12 years ago, Tesho Akindele made a decision that would change his life forever. With just a few months remaining until securing an electrical engineering degree, Akindele dropped out of the Colorado School of Mines and opted to try out for the MLS SuperDraft.
Born in Calgary, Canada to a Nigerian father and a Canadian mother, Akindele bounced around from Calgary to Mississauga to Toronto before moving to Thornton, Colorado, at the age of seven, where he became enamored with football thanks in large part to his father’s influence. After excelling for Northglenn High School’s soccer team, Akindele rejected an offer to join Colorado Rapids’ academy at 17 and instead enrolled at the Colorado School of Mines, where he became a four-time All-American and their all-time leading scorer (76 goals). It’s precisely these stellar displays that prompted FC Dallas to draft him with the sixth overall pick of the 2014 MLS SuperDraft, making him the highest-ranked DII player in the history of the MLS SuperDraft.
“I was always into soccer because of my dad, for sure,” stated Akindele in an exclusive Joy News interview. “He got me interested at first, and my dad coached me most of my life as well. From the time I was 11 all the way until I went to college, my dad was my coach. I’ve played other sports as well, but I wasn’t as good at them, so I think by the time I was in 7th grade, I quit everything else, because I kind of sucked. I was good enough at track and basketball and stuff like that, but I wasn’t really good. I figured if I want to achieve of my goal of getting a college scholarship, I needed to just focus on soccer, and I kind of gave up other sports along the way.”
Akindele quickly emerged as a vital cog in attack for Dallas, racking up eight goals and five assists in 32 first-team appearances to lead them to the Western Conference semifinals and the U.S. Open Cup semifinals, edging D.C. United’s Steven Birnbaum and Chicago Fire’s Harrison Shipp to the 2014 MLS AT&T Rookie of the Year. Two years later, Akindele helped Dallas win their first trophy in 19 years after prevailing with the U.S. Open Cup and Supporters’ Shield. During his time in Texas, Akindele didn’t just make a name on the pitch, but off it, becoming the first MLS player to get an undergraduate degree through the league’s partnership with Southern New Hampshire University after earning a Bachelor’s in Finance with a near-perfect GPA. Four years later, he became the first MLS player to earn a Master’s degree through the same program.
“I didn’t get an engineering degree because I dropped out of school when I was three and a half years into my degree…you can’t do engineering online, because you have to go and do in-person labs. I didn’t know what I was gonna do, and I think 2 or 3 years into my career playing soccer, the league established a partnership with Southern New Hampshire University, where they were giving us a 75% scholarship to take online classes. It was perfect timing for me and I took them up on it and ended up getting an undergrad in general studies, because all my credits would transfer for that.”
“I was actually the first MLS player to graduate using that program, so FC Dallas threw me a part and I won a Citizens Award from Dallas for being a good person off the field. After I got my bachelor’s degree, I just kept going, taking one or two classes at a time, and got my master’s degree through Southern New Hampshire. The league offering that program really, honestly changed my life in a way that I wasn’t able to figure out myself how to get an education at that point, and they just laid it up for me, where it was easy to take advantage of.”
After a stellar chapter in Dallas that saw him score 28 goals and 13 assists in 164 appearances, Akindele was traded to Orlando City at the end of the 2018 season, where he enjoyed a career resurgence and imposed himself against a number of MLS teams like Philadelphia Union, D.C. United, and San Jose Earthquakes, where he racked up 21 goals in 121 appearances and led them to a first-ever trophy with the 2022 U.S. Open Cup. Akindele didn’t just make an impact at the club level, but international level, competing in two Gold Cups and racking up 3 goals in 19 caps and helping Canada go from the laughingstock of North America to one of the biggest powerhouses. And whilst his Canada side competed in their first World Cup in 36 years, Akindele announced his retirement following the 2022 season, hanging up his boots at the age of 30.
Today, Akindele balances his time between raising his two young sons with his wife Taylor, alongside working as a Development Analyst for Camp North End, a renovated 76-acre industrial complex in Charlotte with food, retail, art, and entertainment, including murals, sculptures, and diverse food options.
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