WASHINGTON — As D.C. United prepares to make the move from RFK to Buzzard Point for the 2018 campaign, they return a strong core of players and a couple of sparkly new additions who will be聽familiar to area fans.
It鈥檚 an echo of the philosophy of the Washington Nationals, who like D.C. United called RFK their first home — making the team as strong as possible in the present while keeping an eye on the future.
Just 10 days after selecting Prince George鈥檚 County native and University of Maryland star Chris Odoi-Atsem in the 2017 MLS SuperDraft, United signed Ian Harkes, a product of their youth academy and son of United legend John Harkes. Both new players are just 21 years old, so their contributions this year on a team filled with many entrenched starters remains to be seen. But they will be key parts of the Black-and-Red’s聽future.
Factor in a recent and the permanent transfer of 22-year-old Argentine Luciano Acosta (at the ), and it鈥檚 clear the team is making investments into its future heading into the opening of the new stadium.
鈥淚 think that鈥檚 fair to say,鈥� said head coach Ben Olsen. 鈥淲e have a little bit of a youth movement, for D.C.鈥檚 standards.鈥�
Olsen is excited about his two local young prospects, and as a University of Virginia product himself, and knows as well as anyone about the strong talent pool he has to draw from here in the mid-Atlantic.
鈥淲e鈥檙e lucky we鈥檙e in a hotbed,鈥� he said, adding that he鈥檚 happy to see a larger involvement from U.S. Soccer in helping to ensure that players develop from their team academies all the way to the first team. 鈥淚t鈥檚 great to see that we鈥檙e moving in that direction.鈥�
Harkes is the ninth homegrown player the team has signed, but represents a tie back to Olsen鈥檚 own playing career, the two overlapping in Olsen鈥檚 rookie season back in 1998.
鈥淚鈥檓 a romantic, as you know, with this club,鈥� said Olsen. 鈥淚 love the story behind it.鈥�
But dad didn鈥檛 have to push the younger Harkes into the decision to sign with Washington. Despite being born in England and entertaining offers abroad, the winner earlier this month of the Hermann Award as the nation鈥檚 top college player reached out to Olsen and GM Dave Kasper after this year鈥檚 College Cup and knew he was home.
鈥淢y parents are always there to give me advice and help me through it and have been doing that through soccer my whole life, but they never put any pressure on me,鈥� said Harkes. 鈥淚t was kind of my decision.鈥�
Harkes says he watched the team last year, just as he has since he was a kid growing up in Fairfax and attending Gonzaga College High School 鈥� as a fan. And while the prospect of actually putting on a uniform and taking the field at RFK still may seem a bit surreal, he knows he鈥檚 still a rookie who will have to earn his way into the lineup.
鈥淵ou always want to play right away and get in, but I know realistically there are a lot of strong midfielders on this team,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檓 just looking to help the group as much as possible in training and hopefully that translates to games.鈥�
As familiar as the team may have been with Harkes, they might have seen more of Odoi-Atsem the last few years. With fellow Terps Taylor Kemp and Patrick Mullins already on the team, team officials had spent plenty of time in College Park for games during Odoi-Atsem鈥檚 tenure.
鈥淚 know they keep a good eye on the local talent,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 know they鈥檝e been to a lot of my games over the past four years at University of Maryland, so it鈥檚 good to know that they鈥檝e seen me a lot and that they鈥檙e really comfortable with what they鈥檙e getting.鈥�
The First Team All-Big Ten product and DeMatha Catholic grad even trained with the club over the summer and had a pretty good feeling his hometown club might be interested when the draft rolled around. But just like Harkes, he isn鈥檛 taking his opportunity for granted.
鈥淭hat was my goal coming into Maryland 鈥� I really wasn鈥檛 expecting to play much, but I came in there in order to become a better soccer player. That鈥檚 my same plan here.鈥�
And just like Harkes, after spending his youth attending games at RFK, Odoi-Atsem鈥檚 excited not just to step onto the field for himself, but as the inspiration for the next generation of local players.
鈥淭his is the team I grew up watching and the reason I love the game,鈥� he said. 鈥淢aybe me being on the field, I can do that for another kid from Prince George鈥檚 County as well.鈥�
