Tokyo Alumni Podcast: Episode 30 ​Mobi Fehr (former Santa Maria and CAJ)  

Mobi was born in New York, USA. He attended Santa Maria elementary school, and the Christian Academy Japan (CAJ) from 7th to 9th grade.   He has been playing soccer competitively from a young age, and played for Tokyo Verdy Youth and represented the USA national team at the U-17 World Cup in 2011 as a teenager. At the U-17 World Cup, he was one of the main players to lead the USA to the final 16 of the tournament.  He has played for numerous professional teams, including H.A. Gia Lai FC, SC Sagamihara, Portland Timbers, and currently for the Las Vegas Lights.   He primarily plays a defensive midfield role, but is also capable of playing central and right midfield positions.  He is a global citizen with three passports, Japan, USA, and Swiss passports, while being bilingual in Japanese and English.  

Mobi talks to Nick about having multiple passports, and how he ended up being scouted to play for the US U-17 team when he was a youth player for Tokyo Verdy.  Mobi explains to Nick about how the footballing culture at the youth level differed in the three countries he played during his teen years, Switzerland, the USA, and Japan. Mobi also talks about how his multi-cultural background has helped him with communication skills on the pitch, and has helped him become an overall player.  Mobi and Nick talk about development for young soccer players, and Mobi explains his positions in regards to "3-sports a year" vs "1-sport a year" for youth level players. Mobi explains to Nick struggles he has faced as a professional footballer and what the most difficult aspect of being a professional athlete is.  The two discuss the philosophical element of sports, whether or not nature or nurture is the driving factor of success as Mobi reflects on his professional career in regards to different players he has encountered in the past.  Mobi speaks to Nick about how his international experience at Santa Maria and CAJ helped him now as a professional soccer player, because it exposed him from a young age to various ethnicities, nationalities, and languages.   Timestamp 0:05 Introduction 0:59 Experience playing at the U-17 World Cup 2:12 Getting scouted at Tokyo Verdy Youth