ORLANDO, Fla.—Tommy Redding was always destined for a professional sports career. The only question was: Which sport would it be?
For the young Orlando City SC center back, born into an athletically gifted family, his professional future was written in his DNA. But in the end, it was his friends, and not his family, that made the decision for him as to which sport to pursue. And he's been on the fast track to success ever since. Already a fixture in the US U-20 team, it seems just a matter of time before he’s knocking on the door of the full international squad.
Lions head coach Adrian Heath was sold on the teenage prodigy early on, and sees no reason why Redding shouldn’t go on to be one of the best of his generation.
“We’ve known about Tommy for quite a while and have been fortunate to work with him for a few years now,” Heath said. “We were able to get him in and get him some experience in our USL days, when he could afford to get his learning in and make a few mistakes.
“He’s always had this understanding that he’s had potential, but now we’ve told him that he’s got to step it up and show us the confidence and ability we can see in him. And he’s shown us a lot of that so far this year.”
Heath’s ringing endorsement comes on the back of nine appearances so far in 2016 after just two in the team’s inaugural year. The coach had enough confidence in Redding to start him less than two months past his 19th birthday in the season opener against Real Salt Lake, ahead of the experienced Aurelien Collin, who has since been traded to the New York Red Bulls.
Redding has partnered both Seb Hines and David Mateos, and had arguably his crowning MLS moment to date in helping shut out Spanish World Cup ace David Villa in the Lions’ 1-0 victory at New York City FC in March.
Ask him to look back and figure out why he has come so far, so fast, and he is quick to point to three generations of Redding family sporting achievement.
“I guess you could say that my family knew from a young age that, with my genetics, I would have an advantage,” he said. “My father played basketball at high school and was a high school All American, and also played collegiate ball. My grandfather played baseball at 19 for the Texas Rangers, and then I had three uncles who were all good sportsmen.
“One was a wide receiver at high school and was All County and All State. Another was a running back and went on to play at college. And the third played basketball, football and did track. All five are in the San Diego Sports Hall of Fame. My mom was also very athletic and I have two sisters who played basketball and softball.”
None of them played soccer, though. So how did young Tommy end up in MLS?
“I played a season of football and basketball at school, but they weren’t very enjoyable,” Redding said. “But I had a good bunch of friends from the age of six right up to 15 and they all played soccer. The main reason I stuck with soccer was because of them. They made it fun for me.”
With the family having moved from San Diego to Orlando when he was small, Florida proved a fertile training field for a tall, composed defender who passed the ball well and didn’t appear to fluster easily. He moved comfortably into the US teams at the 14- and 15-year- old levels, and captained the Under-17s. He was called up for the U-18s a year early – and suddenly found himself in serious demand.
“At 15, I had to decide if I was going to be a soccer player or just a kid who played soccer,” he said. “I decided soccer was the job for me and went into the U-17 residency program with the IMG Academy at Bradenton.
“We had a lot of success, played in tournaments in Europe and I had offers to go and train with teams in Europe. It was a tough two years, away from my family, a big leap of faith. But training every day and getting used to that kind of schedule was so beneficial. I had pretty much decided – being a soccer player would be a pretty good job.”
The only real decision for Redding after his IMG residency period was whether to take the college route or go pro right away. College teams South Florida, Virginia and UCLA all were after him, but so was a team much closer to home.
A fledgling USL outfit had been keeping close tabs on Redding’s progress at Bradenton and they had the huge advantage of knowing they could offer him a full-time future in the game straight away.
“I had to weigh up all my options,” he admitted. “Growing up in the US, your goal as a kid is to go to college and then get a job, so that was probably still the number one option. But then I spoke to Orlando City and realized how big they were growing and what an opportunity it represented.”
There were no second thoughts. City had his name on a contract at 17 and he was officially their first Homegrown Player. He struggled to get much exposure last year amid a crowded central defense corps for the Lions, but this year has been completely different.
On Sunday he goes back to New York for another joust with Villa and Co., and he might even be the senior defensive partner, with Mateos suspended and Hines struggling to shake off a knee injury. Orlando could field a central pairing of Redding and Conor Donovan, the team’s 20-year-old, second-round SuperDraft pick in 2015 who has just one appearance to date.
It isn’t likely to faze Redding, though, and another standout performance at Yankee Stadium could be the stepping stone to more national recognition. The prospect of more games in a US jersey is what really drives the 19-year-old phenom.
“Just being part of a national team is always a huge honor,” Redding said. “In fact, I think walking out in that jersey and standing there for the national anthem for the first time was a clinching moment for me (in choosing to pursue soccer). And it has been a big part of my development. Seeing how I stacked up against kids around the world is very helpful, and I think I stack up pretty well.
“Right now, and this year especially, my confidence is sky high. With every game I learn more, get more experience, and keep rolling with it. The US men’s team is always a goal and hopefully that’s something in my future. I just want to keep improving as a player here first.”
