For anyone predicting the starting lineup for Union Omaha’s midfield, coach Jay Mims made that task even more difficult with his latest signing. Yesterday, the club announced the signing of Junior College Champion Ryen Jiba.
The South Sudan national played for Salt Lake Community College (SLCC) and helped lead the men’s soccer team to its first national championship in 2021. If that’s not impressive enough, Ryen scored the game-tying goal and sent the game into extra time. It should probably be noted that the opponent was number-1 ranked Iowa Western Community College, where alum-and-current-Owl Damià Viader played. Salt Lake Community College has only had a men’s soccer program for five years, so the young program was looking for a leader, but the search didn’t take long. Mark Davis, the founding coach at SLCC, had very high compliments of Jiba after the season. “He prepped at East, and I always knew I wanted him there, with how dynamic he is,” Davis said. “He can do so much. Ryen’s been ‘that guy’ for the last two years, when our backs are against the wall, he always steps up.”
Jiba didn’t start receiving praise last year, though. Back in 2019, Jiba earned the NJCAA Region 18 Player of the Year while playing with the Bruins of SLCC. That same year, he was named to the Best 11, an honor specific to the 11 best players at the United States Youth Soccer National Championship Series. When he wasn’t playing youth soccer or Junior College soccer, he was still earning awards, but this time it was with USL League Two-side Park City Red Wolves SC. During his short time with the club, he was still able to capture first-team honors on three separate occasions.
Union Omaha coach Jay Mims has had his eye on Jiba for a while and mentioned as much in the club’s press release yesterday. “I first saw Ryen about four years ago and have been tracking him ever since,” Mims said. “He is a dynamic player who can attack and defend. I am excited to put Ryen in a learning environment where he can grow as a player, and I cannot wait to get started coaching him.”
Both coaches mentioned the word “dynamic” in their praise of Jiba, but SLCC coach Davis also mentioned Jiba’s leadership in a different form. “The kid is just phenomenal, and that left foot is absolutely lethal. Once he scored, he’s our emotional leader and we knew it was ‘game on,’” Davis said. Remember that left foot Davis mentioned? According to stats provided to me by Who Gives A Hoot’s very own, Ryan LeGrande, Jiba’s career has seen him score 25 goals in 48 appearances, along with 20 assists. LeGrande’s math produced another stat: 1 goal for every 1.92 games. That’s some high-quality production.
If you’d like a little flavor of what you’re going to see in a couple of months, check out this highlight reel:
In the video, you can see Jiba commanding the space around him, fending off defenders, keeping keepers honest by taking shots from outside the box, and sending nasty curlers inside of the far post. He should be a great addition to the club for his play, but also emotional leadership. He already has the word “Champion” on his resume, but hopefully his time with the Owls will add the words “USL League One” before it.
With Jiba’s signing, Union Omaha’s roster is now up to 13 players, which means there are still several more signings to come in the near future. If you’d like our articles sent straight to your inbox, make sure to subscribe to Who Gives A Hoot. There’s a new episode of the podcast coming out very soon, so you can always subscribe to our media via your favorite podcast-streaming service, as well. As, always…¡Viva Búhos!
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