OMAHA (KMTV) — Abdi Adan knows all about being in the middle. The Omaha South midfielder is the 6th of 12 siblings.
"I think that's great because I could see what my older siblings did and take stuff from them," Adan said. "I also want to show my other siblings the right path to take."
Last season Adan led all of Class A with 21 goals helping the Packers win their 3rd state title in program history.
"It kind of surprised me because I did not mean to score that many goals because I'm a midfielder," said Adan. "But then my coaches told me you've got to step up."
Because of COVID-19, Adan & his teammates were unable to defend their championship this spring.
"At first, I was like every other soccer player and I was devastated that it got taken from us," Adan said. "But from there on, I was like it's not all about us. Everybody's struggling through it."
Adan was born in Kenya & came to Omaha at age 2. When he was eight, Adan started playing for a free club soccer team sponsored by the Omaha Housing Authority. It was around that time, he began to take the sport seriously.
"Actually, I was not the best soccer player in my younger years and I never really played," said Adan. "But then once at OHA they really pushed me and they were like this could get you into school for free. You're family doesn't have much money. You've got to keep pushing your education and your soccer. And that just really motivated me. I wanted to give my family a better life. So I've just been training since then and working on myself. And I still have a long way to go."
Adan will play for Iowa Western next year with the goal of getting to UNO or Creighton in the future.
"I got a lot of offers really but just wanted to stay local because we have great soccer programs here in Nebraska and just right in Iowa," Adan said. "So I wanted to keep the talent in my city."
In the meantime, the soon-to-be high school grad is trying to help the fellow soccer players by posting YouTube videos on how to connect with college coaches.
"There's many kids that don't get recruited because they think it's too expensive or just too hard," said Adan. "So I'm just showing them some methods that worked for me and got me looked at by colleges."
