Ken Krolicki (born March 15, 1996) is a Japanese

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who last played for NPL Victoria side

Bentleigh Greens Bentleigh Greens Soccer Club is an Australian semi professional soccer club based in Cheltenham, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria. The club was formed in 1986, by the Greek Cypriot community and currently competes in the Victoria Premier League ...

Personal life

Krolicki was born in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, Japan, to a Polish-American father and a Japanese mother and holds both Japanese and American passports. Krolicki moved to

Fukuoka Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Fukuoka Prefecture has a population of 5,109,323 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,986 Square kilometre, km2 (1,925 sq mi). Fukuoka Prefecture borders ...

as a young child, and grew up in

Kitakyushu is a Cities of Japan, city located in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. As of June 1, 2019, Kitakyushu has an estimated population of 940,978, making it the second-largest city in both Fukuoka Prefecture and the island of Kyushu after the city of Fuk ...

, Japan and moved to Michigan as a freshman in high school. He majored in applied engineering sciences at Michigan State.

Career

College and amateur

Krolicki played his college career at

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

where he played mainly as a midfielder. Krolicki played 81 matches for the Spartans, starting 67. He scored 7 goals and had 14 assists. At Michigan State, Krolicki was named first-team All-Big Ten and first-team All-Midwest Region and was an All-Academic Big Ten selection. Krolicki also played for

Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States, forming part of the United States soccer league system. The league will featu ...

side K-W United. He was a member of the 2015 K-W United team that won the PDL championship against the New York Red Bulls U-23 side. Before college, Krolicki played for the U-16 and U-18 Crew Academy Wolves in 2013 and 2014 in Michigan. He was also a member of the 2011 Canton High School team that won the Michigan state championship and the 2012 Michigan Jaguars club team that won the US Youth Soccer U-16 National Championship.

Professional

On January 21, 2018, Montreal Impact selected Krolicki with the 53rd overall pick of the

2018 MLS SuperDraft The 2018 MLS SuperDraft was the nineteenth SuperDraft conducted by Major League Soccer. As customary, the SuperDraft was held in conjunction with the annual United Soccer Coaches convention. The 2018 UCS was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania b ...

. He signed with the club on February 28, 2018. Krolicki made his professional debut on March 4, 2018, when he started in a 2–1 loss against

Vancouver Whitecaps FC Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Vancouver. The Whitecaps compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The MLS ite ...

. On November 21, 2019, Krolicki's contract option was declined by Montreal. Krolicki made the move to

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a men's professional association football, soccer league in the second tier of the United States soccer league system#Men's leagues, United States league system. It is organized by the United Soccer League (USL) a ...

side

Portland Timbers 2 Portland Timbers 2 is an American professional soccer team based in Portland, Oregon. The team, often referred to as "T2", serves as the reserve squad for the Portland Timbers of Major League Soccer (MLS). The team was a member of the USL Champ ...

on January 15, 2020. Timbers 2 opted to stop operating following the 2020 season.

Honours

Club

;Montreal Impact *

Canadian Championship The Canadian Championship () is an annual soccer tournament contested by Canadian professional teams. The winner is awarded the Voyageurs Cup and a berth in the CONCACAF Champions Cup. It is contested by Major League Soccer sides Toronto FC, Va ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

Career statistics

References

Living people 1996 births Association football people from Fukuoka (city) Japanese men's footballers Japanese people of American descent Japanese people of Polish descent Japanese emigrants to the United States American men's soccer players American sportspeople of Japanese descent American people of Polish descent Men's association football midfielders CF Montréal players Michigan State Spartans men's soccer players K–W United FC players CF Montréal draft picks USL League Two players Major League Soccer players Soccer players from Michigan Japanese expatriate men's footballers Japanese expatriate sportspeople in Canada Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada Portland Timbers 2 players Japanese expatriate sportspeople in Australia American expatriate sportspeople in Australia Expatriate men's soccer players in Australia 21st-century American sportsmen 21st-century Japanese sportsmen {{Japan-footy-midfielder-1990s-stub