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Promising Path: Story of Kenyan Diaspora Soccer Player Richard Odada

Promising Path: Story of Kenyan Diaspora Soccer Player Richard Odada

Promising Path: Story of Kenyan Diaspora Soccer Player Richard Odada
Richard Odada celebrates a goal for Aalborg BK. Photo credit: Henrik Bo

When Harambee Stars midfielder, Richard Odada, joined the Philadelphia Union from Serbiaโ€™s Red Star Belgrade in August 2022, he became one of the few Kenyans in Major League Soccer (MLS). Unionโ€™s Sporting Director, Ernst Tanner, was pleased to have the defensive midfielder at Subaru Park. โ€œHe can play multiple midfield roles as well as center back, and he has the height, speed, and physicality we were searching for. We look forward to integrating him this year and encouraging his development for the future,โ€ he said.

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Subaru Park: 18,500-seat stadium in Chester, PA. Photo credit: Philadelphia Union.

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However, Odada struggled to find a place in Unionโ€™s first team. Instead, he was relegated to the teamโ€™s MLS Next Pro Side, Philadelphia Union II, where he recorded eight appearances.

 

In a move meant to provide him with more playing time, Odada is on loan to Danish side Aalborg BK through June 2024. He remains a Union player, and the Chester based club is monitoring his progress.

 

Speaking on Wednesday after a 3-2 win over Atlanta United, Union Coach Jim Curtin acknowledged the versatile nature of loans. โ€œSometimes loans work out really well like this one; sometimes they donโ€™t work out so well,โ€ he said.

 

Since moving to Aalborg BK in August, Odada has scored three goals and endeared himself to the clubโ€™s fans. AaB currently sits atop Denmarkโ€™s second-tier league, the NordicBet Liga.

 

Richard Odada celebrates a goal for Aalborg BK. Photo credit: Henrik Bo

 

Odadaโ€™s future may not be at Subaru Park, but his time with Aalborg is intended to propel his career forward. Unionโ€™s coach refereed to Odadaโ€™s time at Aalborg as, โ€œA good opportunity for him.โ€

Subaru Park: 18,500-seat stadium in Chester, PA. Photo credit: Philadelphia Union.

Odadaโ€™s journeyโ€”from the possibility of being a starter in MLS to a second-tier league in Denmarkโ€”isnโ€™t unique to him. Unionโ€™s coach noted during the post-match press conference that there are ups and downs, valleys and mountains, in the lives of professional players. โ€œIt doesnโ€™t just go perfect, and everyone goes to Real Madrid,โ€ he said.

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Curtin noted that when all is said and done, the responsibility for peak performance rests with Odada, just as it does with every other player, saying, โ€œAs a professional taking your opportunity is really important and I say it a lot. Obviously, thereโ€™s a family and thereโ€™s a club that is involved in every playerโ€™s development but at a certain point in everyoneโ€™s career you have to look around and say, Iโ€™m responsible for my own development, and thatโ€™s when players either take the step or theyโ€™re the players that donโ€™t have a career and they sit around saying, I could have been.โ€

By Musembi Ndaita/Diaspora Messenger Contributor

 

About Author

Musembi Ndaita is a writer and editor based in the City of Brotherly Love. He was longlisted for the 2022 Commonwealth Short Story Prize. His non-fiction and fiction has appeared or is forthcoming in Africology, In the Sands of Time, On the Other Side of Hope, Mere Orthodoxy, and Philadelphia Stories

 

Promising Path: Story of Kenyan Diaspora Soccer Player Richard Odada

 

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