Ahinga Bienvenu Selemani (born March 15, 1996) is a professional soccer player who plays for Canadian club

Valour FC Valour Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The club competes in the Canadian Premier League and plays its home matches at IG Field. The team is coached by Phillip Dos Santos and community owned ...

. Born in Canada, he represented the United States at youth international level.

Early life

Selemani was born in Canada in Moncton, New Brunsick, later moving to Windsor, Ontario as a child, before moving to the United States and being raised in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He began playing youth soccer in Canada with Windsor Internationals. From 2009 to 2014, he played with the Michigan CSA Wolves. He attended Pioneer High School in Ann Arbor, where he won the district championship with the soccer team in 2011 and was named to the All-State team.

College career

In February 2014, he committed to attend the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

, where he played for the men's soccer team. He made his collegiate debut on August 29 against the

FIU Panthers The FIU Panthers (also known as Florida INT Panthers) are the athletic teams representing Florida International University, an American public university located in Westchester, Florida. The Panthers currently compete in National Collegiate Athl ...

. He scored his first goal on October 26 against the

Indiana Hoosiers The Indiana Hoosiers are the intercollegiate sports teams and players of Indiana University Bloomington, named after the colloquial term for people from the state of Indiana. The Hoosiers participate in Division I of the National Collegiate Ath ...

. At the end of the season, he was named to the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conferen ...

All-Freshman Team. In 2015, he transferred to the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduates and 2,983 graduate students enrolled in 2021–2022. It is part of the ...

to play for their

soccer team Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

. He scored his first goal on September 6, 2015 against the On November 11, he scored against the

UC Davis Aggies The UC Davis Aggies (also referred to as the Ags or Aggies) are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Davis. Seventeen of the school's 25 intercollegiate sports - baseball, men's basketball, men's cross country, men's g ...

, to propel the team to the Big West Tournament final. At the end of the season, he was named to the All-

Big West Conference The Big West Conference (BWC) is an American collegiate athletic conference whose member institutions participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I. The conference was originally formed on July 1, 1969, as the Pacific ...

Second Team. On October 10 2016, he earned Big West Offensive Player of the Week honors. The following week, he was again named the Big West Offensive Player of the Week and was also named to the College Soccer News Team of the Week. At the end of the season, he was named to the All-Big West First Team. He chose to not return for his senior season in 2017 to instead pursue a professional career.

Club career

In 2015, he played in the

Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United States soccer league syste ...

with

AFC Ann Arbor AFC Ann Arbor is an American soccer club based in Ann Arbor, Michigan that currently plays in USL League Two. The team played in the National Premier Soccer League from 2016 to 2019. History AFC Ann Arbor was started by a group of Ann Arbor ...

in the

Great Lakes Premier League The Premier League of America (PLA) was an American soccer league consisting of teams in cities in the Great Lakes region of the United States. The league was a part of the United States Adult Soccer Association. It began its first season of pla ...

. In 2016, he played with the

Ventura County Fusion Ventura County Fusion is an American soccer team based in Ventura, California, United States. Founded in 2006, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. The team plays its home games in the stadium on the ...

in the

. In February 2017, Selemani went on trial with

Superleague Greece The Super League Greece 1 ( el, Ελληνική Σούπερ Λιγκ 1), or Super League 1, is the highest professional association football league in Greece. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and replaced ''Alpha Ethniki'' at the top of ...

side

Panetolikos Panetolikos Football Club ( el, ΠΑΕ Παναιτωλικός), or with its full name Panetolikós Yimnastikós Filekpedeftikós Síllogos ( el, Παναιτωλικός Γυμναστικός Φιλεκπαιδευτικός Σύλλογος'' ...

. He subsequently signed a three-year contract with the club. In August 2017, he mutually terminated his contract, without having appeared in an official match, electing to return to North America. In July 2018, Selemani signed with second tier

Czech National Football League The Czech National Football League ( cs, Fotbalová národní liga, ''FNL''), currently known as Fortuna národní liga due to sponsorship reasons, is the second level professional association football league in the Czech Republic. Before 2013 it ...

side

Vlašim Vlašim (; german: Wlaschim) is a town in Benešov District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 11,000 inhabitants. Vlašim is known for its castle and English style park. Administrative parts Villages of Bolina, ...

. He also spent some time with their B team in the sixth tier I.A Class, including scoring a hat trick May 20, 2019 against Úvaly. In October 2019, Selemani signed with

New Zealand Football Championship The New Zealand Football Championship ( mi, Te Whakataetae Whutupaoro a Aotearoa) was a men's association football league at the top of the New Zealand league system. Founded in 2004, the New Zealand Football Championship was the successor to a m ...

side

Hawke's Bay United Hawke's Bay United was a professional Association football club based in Napier, New Zealand. HB United most recently played in the ISPS Handa Premiership – a semi-professional franchise based league, which ran independently of the winte ...

. He scored 10 goals and added 6 assists in 16 games that season, winning the Hawke’s Bay’s player of the season award. He was also a runner-up in the league MVP race and was the team's Player's choice player of the year and Coach's choice player of the year. In July 2020, he joined

Gibraltar National League The Gibraltar Football League is the only senior tier of association football in Gibraltar, founded in 2019 as the Gibraltar National League after a merger of the Gibraltar Premier Division, which served as the top division of football on the ...

team

Lincoln Red Imps Lincoln Red Imps Football Club is a professional association football club from Gibraltar. They play in the Gibraltar National League, and share Victoria Stadium with all other clubs in the territory. They are the country's record champion with ...

. In December 2020, he signed with

Canadian Premier League The Canadian Premier League (CPL or CanPL; french: Première ligue canadienne, links=no) is a professional men's Association football, soccer league in Canada. At the top of the Canadian soccer league system, it is the country's primary nationa ...

club

Cavalry FC Cavalry Football Club, is a Canadian professional soccer club based in the Calgary metropolitan region of Alberta. The club competes at the top of the Canadian soccer league system in the Canadian Premier League, and plays their home matches ...

for the 2021 season. He scored his first goals for the club on June 30, netting a brace in a 4-1 victory over

Atlético Ottawa Atlético Ottawa is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Ottawa, Ontario. The club competes in the Canadian Premier League and plays its home games at TD Place. The team was founded in 2020 by Spanish club Atlético Madrid. History ...

. In January 2022, he signed a short-term deal with Gudja United in the

Maltese Premier League The Maltese Premier League, known as BOV Premier League for sponsorship reasons with Bank of Valletta ( colloquially known as ''Il-Kampjonat Premjer''), is the highest level of professional football in Malta. Managed by the Malta Football Associ ...

. In late December 2022, he joined

USL League One USL League One (USL1) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that had its inaugural season in 2019. The Division III league is operated by United Soccer League, the same group that operates the Division II USL Championsh ...

side

One Knoxville SC One Knoxville Sporting Club is an American soccer team based in Knoxville, Tennessee that competes in USL League One, the third tier of the United States soccer league system. History USL League Two The club was initially unveiled as Knox Pro ...

, ahead of the 2023 season. In July 2023, Selemani returned to the

, signing with

. He made his debut on July 23, in a substitute appearance against

York United FC York United Football Club (formerly known as York9 FC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto, Ontario. The club competes in the Canadian Premier League and plays its home games at York University's York Lions Stadium. Histo ...

International career

Selemani was born in Canada to parents from the DR Congo, and moved to the United States at a young age, and is eligible for all three national teams. In 2012, he began playing with the United States U17 as a member of their residency program. On November 28, 2012, he scored in a friendly against Brazil U17. He was named to the squad for the

2013 CONCACAF U-17 Championship The 2013 CONCACAF U-17 Championship was a North American international association football tournament that determined the 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup participants from the CONCACAF region. The 2013 edition of the competition was held in Panama. ...

, scoring a goal against Haiti U17. In 2013 and 2014, he was selected to the United States U18 for various tournaments. He also spent some time with the United States U20.

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Selemani, Ahinga 1996 births Living people Soccer people from New Brunswick Sportspeople from Ann Arbor, Michigan Sportspeople from Moncton Men's association football forwards American men's soccer players United States men's youth international soccer players Canadian men's soccer players Soccer players from Michigan American people of Democratic Republic of the Congo descent Canadian people of Democratic Republic of the Congo descent Canadian emigrants to the United States American expatriate men's soccer players Canadian expatriate men's soccer players Michigan Wolverines men's soccer players AFC Ann Arbor players UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's soccer players Ventura County Fusion players Panetolikos F.C. players FC Sellier & Bellot Vlašim players Hawke's Bay United FC players Lincoln Red Imps F.C. players Cavalry FC players Gudja United F.C. players One Knoxville SC players Valour FC players USL League Two players Czech National Football League players New Zealand Football Championship players Canadian Premier League players Maltese Premier League players USL League One players Expatriate men's footballers in Greece American expatriate sportspeople in Greece Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in the Czech Republic American expatriate sportspeople in the Czech Republic Canadian expatriate sportspeople in the Czech Republic Expatriate men's association footballers in New Zealand American expatriate sportspeople in New Zealand Canadian expatriate sportspeople in New Zealand Expatriate men's footballers in Gibraltar American expatriate sportspeople in Gibraltar Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Gibraltar Expatriate men's footballers in Malta American expatriate sportspeople in Malta Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Malta