that I’ve grown up with, so I’ve always had like a best friend on the team. Even now at the clinics at the professional level, I’ve got some great roommates, some great teammates, and I think that’s a big role of just staying at home and being able to know a lot of people, knowing the coaches, stuff like that.”

The 22-year-old Homegrown from Alamo signed his Homegrown deal with the Quakes earlier this winter after developing through their academy which he followed with a stellar four-year career at Stanford.

With the Cardinal, Cilley was a four-year starter, scoring six goals with nine assists in 69 total appearances (61 starts). He was named to the All-Pac-12 team in his senior year in 2022 after starting all 20 matches, scoring six goals with five assists, both career highs for a season. 

He was just one of two players in the Pac-12 with six-or-more goals and five-or-more assists. 

Along with the accolades on the pitch, Cilley was just as impressive off of it. He was also a First-Team Scholar All-American by United Soccer Coaches in 2022 along with being a Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll recipient in 2020 and 2021.

Towards the end of his senior year at De La Salle High School in Concord, Cilley earned several offers to play college soccer at other schools. But when Stanford called, the rest became history, and he credits his growth as a professional to his time at Stanford.

“In terms of growing up and really getting to that level with the right mentality to become a professional was definitely Stanford,” he said. “All of the people there, the guys, the coaches, the environment, everything.

“The last couple of years we’ve seen a lot more Stanford soccer players go to the pros and make it in MLS, but people also forget about the guys that were there before us. They’ve proved a lot more than we did these last four years. They won three of four Pac-12’s and three national championships. 

“That’s the best thing about the culture. There’s just been so much success and then when you’re out of school, there’s so many incredible individuals around you that you never feel like you’re the top dog, you never feel like you’re doing enough. That’s one of the greatest things.”

Cilley has yet to feature for the Quakes senior team, but has become a bit of a regular with Earthquakes 2, San Jose’s MLS Next Pro team, or their ‘B’ team. He is available to feature for the Quakes if and when they need him, and does train with the first team during the week.

“There’s definitely a learning curve, where I don’t think the jump is that big in terms of like, the physical level and the skill level, but that one-to-five percent that you need to gain,” he explained.

Cilley arrives in San Jose during a time where the club is refreshing their culture a bit after the failed tenure of Matias Almeyda. Now under Luchi Gonzalez, the Quakes found consistency within a better locker room culture, again, one that Cilley has grown into.

“I can’t speak to what it was before, but the locker room now is very tight,” he said.

As someone who was born and bred in the Bay Area, Cilley has seen soccer culture in various forms throughout the Bay his whole life. He’s seen it grow and take steps forward, especially when the Quakes have to compete with the likes of the Golden State Warriors and the San Francisco 49ers that just about make up a majority of Bay Area fandom. But he knows that as the Quakes continue to build toward success, that the club and the sport are right on the cusp of taking their spot in the Bay.

“A big prediction everyone has is that after the World Cup there will be a big difference in the popularity of soccer,” he said. “I definitely think there’s not enough support for the Earthquakes and other (soccer) teams around here, but it’ll come with time and with more promotion around the sport.

“There’s a lot of challenges with it, but at the end of the day, the biggest thing is that you’ve got to get people out at games and get an allegiance to your team. Winning helps and everything starts with winning and you get a fan base from there.”

Cilley is impressed with the growth of the game in Oakland and is excited to see that continue.

“I’d love to see it grow in Oakland,” he said. “Obviously it’s very close to home. I think Oakland is a great place for it. You got a team in Monterrey, a team in San Jose, and now in Oakland.

“I’m a huge Raiders fan, so I saw that fan base in Oakland firsthand. The people will come out every game and support their team, so I think it is just finding the right facilities, getting the right team, and stringing some wins together.”