TUCSON, Arizona — Now former FC Tucson defender Cody Wakasa was referred to as team captain. In several years, he’ll be referred to as doctor.
"Such an obscure, peculiar disease cameout of nowhere, and just kind of shocked the world," said Wakasa, referring to COVID-19. "Maybe this is timing or just a sign."
Wakasa, the team's captain who also played soccer
at Cal Poly, applied to medical school in the spring, but he wasn’t so sure he’d be accepted.
"So, I just kind of kept it to myself. I wanted to see what the process was like."
Wakasa was admitted to Loyola of Chicago. And, he had an ambitious idea to stay with FC Tucson through the season.
"School is now online. In thought maybe I could do both."
When that wasn’t possible, Wakasa had to tell the team he was trading in his soccer jersey for scrubs.
"They were shocked. I kept it a secret. No one really knew just because I didn’t want them to think I wasn’t prioritizing the team and soccer.
I didn’t go to medical school because of COVID. This is something I had on the back burner for a while. I enjoyed the loyal fans that come out to the games in Tucson."
Kody says he’s interested in becoming an ear nose and throat doctor.
FC Tucson still doesn’t know when it will resume play.
