On Thursday, after months of uncertainty and delays, USL League One announced its revised format for the 2020 season, ending any speculation that it might not happen and allowing FC Tucson players, coaches and staffers to breathe a sigh of relief.
But the one person missing from that collective sigh and from Saturday’s celebratory intra-squad scrimmage was the FC Tucsonan who will likely be most impacted by the new reality of the coronavirus: Kody Wakasa, the one-time team captain who just traded in his cleats for a stethoscope and will start medical school in the fall.
The 26-year-old defender left Tucson on Monday, retiring from soccer to get ready for classes at Loyola University Chicago’s Stritch School of Medicine. Wakasa, who will be spending some time in his hometown of San Mateo, California, before making the move to Chicago, says he’s looking forward to his next adventure, but that leaving behind his first love is admittedly bittersweet.
Wakasa graduated in 2016 from Cal Poly, where he played soccer for five years while studying pre-med. He received preseason invites to try out for three teams and was offered a contract with Phoenix Rising, signing with the club in March 2017.
Wakasa signed with FC Tucson in January 2019, the fourth player to sign on to the club’s first professional season in USL League One. And though he wasn’t initially thrilled about making the move from Phoenix to Tucson, the town and the people quickly won him over.
“I’ve really grown to love Tucson. It surprised me,” Wakasa said. “And to see this professional team grow from last year, it’s been amazing. They treat the players really well here. It’s a good representation of Tucson — the people really care.”
And though he was only days removed from soccer when he spoke to the Star on Thursday, Wakasa said he missed it already.
“It’s not easy. Today we would be preparing for a preseason game against Phoenix Rising,” Wakasa said.
Kody Wakasa
USL League One expects to begin play July 18, but as of Friday. FC Tucson still hadn’t unveiled its updated 2020 schedule. The club has been training at Kino North Stadium for nearly a month.
Wakasa said that medical school was always the plan, even when he was playing four seasons at Cal Poly, but things changed when he got those preseason invites.
“A dream of mine has always been to become a professional soccer player,” he said. “I had a chance to try out, and I went for it.”
Wakasa put medical school on the back burner for the next few years, channeling his energy towards soccer and figuring that he’d be a nontraditional student who returned to school after spending a few years working.
“I kind of always was looking at the application process and learning about it,” Wakasa said. “The plan was to finish out my last season with Tucson this year, then I was planning on reapplying (to medical schools.)”
Wakasa said that while he sent off applications during the last cycle, he figured his entrance exam score wasn’t strong enough to land him any interviews. He was quickly proven wrong and interviewed at multiple schools before being “miraculously” offered a spot at Loyola.
“It was too good to pass up,” Wakasa said. “I kind of had to follow my heart and make a decision.”
While Wakasa applied to medical schools before the coronavirus hit, saying that he couldn’t even have imagined this new reality at the time, the past several months have only served to solidify the fact that it’s the right decision.
“No one could have predicted what is happening right now. We are in the midst of history,” Wakasa said. “It’s almost like destiny that I go right now.”
With his Loyola classes transitioning to online because of the coronavirus, Wakasa was initially hopeful to manage both his studies and his final season with FC Tucson. Once he realized that wouldn’t be possible, he became preoccupied with worrying about how he’d tell his teammates and coach that he was leaving.
“I sort of kept it a secret because I didn’t want them to think I wasn’t 100% there with the team,” Wakasa said. “For a while I was. Soccer was my priority and the team was the priority. But I had to make the choice and tell them what was going on.”
Wakasa, who continued practicing with the team all the way up until the very end, called the situation bad timing. He said that while his FC Tucson family was shocked at the news of his departure, after the past few months, nothing seems to really shock anyone anymore.
Kody Wakasa, a Bay Area transplant, says his time in Tucson has been “more than I could have ever asked for and wanted. I met some amazing teammates and friends.”
“There’s a bigger picture out there,” he said. “But I’m bummed to leave the team. I wish I could have played one last season with Tucson.”
The feeling is mutual: FC Tucson announced Wakasa’s retirement on Twitter on Wednesday, saying, “We have such admiration for this young man and wish him the best.”
A Bay Area transplant who has spent the past few years growing to love the desert, Wakasa is excited for the move to Chicago, which will be brand new to him, having only ever visited for his Loyola interview. He says he’s taken with him fond memories from his time in Tucson.
“It was nothing short of amazing and more than I could have ever asked for and wanted,” Wakasa said. “I met some amazing teammates and friends along the way.”
Wakasa has never attended school without also playing soccer, so he admits that it’ll be “quite the transition” once Loyola starts holding in-person classes and he’ll have to make friends outside of the soccer team.
“Soccer is never going to leave me though, I’m always going to play,” Wakasa said, adding that once he adjusts to his new routine and should time allow, he’ll seek out a recreational league. “It’s such an amazing social and emotional outlet for me. It’s going to be a transition for me to stop playing.”
Wakasa said that while he’ll miss his teammates and the people he’s met through FC Tucson, he’ll be keeping his eye on them from afar and expects them to play some really entertaining football this season.
“This team is going to be big and Tucson is going to support it more and more,” Wakasa said. “I’m thrilled I was able to put my little stamp on it at the beginning.”
