Take Advantage of Your Time on this Earth

By Team CoachList

I’m a first generation Nigerian American, so soccer was my family’s sport growing up. More than most of my friends and my siblings, my skills developed quickly and I began getting a lot of attention for my accomplishments on the field.

My parents were both very adamant about me and all of my siblings having some form of extracurricular activities to keep us busy, making friends and essentially staying out of trouble.

My father played soccer in Nigeria, but he and my mom knew very little about competitive sports in the United States. It was a friend’s parents that got my family to realize I had the talent and potential to be playing at a higher level.

Before long, I was invited to the U 17 Men’s National Team program, which is when my career started to take off as I was soon invited to the IMG academy residency program in Bradenton, Florida.

IMG is essentially a national boarding school for the top young players in a set age bracket. It was at this point that soccer became a viable path in to college and eventually going pro.

It wasn’t long after I found myself playing for UCLA, where I was named the Pac-10 Freshman of the Year. The following season, I was drafted in the first round of the 2010 MLS SuperDraft by the Philadelphia Union and soon after made my professional debut.

My time as an amateur and as a professional was special and important to me, specifically getting to travel the world to places like Argentina, Costa Rica, Uruguay, Portugal, Ukraine, Northern Ireland, France, Spain, Germany, and Japan, where I learned how passionate and serious people can be about soccer. They do not mess around overseas.

It was a deep immersion at a young age, which had a profound impact not just on the work I needed to put in to be successful as a professional soccer player but also getting exposed to the pressures and requirements needed to be a successful person.

I was a professional athlete for 10 years, and it was great; but you have to be honest with yourself when it’s coming to an end.

Every parent wants to believe their kid will go pro, but – the fact is – only 2% of college student athletes make it that far. However, the skills that are instilled within young athletes during that time can last forever.

I never wanted to be defined as an athlete. Long term, I want to be known as the guy that is helping people reach the pinnacle of their success.

Thanks to my hard work, upbringing, the mentors in my life, and my travels across the globe, I’ve come to realize life is all about taking advantage of your time on this earth.

I’ve always been interested in giving back and helping the next generation fine tune their physical and mental skills in the way people did for me.

I never wanted to be defined as an athlete. Long term, I want to be known as the guy that is helping people reach the pinnacle of their success.

Sadly, not everyone has this type of leadership in their life.

I love the game, but I’m doing so much off the field that excites me just as much.

I was honored to be mentioned by Forbes as a 30 under 30 recipient for my work running The Ok U Go Foundation, which provides athletic resources to disadvantaged children and teaches athletes how to manage their finances.

It’s my goal to mentor these young people to understand that there are lessons and opportunities given to us through soccer, through workouts and other sports that will create discipline and strength that help you throughout your professional career, throughout your life as a spouse, as a parent, as a coach, and within your community.