Year Two with Sporting KC’s Robert Voloder

For me, it was Saturday nights at an indoor soccer field about 15 miles from our high school. Me and my closest friends (and friends we made through soccer) played for over an hour starting at 10pm. When I transport back, those memories become loving and fill me with a longing and a stirring of the soul.

We had… amazing fun. Times that have tied us forever. And we’ve grown as players as we’ve grown as friends. We were good, damn good. We beat the big clubs in league play and convince their players to join us. But we didn’t have enough. No parents to play mentor. No friends to set an example or inspire us to reach the next level.

I’m sure Sporting Kansas City’s Robert Voloder played a lot of pickup football with friends growing up more or less as an only child – he has an older half-sister – in Frankfurt am Main. Robi, as his teammates call him, benefited from a father playing through his teenage years realizing that Robi had the tools to reach a higher level. Voloder had a role model to emulate – Real Madrid and Spain national team centre-back Sergio Ramos – and had, no, still harbored dreams of becoming a striker.

“I speak for every defender that sometimes we have an urge to show forward how it’s done,” Voloder said, laughing, during our Tuesday phone interview as Sporting’s prep camp for the 21-year-old and his teammates continued in Arizona.

Most importantly, Voloder has someone pushing him to go where his father thought he could go.

“It’s a friend, for three years. I met him through my father and my agency. At first he trained and trained with me,” said Voloder. “But then we developed our friendship and now he’s one of my four closest friends. He’s helped me a lot on my football journey, my journey as a professional.”

The friendship helps make Voloder the player he is today.

Six years ago, at the age of 15, Voloder left his homeland for FC Köln and eventually joined Slovenian powerhouse NK Maribor on loan in June 2021. There he helped “The Purples” to the top of the table and played matches every minute for up to 20 minutes. The left-footed centre-back scored twice and contributed to 10 shutouts.

Although Maribor tipped the option to sign Voloder permanently in December, Voloder had bigger ambitions and joined Kansas City in January 2022.

It wasn’t an easy decision to leave friendships that Voloder had nurtured, as leaving breeds missing people, a fact that was evident in Robi’s off-season activities: “I hung out with my friends a lot or tried to get as many people as possible to see who i was missing the first year i was [in Kansas City]’ said Voloder. “After about a month I was traveling to a city or two and trying to enjoy time with family and friends because we knew it would be a long time that we wouldn’t see each other. We made the best of it.”

The 6’1”, 174 lbs. The centre-back hinted that films can also show his focus on friendship. The last time he cried was “The end of a show or a movie, a bad ending,” he said. “I can’t remember which specific movie I watched. Sometimes I feel involved in the film when it’s good. when someone dies [I feel like]well, I’ve lost a friend.”

Although Voloder wanted to make the most of his first season at Sporting and had a strong season in Slovenia, he was realistic with his expectations.

“I knew that I had to prepare for a lot when I came here: what the league was like, whether it was different to play football here than in Europe. How people live in America, are there different things I need to pay attention to. To get to know each teammate. To get to know the playstyle,” Voloder explained, revealing his accumulated wisdom. “There [were] many things I had to find out about what it’s like to be here.

“As a player, you always want to play as much as possible, but I didn’t have a scenario where I wanted to play, say, 20 games. I just wanted to focus on myself and play as much as possible and at the time I’m playing I’m playing at my highest level.”

This is where the friendship with Voloder’s new closest friend pays off.

“It’s mentality; He’s a great worker, never sleeps, always wants to improve and be better than his opponent in every aspect, be it for work or ordinary life,” revealed Voloder. “He wants to surpass the others. I’m trying to steal that from him a bit. I’m doing a pretty good job so far.”

But there are complaints for the driven Voloder. (Blame the world soccer calendar. Blame the visa process. Blame the world for not keeping up with the MLS method…or just realize things aren’t always as snug as your foot in your favorite soccer cleat. )

“One part that I wish didn’t happen was the fact that I missed the first few weeks [Sporting KC] preseason [in 2022],” he said. “I lost a lot of time adjusting.”

As recently as February 3, 2022, Voloder made his first appearance in a preseason scrimmage (Sporting’s third game of that nature) last year, after arriving at camp sometime after January 29. And as recently as April 23, 2022, he clearly gained 85 minutes on the pitch after central defender Nicolas Isimat-Mirin fell to the ground with a head injury in a home game against Columbus Crew.

Overall, Voloder started seven out of twelve appearances and scored one goal in 716 minutes. Yes, he started slowly, but by Week 31 the young German – who plays five games with his Under-20s – had made MLS Team of the Week and scored his only goal of the season.

Voloder learns how to dominate because of friendship, and that fits right into an area that needs improvement: “The one part I could improve on the most is winning more battles on the field.”

The second will just take time: “And try to communicate as much as possible,” he added. “I’m not a native English speaker, [so] It’s harder to communicate in another language if you don’t have two seconds to think about it [what needs to be said]. It’s not as hard as it was when I came here, but I have to process the sentence for a second and then tell him what to do.”

Sporting parted ways with two central defenders in the offseason, Isimat-Mirin and Kaveh Rad. However, according to Sporting manager Peter Vermes, another is on the way. But Voloder is ahead of the game as he wins his first full preseason to build on what he learned in freshman year.

I asked: “There are only three centre-backs in the squad at the moment and there are rumors of another signing soon. What are your expectations in terms of playing time in the second year of this season?

“Definite improvement. I always want to play every game as long as I’m healthy. First of all, stay healthy; then when I’m available, play any game,” Voloder explained. “If I were to compare to last season…more minutes than last season.”

I then asked, “What can we expect from Robi Voloder in 2023?”

“On the field I’ll be a calm person and try to play from behind and play with the team, maybe go forward sometimes, score a few goals,” he said. “Last year I managed to score a goal. Now the goal is to score at least two goals. Trying on the defensive not to concede as many goals as last year.”

Voloder knows that while friendships may be ubiquitous in life, they need to be cherished. Now, deep friendships with his teammates have been renewed and nurtured, and only grow stronger. Everything seems to be pointing towards a strong 2023 for the “young and wild” Voloder (because he plays video games). And he sees things aligning for his team as well.

“Because we haven’t had a lot of roster changes, and we have [striker] Alan Pulido and [attacking midfielder] Gadi kind of comes back from injury, we’re in good shape. We ended last season pretty well and we’re trying to continue like that. I’m pretty happy with the work done last season. That’s why I’m positive about the coming season.”

Voloder’s Quick Hits

what do you do for fun

Hanging out with teammates and friends, going out to eat. “I’m still young and wild, so I like playing video games.” (Whoa, slow down, Robi!) One New Year’s resolution was to read three or four books. Let’s see how I can do it and when I can start with it. I still have plenty of time.” Stay in touch with family and friends in Europe as well.

Are your parents coming to visit Kansas City?

Voloder’s parents couldn’t come to KC; However, it is planned that his parents will come to visit. But “the hardest part is actually doing it.”

Which player do you watch and try to emulate?

“One guy I always want to keep an eye on is David Oliver because I’m a Real Madrid fan so it’s nice to see him play there. And he’s left-handed or has a similar playing style [to me].”

Always wanted to be a striker? “I don’t think I’ll ever change my position… It’s the opposite if we screw it up, the forwards [say], “We could do better.” I’d like to play somewhere else for 15 minutes to see if it’s fun or not.” Vermes doesn’t let her do that in practice; This fun is more for off-season pickup games.

Since you and the NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs are staying at the same hotel, did you run into Chiefs players during preparation for Super Bowl LVII? “We saw a couple of guys. They have their own area or hotel and a different schedule. They have the biggest game and we’re preparing for a big season. We will cheer for them all.”

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