He's known throughout Major League Soccer as Sean Davis, the hard-working, ball-winning glue guy in the midfield, first for the New York Red Bulls and now for Nashville SC.
What is less known is Davis’ Asian-American roots, which he is trying to change through awareness on his social media handles by including his middle name, Akira.
Davis spoke about why that is important to him on "Good Morning America" on Monday. He joined UCLA women’s basketball standout Natalie Cho and Atlanta Falcons kicker Younghoe Koo in a feature about underrepresented Asian-American athletes.
“When I think about my Instagram handle and my Twitter handle, I think it’s really important for me to include my middle name so that different Asian kids around the world can see that there is an Asian presence in MLS,” said Davis, whose mother Lynn is Japanese.
In the segment, Davis said young Asian kids come up to him at games and he hopes that after those meetings and seeing him compete they have the confidence to also play.
“I just hope that after meeting me they feel inspired to touch a soccer ball or to try a team sport,” Davis said.
May is Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage (AANHPI) month.
