Photo credit: Denver Summit FC
Denver Summit FC right back was beaming after training on Friday, just days after limiting superstar Trinity Rodman in narrow loss
Note: this piece originally appeared in inboxes on Sunday, August 2. Sign up for Nourse’s Notes here to get first access to newsletter stories.
As Denver Summit FC wound down its Friday training session this week, right back Ayo Oke donned the widest smile imaginable after being one of the last to exit the pitch for the day.
It was the kind of expression that signaled a great day at the office. She’s had a few of those in recent memory, capped by a wonderful performance in last week’s narrow loss to the NWSL-leading Washington Spirit, in which she shut down superstar Trinity Rodman defensively and looked her freest self on the ball.
She and I were meeting for just the first time ever, but it felt like she was talking to a long-time friend. We shot the breeze for a minute, then I asked what the key has been to her uptick in performances over the past couple of months.
“I actually don’t think about the game really at all (on matchdays),” Oke told me in the one spot of shade outside of the CommonSpirit Performance Center. “I’m not the best player if I’m not enjoying myself. As long as I’m having fun, then I’m gonna play well.”
“Well, what is fun for you?” I asked.
“Devin (Lynch) is my roommate, and we like to play Fortnite,” she said. Not too many games though, she said, because assistant coach Angela Salem advises against too much high-stress mental activity before a game. It caught me off-guard — just another piece of evidence toward the conclusion athletes really are just like us.
Oke said she and Lynch take turns on who carries the load when they play duos. Neither one is especially good at the game, she said, but that’s not the point. Oke has found a ritual to lead her thoughts away from the field that helps her find consistency on it.
The biggest battle, she admitted, has been consistency week to week. She’s leaned on veteran mentors like Janine Sonis and Lindsey Heaps while having multiple “tough conversations” with coach Nick Cushing over the course of the year.
Now, in her first NWSL season, the 23-year old has gained enough trust to be the starter in ink — eight starts in a row after recording three in the previous seven matches.
“I’m really appreciative. The beginning of the year wasn’t like this at all. … I appreciate how much (the coaching staff has) poured into me and how much they believe in me and my career,” Oke said. “It’s another reason why I play as hard as I do.
“… In the beginning of the year, (the talking point with Cushing) was really just getting consistent performances out of me. One game I’d be on top of it, the next game you wouldn’t see me as much. … I think (the key now) is really just dialing in and treating every training as a chance to get better on the things they think I need to work on.”
Right now, that manifests as getting her body to a good-enough place to where she can play for upwards of 95 minutes. She’s yet to go a full 90 since she did so in the team’s opening game in March, citing cramps and fatigue as the reason she’s often subbed off. Oke’s presence with the club’s nutritionists and performance staff has certainly grown as a result.
Either way, a performance like Sunday’s was another stepping stone in a promising young career. She’s far from where she wants to be, but on days like Sunday, it’s impossible to ignore where she’s heading.
