With each fall comes the start of the new season in youth soccer here in Chicago, Illinois. So as the first week of August hits soccer players begin to step foot on the pitch as they prepare for the upcoming season.
This time of the year brings back memories to all the former Olympiacos Chicago players who called the fall the start of their season of competition. This past week we caught up with one of our alumnis and currently MLS team Chicago Fire forward Missael Rodriquez.
Missael spend several seasons at Olympiacos Chicago developing his talent, visited the Olympiacos training grounds in Greece showcasing his skills to our resident academy coaches, and after 5 years with us he joined the Chicago Fire academy before becoming a pro player this past year.
Missael took time out of his busy schedule to visit our training grounds at Maine East HS in Park Ridge Illinois to give back to his former club and as he said to the kids in attendance: “This is the club that made me who I am today. You should all be proud of where you are and don’t take for granted the opportunities that are presented to you. The most important thing of all is to have fun but at the time you must work very hard to achieve your goals. Becoming a pro soccer player is not an easy task and you must make sacrifices to do so. I wanted to thank all my coaches at Olympiacos Chicago for helping me reach my goals.”
The afternoon was a special for all the youngsters in attendance as they asked Missael multiple questions and then ended up taking pictures (gallery below) and autographs with this great talented player. Thank you Missael for a fun and great afternoon!
For our full list of players turned pro visit our ALUMNI LIST page!
