E83: Quarantine Interview Series with USL League One Defender of the Year + Iowan, Brandon Fricke

Happy New Year, folks. The year known as 2020 has been strangely long and it seems everyone has been challenged in one way or the other. So let's start 2021 on the front foot and talk about something uplifting...

How about an Iowa guy working to climb the professional soccer ladder achieving some deserved success? Brandon Fricke, of Dallas Center-Grimes, has always been driven and put his focus on hard work and application over all else. After a successful youth career saw him have the opportunity to play in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy with Sporting Kansas City, he caught on at Butler University in Indianapolis where he truly established himself as a potential professional prospect. Injury setbacks with impeccably poor timing have sent Fricke on a bit of a globe-trotting adventure. After being drafted 83rd by the Colorado Rapids in 2015, he has featured as a commanding defender in Sweden, North Carolina, Michigan and now finally in South Carolina, all the while finding time to feature for his hometown team, the Des Moines Menace. Now, in his inaugural USL League One season he helped Greenville Triumph SC to the league championship, simultaneously earning plaudits in the league's best eleven and  top defender of 2020. We talk about his journey and all the good stuff in between, like playing left back!