Philadelphia native Femi Awodesu promoted to Houston Dynamo first team

“We are thrilled to reward Femi with a first team contract following an impressive season with Dynamo 2 last year, and he is another success story from our player development pathway,” President of Soccer Pat Onstad said in a news release. “Femi’s competitiveness, leadership and desire to become a professional player at the highest levels after his college career has been impressive. With the help of our second team staff, he has improved his ability to the level that has given us the confidence that he can take the next step and contribute to our group. We look forward to Femi continuing his development with our Club and are excited about his professional future.”

Awodesu, 23, started all 29 of his appearances in MLS Next Pro and tied for most regular season minutes across the league (2,520 minutes). He signed with Houston after a standout career playing for his former Philadelphia Union Academy coach Jeff Cook at Penn State. At the youth level, Awodesu played for Germantown SC, FC Delco and the Union before a stint playing in Florida with Chargers Academy, where he also had a USL academy deal with Tampa Bay Rowdies.

Awodesu was a regular participant in first team training last season and was rostered in the opening Concacaf Champions Cup match versus St. Louis City SC. The defender also joined the first team for both preseason trips last year and saw action throughout the five preseason games in both Guadalajara, Mexico and Orlando.