The Wichita Wings and England have a long and storied tradition. Names like Andy Chapman, Kevin Kewley, Roy Turner, and Norman Piper echoed across Wichita playgrounds through the 1980s and 90s. Thanks to Kieran Laking, in the 40th anniversary season of Wichita’s storied indoor soccer team, local schoolkids once again have the opportunity to imitate an Englishman on the pitch. A defender on the field, the 24-year-old hails from Hartlepool, England, a hard-scrabble city of just under 100,000 people on the coast of the North Sea. Laking cut his teeth playing for Hartlepool FC in his hometown. He then spent his undergraduate years studying business and playing soccer for Newman University here in Wichita. Though he comes from a hard-scrabble town, his manners are impeccable. You’d expect nothing less from an English gentleman…
Tim O’Bryhim: What made you decide to come to America?
Kieran Laking: I was always gonna go to university because I always did well in my studies [as well as soccer]. My parents always pushed that with me. …I was playing one game and this guy came over and said he had a firm that sent people over [to America] and that I was a good player and I’d be able to find a school relatively easily. And then before I knew it, I was in Wichita, Kansas. I didn’t really know where it was or what to expect, but straight away, to be honest, I liked it and I settled in.
How did you connect with Newman University?
It was through a company called Global Sport. Through his time in America being an assistant coach, a player, going to different schools, traveling around, [the coach] built a network. They made a video on me: a five- or six-minute highlight reel and just sent it out to hundreds of colleges. Then when the coaches were interested, they’d email back. And Newman was one of them. I spoke to Cliff Brown over there.
And of course he was a former Wing as well.
Yeah, yeah. So literally one of the first conversations I ever had when I touched down in Wichita was about the Wichita Wings. It was him saying he played for the Wichita Wings.
What was your first impression of Wichita?
I went to the airport and thought it was quite modern. .. So as soon as I touched down I thought, “Okay, it’s gonna be alright.” I got picked up and we drove on Kellogg for what seemed like two or three minutes until we got to where Newman is and then he pulled into what looked like an industrial estate. I was like, “Where am I going???” [laughs] … As soon as I got here, at 18 years old, I hurt my knee in the third practice and had to redshirt, had to get surgery, and I’d only been here like a month. So to be away from my family and to do all that and never once think about going home…I knew that I liked it here. And now after graduating and moving around a little bit, living with my girlfriend, her settling into a full-time job, it really does feel like home. It really does.
What was the transition like going from outdoor to indoor soccer? What sort of things did you have to get used to or improve?
I’d never seen a game of indoor; never played it in that way. So it’s nice because you never get to experience anything new when you’ve already played it since you were four, five, six years old. Like it’s a 90 minute game and it’s the same process over and over, so to do something new is really fun. I feel like outdoor…I’d already played so many games and felt like I’d experienced so many situations that I was never really caught unaware. I could predict the game. I could read the game before it kind of happened. Whereas indoor I found it to be a little bit too fast for me…but then after a couple of weeks of practice, after a couple of [Wings] games in Austin, it let the nerves out a little bit. And then after that I’ve found my position. They played me in the number three, which is like the midfield role, getting up and down, and that’s never been my game, you know. So then when I dropped back to like the number four, which is a defensive position, everything was more in front of me and I found it a lot easier.
Do you find it’s a different kind of fitness in the indoor game?
For sure. With the field being so big and 90-minute games, outdoor has more running, like cardio-wise, distance wise, than any other sport…and that’s probably not my strength. …Whereas I can pick up speed and accelerate quite well. So the smaller, more compact space probably helps me to be honest.
So you’re maybe a better defender indoor than you were outdoor?
That’s what people have been telling me: that I’m suited well to the indoor game without kind of knowing it. Back home, obviously, I played five-a-side, seven-a-side a lot and I was always good at it. But I’ve never played it in like a competitive environment really.
In the 1980s, Per Roentved, the captain of the Danish national team, came over to play for the Wings and it was a difficult transition for him. He was a very, very good outdoor player, but you know, he kept kicking the ball into the stands.
I did the same that first weekend. Yeah, pretty bad; like noticeably, you know. I just completely forgot that was a rule. I cleared it and BOOM, into the stands it went. And then everyone looks at you and it’s a real mistake, isn’t it? So I’ve had to just be like mindful and conscious of the new things at all times. …Getting a ball, passing the ball, tackling the ball, blocking the ball; that’s like the instinctive stuff. Whereas the other stuff has to be tried and practiced.
How do you feel about the atmosphere at Hartman Arena?
It’s amazing, yeah. The way it is at Hartman is just like another level really. And for me, never having seen an indoor game before, never played indoor or anything, it’s great how they’ve commercialized it and made it entertaining and made it into a show. You know, like it’s more of everything: it’s the music, it’s the singing, it’s the guy on the mic, it’s the show before you come out, it’s the mascot. You know, it’s great…
What thing from indoor soccer, do you think “Gosh, I wish outdoor soccer did this?”
It’s a good question. I think outdoor soccer loses its momentum a little bit because the ball goes out so much and takes a long time to get started. And the ball is in the air a lot so it’s back and forward and the tempo just overall a little slower. Teams like to keep the ball around the back and whereas indoor you don’t even have time to think. It’s end-to-end. You get maybe one touch on the ball before you’re feeling some pressure on your back and it makes you a better player for sure. But I think the rule would be when the ball comes back in or whatever it’s like four seconds to get it going again…that would help allow the outdoor game to have more actual playing time.
Another one as well is the sin bin: the blue card…because your team immediately feels the repercussions of your actions because they’re one man down and it’s a defensive power play so you’re more responsible. You feel accountable, you know?
What’s your biggest accomplishment with the Wings so far?
I think it was the game when we when we played against the Amarillo Bombers…and there was a moment in the game where it was tied and the stadium got really, really quiet and it was a really awkward atmosphere. I thought to myself: this is when small players, the lesser players, fall. They don’t want to show out. Whereas I thought this is an opportunity for me to show what I’m all about. It was really quiet, so I organized everybody and shouted and told them where to go. …I yelled a few things in the most English accent you could imagine, so nobody probably understood a word that I said [laughs]. But just the will and the intent and the passion and the drive lifted maybe a few spirits. …If I stayed silent and they scored the next goal they would have won that game.
Who’s the most talented player on this team? Who stands out?
I think for me the one that does is Nico…That’s because coming from England we didn’t play with many South Americans, you know. So coming over here and experiencing that Brazilian way of playing is exciting. He’s very good and definitely the fans are gonna love him. I think one that shocked me a little bit is Colin Lawter. When I first looked at him, and you know, his age, and I just wasn’t sure. And then I saw him play. I REALLY like how he plays.
I feel like I’m similar in how I play to Brent [Hobson] because he’s left-footed and little bit smaller than the average defender. He’s aggressive too and he can play a nice long ball, so it’s nice to have a guy like him, who’s experienced and who knows the game. I serve on a line with him so it’s nice to be able to watch him and then go out and then come back and reflect…that really helps for sure.
English food or American food: which do you prefer?
It’s difficult, that one. I think American food is TOO good. Like it’s too tempting, you know? Everything is too calorific and it’s looks too nice and the sizes are too big, but like you can’t say no, you know? That’s probably why I look like this [points to his stomach] a little bit now. But I do miss some English food as well, like fish and chips of course, and even our take on Chinese food and Indian food; it’s very different. I always have cups of tea here so that keeps me going a little bit. Without that I think I’d struggle.
Were you aware of the English link to the Wings?
I was aware of it…I spoke to Roy Turner [former coach of the Wichita Wings] and he recognized that I was English right away, you know, so it was nice to even just bump into someone from there as well. But yeah, it’s definitely something I’m proud of because…when someone tells me about an English player of the Wings, it was the Man United’s, the Chelsea’s, and the international teams. And now me from Hartlepool and Newman… I feel proud to represent both Wichita and England.
Did you know Roy Turner played against Pele?
Really? It doesn’t get much bigger than that, does it? It’s like playing against the Messi of today now, isn’t it?
His job was to mark Pele. He said, “I discovered that the other players couldn’t play very well if they didn’t have legs.”
It sounds bad, but I totally get where he’s coming from! You know, it’s one of those things where the ball is gonna go past you, the man is gonna go past you, but not both of them. Only one of them.
Do you see yourself staying in America?
I want to build a life in America for not just me but probably for my kids too. And for maybe my parents to move over here when they retire.
What makes you want to raise a family here? Do you feel like the future in England is not as bright?
I think that’s the one yeah. I think the [lack of] opportunities in the north of England in Hartlepool, where I’m from, for sure. Hartlepool is one of the most deprived areas in England. One of the worst unemployment rates, crime rates, everything you can imagine really. My parents have their own business there and they’ve worked so hard to build what they have, and I would love to go back and help them with that but they tell me to do what makes me happy. To just do what I want to do. You only get one life, you know? And I love my girlfriend here. I love life here. I love coaching. I love the fact that soccer here is definitely growing and building and I feel like I can be a part of the sport growing. Back home it’s so developed; it’s almost saturated really. Whereas here it’s got so much growing to do, so much room to grow. And with Stryker getting developed and the Wings just coming back, I feel like it’s a great time for someone who loves soccer to be in Wichita.
Editor’s Note: Tim O’Bryhim helps out the Wichita Wings with their social media.