Oklahoma State soccer star Yolando Odenyo has traveled quite a road to get where she is.
Not only is she from Sweden, but she also had an NCAA hang-up that had lasting effects for three years. The NCAA said she’d taken money above and beyond living expenses while playing for a club team in Sweden. After being initially ruled ineligible, she was allowed to start at OSU but was classified as a sophomore, not a freshman. It wasn’t until last season that she was granted a fourth year of eligibility.
Here’s more from my Q&A with Odenyo:
Jenni Carlson: Being from Sweden, what do you miss most about home?
Yolanda Odenyo: It’s pretty far.
JC: You should get a T-shirt for that, coming the farthest?
YO: (Laughs.) What I miss most is not so much Sweden itself. It’s having my family around. They’ve always been there supporting me in my soccer. It’s just always been a family outing whenever I played. Sometimes, they didn’t even watch the game, but that’s OK. They had fun. Any time I had a big game, it was an occasion for the family to come together, so that’s really what I miss the most.
JC: How does your family keep up with you? On the internet?
YO: My mother stays up until 3 a.m., even though she has to get up at 6 to work, on the GameTracker. I never found the GameTracker that exciting. Sometimes, they actually have video. I’m like, “You can stay up for that, but GameTracker? Really?” Shot, 37th minute.
JC: Then, 10 minutes later, another shot.
YO: She’s a hard-core fan.
JC: What has this whole eligibility question been like for you?
YO: Going into last season not knowing whether I would be a junior or a senior, it was a little ambiguous. You prepare for every year like you’re ready to go out and play, but your senior year is special. Also, you have to make a lot of decisions after you’re done. My focus wasn’t right because I didn’t know where I was. Then once they told me I was in fact a junior, I was able to relax. I felt that pressure at the beginning of last year. Going into this year, I know that if I let that get to me, I’m not going to be able to perform. It was a little trial run, I guess. (Laughs.) A little senior year trial run.
JC: How did you get the news about your re-classification?
YO: By the time the season started, I just kind of decided, “OK, this is my last year.” I had really put it aside until after practice one day, Karen (Hancock, OSU assistant coach) called saying she had just gotten the call from compliance saying, “You’re a junior.” It didn’t really sink in until a few hours later. I was like, “Sweet. I don’t have to decide what to do with my life just yet.”
JC: Now, what’s you’re major?
YO: Human development and family science.
JC: I know there are still soccer options, but what does the future hold?
YO: Down the road holds some type of human services job. There’s not one job I want to do. It’s helping people basically. I know that’s what I need to do. I probably will fit in some coaching somewhere. But I graduate in December and I’ll pursue a professional (soccer) career in some fashion and I’ll probably go back and do grad school, too. I don’t have to grow up just yet.
JC: What are the pro soccer options?
YO: There will be a draft of college and other players in January. Combine in December. The pro league will start in the spring. Seven teams, I believe, the first year. It’s going to be competitive. For me being a non-American … there are only four players on each team. I’ll do my best and go after it, but if it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen. I can always go home. Really, right now, Sweden probably has the best league to play in.
JC: Is it tough to strike that balance of planning ahead without getting ahead of yourself?
YO: I think it’s important to know your goals. What you do today determines what you get tomorrow, so I keep that in mind in terms of where I want to be. But at the end of the day, I could die tomorrow, so I just try to seize the day and make the best of it.
JC: So, what’s the best of this year? Is it pie in the sky, want it all?
YO: Yeah, why not? First thing is a Big 12 championship. After that, we can go after the next one.