Charles Bimbe-Renken (born December 19, 1993) is a former American

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player.

Early life

He was born as Charles Bimbe in

the suburbs ''The Suburbs'' is the third studio album by Canadian indie rock band Arcade Fire, released on August 3, 2010. Coinciding with its announcement, the band released a limited edition 12-inch single containing the title track and "Month of May".

Lusaka Lusaka ( ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Zambia. It is one of the fastest-developing cities in southern Africa. Lusaka is in the southern part of the central plateau at an elevation of about . , the city's population was abo ...

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

. He moved to the United States in 2003 to live with the Renken family in

Edwardsville, Illinois Edwardsville is a city in Madison County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. The population was 26,808 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The city was named in honor of Ninian Edwards, former governor of the Illinois Te ...

, and was officially adopted by the Renkens in 2005."Renken the next big thing for U.S. soccer"
ESPN FC, September 12, 2008. Renken grew up in the soccer hotbed of Saint Louis, where he played on a number of local youth teams. As a 10-year-old, he dominated his local under-14 league.

Career

Youth

Renken spent time with various U.S. youth teams. Renken played with the U-14 national team at the age of 11 in 2005, and at the age of 12 he played with the U-15 national team in 2006. He joined the U.S. Soccer under-17 academy in

Bradenton, Florida Bradenton ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Manatee County, Florida, Manatee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city's population is 55,698, up from 49,546 at the 2010 census. It is a pri ...

in 2007 at the age of 13. By the age of 14, Renken was hyped by the soccer media as "U.S. soccer's next rising star" and was often compared to Freddy Adu.

Professional

Renken was scouted by some of the biggest clubs in Europe, including English giants Manchester United and Liverpool. Renken signed with German club

TSG 1899 Hoffenheim Turn- und Sportgemeinschaft 1899 Hoffenheim e.V. (), commonly known as TSG Hoffenheim (), are a German professional association football, football club based in Sinsheim. Originally founded in 1899 as a gymnastics club, Hoffenheim came into bei ...

alongside teammate

Joe Gyau Joseph-Claude Agyeman Gyau (born September 16, 1992) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a winger for USL Championship club Las Vegas Lights. From 2014 through 2019, Gyau represented the United States national team and earned ...

, moving to the

Vancouver Whitecaps academy Whitecaps FC Academy ( sponsor name Whitecaps FC BMO Academy) is the youth system of the professional soccer club Vancouver Whitecaps, based in Vancouver, British Columbia. It fields a men's and women's team in the semi-professional League1 ...

until his 18th birthday. Renken played 10 matches for TSG 1899 Hoffenheim's U19 team. Renken never made a first-team appearance with Hoffenheim, however, due to a series of knee injuries, and left the club. Renken signed for the 2012 season with the

Portland Timbers The Portland Timbers are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in Portland, Oregon. The Timbers compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The Timbers have p ...

via the MLS waiver process. He played in all ten of the Timbers' reserve league matches, but didn't make a first team appearance and was waived on November 19, 2012. Renken trialed with numerous clubs in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

but failed to sign with any, until signing with 7th-tier club Gimo IF FK, who he helped to promote to Sweden's 6th division. In April 2014, Renken signed with

USL Pro The USL Championship (USLC) is a men's professional soccer league in the second tier of the United States league system. It is organized by the United Soccer League (USL) as its premier league for men above USL League One. Operating under a f ...

club

Arizona United Phoenix Rising Football Club is an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Phoenix, Arizona. Founded in 2014 as Arizona United Soccer Club, the team is a member of the USL Championship. They won the league championship i ...

. On January 20, 2015, it was announced that Renken had returned home to St. Louis and signed with

USL USL may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Underground Sound of Lisbon, a Portuguese dance music project * Urban Strawberry Lunch, a band from Liverpool Companies * United Spirits Limited, India * Former United States Lines shipping company C ...

expansion club

Saint Louis FC Saint Louis FC was an American professional soccer team based in St. Louis, Missouri. The team was founded in May 2014, and competed in the USL Championship. The team played their matches at West Community Stadium, a venue inside the World Wide ...

. On November 9, 2016, Saint Louis FC released Renken. On May 26, 2017, Renken signed with USL club

Seattle Sounders FC 2 The Tacoma Defiance, formerly Seattle Sounders FC 2, are an American professional Association football, soccer team based in the Puget Sound region in Tukwila, Washington, United States. The team competes in MLS Next Pro, a league in the third ...

. He made his first appearance on May 28, 2017, in a 2–2 draw against Sacramento Republic. For 2018 he joined NPSL side FC Columbus, late in the season.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Renken, Charles 1993 births Living people American men's soccer players American expatriate men's soccer players Portland Timbers players Phoenix Rising FC players Saint Louis FC players Tacoma Defiance players USL Championship players United States men's youth international soccer players United States men's under-20 international soccer players Men's association football midfielders National Premier Soccer League players Soccer players from Illinois 21st-century American sportsmen