Rodney Michael (born 10 August 1999) is a

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...

an footballer who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

for club Safa and the Sierra Leone national team.

Early life and education

Michael played three seasons of high school soccer at Dunn School, been named 2016-17 California Gatorade Soccer Player of the Year, and led the Earwigs to the CIF Southern Section Championship in 2015 and 2017. Michael earned All-CIF honors all three seasons after scoring 74 goals and tallying 43 assists. Michael also played club soccer for

USSDA The U.S. Soccer Development Academy (DA) was an American soccer league. Formed in 2007, the league featured youth academies and youth clubs from various organizations, including Major League Soccer and the United Soccer League. The DA's mission ...

side Santa Barbara Soccer Club from 2014 to 2017, helping the club to the 2016 U18 National Championship and earned Best-XI honors. Michael attended the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an ...

in 2017 to play

college soccer College soccer, called college football in some countries, is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. While it is most widespread in the United States, it is also prominent in Japan, South Kore ...

. Over four seasons with the Gauchos, Michael made 59 appearances, scoring 23 goals and tallying 15 assists. During his time at college, Michael earned accolades including Big West All-Freshman Team, All-Big West First Team and Big West Freshman of the Year in 2017, All-Big West First Team and All-Far West Region First Team in 2018, Top Drawer Soccer All-America Second Team and United Soccer Coaches All-Far West Region First Team in 2019. He didn't play a senior season due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Career

Michael was tipped to be drafted in the

2021 MLS SuperDraft The 2021 MLS SuperDraft was the 22nd edition of the SuperDraft conducted by Major League Soccer. The SuperDraft is held every January prior to the start of the MLS season. The 2020 SuperDraft was the first held exclusively via conference call a ...

but wasn't one of the 86 picks. He spent time on trial with

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

Pittsburgh Riverhounds Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC is an American professional soccer team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1998 and beginning play in 1999, the club plays in the Eastern Conference of the USL Championship, the second tier of the American ...

in April 2021, but wasn't signed by the team. Michael spent time with amateur

USL League Two 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 South Georgia Tormenta 2 before planning to play his senior college season later in 2021. However, South Georgia Tormenta's professional

USL League One USL League One (USL1) is a professional men's association football, soccer league in the United States that had its inaugural season in 2019 USL League One season, 2019. The United States soccer league system, Division III league is operated ...

side opted to offer him a professional contract, and he signed with the club on 7 June 2021. He made his professional debut on 19 June 2021, appearing as a 56th-minute substitute during a 3–1 win over

Greenville Triumph Greenville Triumph SC is a professional soccer team based in Greenville, South Carolina, United States. The club began play in USL League One in 2019. History The formation of USL D3 was first announced in April 2017, and league officials bega ...

. He netted his first professional goal on 30 June 2021, scoring Tormenta's lone goal in a 2–1 loss to

Toronto FC II Toronto FC II is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Toronto, Ontario, that competes in MLS Next Pro, a third tier league of the United States soccer league system. It is the reserve team and minor league affiliate of Toronto FC as we ...

. On 22 March 2022, Michael was transferred from Tormenta to

side

Indy Eleven Indy Eleven is an American professional association football, soccer team based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Founded in 2013, the team made its debut in the North American Soccer League (2011–2017), North American Soccer League (NASL) in 2014, b ...

. He left Indy Eleven following their 2022 season. Michael signed with

FK Mornar FK Mornar Bar is a Montenegro, Montenegrin professional association football, football club based in the coastal town of Bar, Montenegro, Bar, which competes in the Montenegrin First League. History FK Mornar (''FC Sailor'') was founded in Decemb ...

of the

Montenegrin First League The Montenegrin First League (Montenegrin language, Montenegrin: ''Prva crnogorska fudbalska liga'' — ''Prva CFL'' — ''1. CFL''; ), referred to as the Meridianbet 1. CFL for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional Association football, ...

in February 2023.

International career

Rodney was called up to the Sierra Leone national team for a set of

2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualification The 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualification matches were organised by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to decide the participating teams for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast, the 34th edition of the international men's fo ...

matches in September 2023.

References

External links

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Rodney Michael
at UCSB Athletics {{DEFAULTSORT:Michael, Rodney 1999 births Living people Footballers from Freetown Sierra Leonean men's footballers Sierra Leone men's international footballers Men's association football forwards Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Indy Eleven players Sierra Leonean emigrants to the United States Sierra Leonean expatriate men's footballers Sierra Leonean expatriate sportspeople in the United States Tormenta FC players UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's soccer players USL League One players FK Mornar players Expatriate men's footballers in Montenegro