Promising Path: Story of Kenyan Diaspora Soccer Player Richard Odada
When Harambee Stars midfielder, Richard Odada, joined the Philadelphia Union from Serbia’s Red Star Belgrade in August 2022, he became one of the few Kenyans in Major League Soccer (MLS). Union’s Sporting Director, Ernst Tanner, was pleased to have the defensive midfielder at Subaru Park. “He 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,” he said.
Subaru Park: 18,500-seat stadium in Chester, PA. Photo credit: Philadelphia Union.
However, Odada struggled to find a place in Union’s first team. Instead, he was relegated to the team’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. “Sometimes loans work out really well like this one; sometimes they don’t work out so well,” he said.
Since moving to Aalborg BK in August, Odada has scored three goals and endeared himself to the club’s fans. AaB currently sits atop Denmark’s second-tier league, the NordicBet Liga.
Richard Odada celebrates a goal for Aalborg BK. Photo credit: Henrik Bo
Odada’s future may not be at Subaru Park, but his time with Aalborg is intended to propel his career forward. Union’s coach refereed to Odada’s time at Aalborg as, “A good opportunity for him.”
Odada’s journey—from the possibility of being a starter in MLS to a second-tier league in Denmark—isn’t unique to him. Union’s coach noted during the post-match press conference that there are ups and downs, valleys and mountains, in the lives of professional players. “It doesn’t just go perfect, and everyone goes to Real Madrid,” he said.
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, “As a professional taking your opportunity is really important and I say it a lot. Obviously, there’s a family and there’s a club that is involved in every player’s development but at a certain point in everyone’s career you have to look around and say, I’m responsible for my own development, and that’s when players either take the step or they’re the players that don’t have a career and they sit around saying, I could have been.”
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
