HF-L class of 2025 graduate Oakley Odell is studying and playing semi-pro soccer in England. Photo taken by Natalie Hall
BY DEB AND TIM SMITH
Oakley Odell crossed our path as he was watering the beautiful hanging flowers right outside our front door which are maintained by the Town of Mendon Department of Buildings and Grounds. Oakley’s summer job was serving under Kevin Junge who we’ve gotten to know well over the past few years. When the town employees are providing their various services to the community, we always make a point of engaging with them when possible and acknowledging their efforts. So there’s our connection with Kevin and Oakley.
Oakley was a member of last year’s HF-L varsity soccer team which was coached by Mike Merrill; assisted by Jake Bartalo, Dan Hartley, and Chuck Allan. They eliminated Geneva in the first round of the sectionals before bowing out to eventual state champion Brockport. Playing the position of center back, Oakley achieved All-county recognition and was selected to play in the Senior Stars game.
“Over three seasons at HF-L, Oakley grew tremendously as a player and leader,” said his coach Mike Merrill. “As a senior, he embraced a new role at center defender and excelled with maturity and composure. His dedication, adaptability, and leadership left a lasting impact on our program.”
While those resume points would be impressive in and of themselves, it was actually Oakley’s plans for the future that caught our ear and made us think, “Hey, that could be a unique local story.” This fall Oakley is going to England to attend college and participate in that country’s semi-pro soccer program.
The organization of the sport there is quite different than here in the U.S. “College soccer as we know it does not exist,” Oakley told us, “as there are no colleges with school teams.” He will be attending classes at the University of Gloucestershire while playing soccer within a program called University Degrees Abroad. This program combines academic studies with year-round professional soccer training, while also providing a structured environment for student-athletes to pursue both their academic goals and their soccer aspirations.
Oakley left for England at the end of August with pre-season soccer starting on September 1 and classes beginning on September 14. We’ll leave you with a final quote from Oakley which seems to characterize his work ethic. “If you aspire to reach a higher level and become a better player, absolutely nothing is out of reach,” he told us. “In order to succeed, you just have to put your goddamn phone down.”
