- Charles Renken
-
Charles Renken 
Personal information Full name Charles Bimbe-Renken Date of birth December 19, 1993 Place of birth Kalingalinga, Zambia Height 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) Playing position Midfielder Club information Current club 1899 Hoffenheim Youth career Years Team 2008 IMG Soccer Academy 2009– Vancouver Whitecaps (USSF D2) National team‡ Years Team Apps† (Gls)† 2005 United States U-14 2006 United States U-15 2007–2009 United States U-17 8 (2) † Appearances (Goals).
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of July 30, 2010Charles Bimbe-Renken (born December 19, 1993) is an American (hometown Edwardsville, Illinois) soccer player currently signed to play football for the German side 1899 Hoffenheim of the Bundesliga.
Contents
Early life
Charles Renken was born, Charles Bimbe, in Kalingalinga, Zambia a slum located outside the capital of Lusaka.[1] I n 1999, Charles' older brother, Richard Bimbe, was adopted by Seth and Pamela Renken, after Richard was stranded in America. It was discovered that Charles' brother, Richard, and several other Zambian choir boys were brought to the US, held captive and forced to tour; performing in churches all over the country, at the coercion of minister Keith Grimes of the TTT: Partners in Education ministry.[2]
After Charles' sister, Leslie, died of tuberculosis at the age of 16 in early 2003, Seth and Pamela Renken brought Richard's three younger brothers, Peter, Steven, and Charles, to Edwardsville, Illinois in February 2003, and adopted them.[1]
Career
Youth
As a young boy, Renken began playing barefoot soccer everyday in the streets and fields of Zambia. Using makeshift soccer balls out of melted plastic. Once he moved to the US, Charles had his first experience with organized soccer when his new adoptive parents enrolled him on a local U-9 team, in the spring of 2003. The team hadn't won a game the previous season. They didn't lose a game with Renken. Overwhelming the suburban kids with his raw power and creativity cultivated from the unforgiving shanty town streets in Zambia. Renken, instantly, was a menacing force on the pitch, taking on three to four defenders at once, while scoring goals in bunches. By the callow age of ten, Renken, played in and dominated the U-14 league.[1]
Professional
Renken was drawing interest from powerhouse teams such as Manchester United and Liverpool, and had a trial and an open invitation to return from Arsenal.[3] However, In 2009, Renken was signed to a multiple year deal with the Bundesliga team 1899 Hoffenheim. Though, FIFA rules prohibit transfers of players of under the age of eighteen. Renken was sent, by Hoffenheim, to Vancouver to develop with the Vancouver Whitecaps residency program. Renken will split time between the Hoffenheim academy and the Vancouver Whitecaps residency school until his eighteenth birthday, where he will be eligible to move to Germany and train with Hoffenheim permanently.[4]
International
Renken played with the U-14 national team in 2005, moving up to the U-15's the following year. In 2008, Renken moved to Bradenton, Florida and began training U.S. Soccer's full-time residency program for the United States' U-17 men's national team, known as the IMG Soccer Academy.[5]
References
- ^ a b c "Error: no
|title=specified when using {{Cite web}}". http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=571292&sec=us&root=us&cc=5901. - ^ http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/march/13.30.html
- ^ http://socceraddictnews.com/latest-soccer-news-man-crush-charles-renken/
- ^ http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/soccer/08/26/hoffenheim-u17/index.htm
- ^ http://www.ussoccer.com/Teams/U-20-MNT/R/Charles-Renken.aspx
Categories:- 1993 births
- Living people
- American people of Zambian descent
- People from Edwardsville, Illinois
- American soccer players
- ^ a b c "Error: no
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