Ema Boateng has moved on to the professional ranks after one season at UCSB
The Gaucho soccer star notified coach Tim Vom Steeg that he signed a professional contract with Helsingborgs IF, a Premier League club in Sweden.
Ema Boateng wearing the jersey of his new team, Helsingborg IF, of Sweden.
Boateng was entering his sophomore year at UCSB, and the Gauchos were expecting big things out of him. He had been selected as a preseason All-American by College Soccer News.
He had a tryout with the Swedish club in June and made a strong impression, scoring a goal in an Under-21 match against the club BK Hacken.
Helsingborgs signed him to a 3.5-year contract.
Said club director Jesper Jansson of Boateng on the club?s web site: ?He’s extremely witty. I think he can give us the option right now to change the match image. He is flexible, edge play (is) rare, but (he) can play centrally, even if he is short. Short, but strong in body.?
Boateng, a native of Ghana, came to the U.S. through the Right to Dream Academy. He will join fellow academy member David Accam in Helsingborgs.
?I talked to David and he has only good things to say about the HIF,’ Boateng said on the club web site. ?There is also the impression I got from the club when I was here last summer. I really want to play for HIF and (I?m) happy to be representing HIF-shirt.?
According to the web site Modernghana.com, Boateng is the 16th Right to Dream Academy graduate to sign a professional soccer contract.
In his freshman year at UCSB, Boateng scored four goals and had four assists in 18 matches. His goals against the University of San Diego (Click here) and UCLA (link) were jaw-dropping spectacular.
“With Ema’s skill set, we wanted him on the ball as much as possible last season,” UCSB coach Tim Vom Steeg told the Santa Barbara News-Press. “But he’s our most dangerous attacking player, so we were planning to deliver him the ball in dangerous areas of the field while playing him up front.”
Top Drawer Soccer listed Boateng as one of the top 10 forwards in the country for the 2013 season.
He was named the Gatorade National Soccer Player of the Year in his senior season at Cate School in Carpinteria, and helped lead the Rams to back-to-back CIF championships.
In his one year at UCSB, he was named the Big West Freshman of the Year.
