Lawrence Olum (born 10 July 1984) is a Kenyan professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a defender and

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

Career

College and amateur

Olum spent four years playing

college soccer College soccer is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. It is very prominent in United States, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and as well as in South Africa and the Philippines. The United Kingd ...

Missouri Baptist University Missouri Baptist University (MBU) is a private Southern Baptist university in Creve Coeur, Missouri. It is one of three universities of the Missouri Baptist Convention. The main campus is located on a 68-acre site near Creve Coeur and Town and ...

, earning NAIA honorable mention All-America honors three times. After graduating, Olum spent the 2006 season with the

St. Louis Lions St. Louis Lions was an American soccer team based in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 2006, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. The team played its home games at the Tony Glavin Soccer ...

of the

USL Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United States soccer league syste ...

, scoring 9 goals in 16 games.

Professional

Olum turned professional with the

Portland Timbers The Portland Timbers are an American professional men's soccer club based in Portland, Oregon. The Timbers compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The Timbers have played their home games at P ...

of the

USL First Division The USL First Division (usually referred to as USL-1) was a professional men's soccer league in the United States and Canada from 2005 to 2010. During its existence, it formed the second tier of soccer in the United States soccer league system b ...

in 2007, before moving to the

Minnesota Thunder Minnesota Thunder was an American professional soccer team based in Minnesota, United States. Founded in 1990, the team played in the USL First Division (USL-1), the second tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, until 2009. The team played its hom ...

in March 2009. He later played for the

Austin Aztex The Austin Aztex were a soccer team based in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 2011 as a member of the Premier Development League, the team played the 2015 season in the United Soccer League, the second tier of the United States soccer pyr ...

and Orlando City, before moving to

Sporting Kansas City Sporting Kansas City, often shortened to Sporting KC, is an American men's professional Association football, soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The administrative offices are located in Downtown Kansas City, Missouri, and t ...

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

in September 2011. Olum moved to

Kedah FA Kedah Darul Aman Football Club ( ms, Kelab Bola Sepak Kedah Darul Aman) is a football club based in Alor Setar, Kedah, that competes in the Malaysia Super League. They are the only team in the history of Malaysian football to have won two tr ...

in the

Malaysia Premier League The Malaysia Premier League ( ms, Liga Premier) was the second-tier professional Association football, football league in Malaysia. The league replaced the former second-tier league, Liga Perdana 2 in the Malaysian football league system. The ...

ahead of the 2015 season. After one season abroad, he re-signed with Sporting Kansas City in December 2015. On 3 February 2017, Olum was traded to

, now of MLS, in exchange for $50,000 in general allocation money and a first-round pick in the

2018 MLS SuperDraft The 2018 MLS SuperDraft was the nineteenth SuperDraft conducted by Major League Soccer. As customary, the SuperDraft was held in conjunction with the annual United Soccer Coaches convention. The 2018 UCS was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania be ...

. Olum was released by Portland on 10 December 2018. On 15 March 2019, Olum was signed by

Minnesota United FC Minnesota United FC is an American professional soccer club based in Saint Paul, Minnesota that plays in the Western Conference of Major League Soccer. The club began play in 2017 as the league's 22nd club, and replaced the North American Socc ...

. On 16 January 2020, Olum was signed by

Miami FC The Miami FC is an American professional soccer team based in Miami, Florida that competes in the USL Championship, the second tier of the American soccer pyramid. The club began play in the North American Soccer League (NASL) in the 2016 se ...

ahead of their first season in the

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, pl ...

International career

Olum was the subject of interest from the Kenyan national team in November 2009. He was called up to the Kenya national team in November 2012 for the

2012 CECAFA Cup The 2012 CECAFA Cup (known as the CECAFA Tusker Challenge Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 36th edition of the annual CECAFA Cup, an international football competition consisting of national teams of member nations of the Council for East and ...

. Olum made his international debut in a 1–0 victory over

Comoros The Comoros,, ' officially the Union of the Comoros,; ar, الاتحاد القمري ' is an independent country made up of three islands in southeastern Africa, located at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean. It ...

in May 2014.

References

External links

* * 1984 births Living people Footballers from Nairobi Kenyan men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Austin Aztex FC players Kenyan expatriate men's footballers Kenyan expatriates in the United States Minnesota Thunder players Orlando City SC (2010–2014) players Portland Timbers players Portland Timbers (2001–2010) players Sporting Kansas City players St. Louis Lions players USL First Division players USL League Two players USSF Division 2 Professional League players USL Championship players Major League Soccer players Kenya men's international footballers Minnesota United FC players Men's association football defenders Miami FC players {{Kenya-footy-bio-stub