St. Louis City2 defender Kyle Hiebert majored in accounting as an undergrad at Missouri State and got a masters degree in it as well, and while he was trying to start his career as a professional soccer player this year, he worked as an accountant, preparing taxes while studying for the CPA exam.
Even though he has impressed the St. Louis City SC hierarchy to the point that he has signed a Major League Soccer contract to take a step up and play with St. Louis City in its 2023 inaugural season, he’s not going to quit his other job.
“We actually get a lot of spare time if you train in the morning,” Hiebert said. “So rather than playing video games or something, I might as well do some taxes. It’s a good deal.”
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Hiebert has made the numbers add up for City2, City SC’s entry in MLS Next Pro, the developmental league that is giving City SC a head start on next season. After a 4-1 win over Vancouver on Sunday, City2 is tied for the second-most points in the league and with a win over San Jose on Sunday could clinch a playoff spot.
Hiebert and Josh Yaro have been the anchors of a defense that has allowed just 24 goals in 19 games, the fifth-best mark in the league. The pair are also the two players who have been with City2 all season and who are now signed with City SC for next season.
“That’s been part of the reason that we’ve been successful all year,” City2 coach John Hackworth said. “When I went to scout Kyle, my first thought was, ‘Oh my God, there’s a kid out here who nobody has seen, or not enough people have seen. We might find a diamond in the rough here,’ and then lo and behold, having him and Josh together as central defenders from the very beginning, as a coach, I was like, we’re going to be all right. We’re going to be good. We might not score a lot, but we’re not going to give up a lot.”
City signed Yaro before the season with the plan to have him join the first team next season. But Hiebert, like all the other players on City2, signed with the hope of making the move to the first team next season. He’s the first to have made the jump.
“It couldn’t have happened to a better guy,” Yaro said, “and it’s been fun, especially having the two of us as a center back pair, it’s been great. It’s always nice when you’re playing with someone that you know has got your back, and that’s happened a lot of times this season. So for me, I’m really happy for him, all his hard work has proven fruitful, and hopefully that’s an example for a lot of the guys on this team.”
“He’s a fantastic defender,” Hackworth said. “He plays every moment of the game like it’s his last because he knows how important every moment is, and he is trying to play by our principles. … Kyle brings hard-nosed defending but he’s a really critical defender that can win those moments that are extremely tough, especially in the way that we ask our defenders to play. We ask our defenders to be aggressive, to put themselves in uncomfortable positions all the time. And Kyle does that as well as anybody.”
“I came in confident,” Hiebert said. “I think it suited a lot of our style, high pressing is a similar style that I came from. … So I came in confident but yeah, a little unsure at the start like, what exactly was this step up in level going to be?”
Hiebert and Yaro have been fixtures in the lineup. Hiebert has missed only four minutes all season — if you factor in time in Open Cup matches, he’s played more than anyone in MLS Next Pro this season — and Yaro has missed only one game. In almost every game, City2 has used a four-man backline, with Hiebert as the left center back and Yaro the right center back. That won’t be how it looks next season, with Sweden’s Joakim Nilsson taking one of the center back positions.
But for the time being, Hiebert and Yaro have been essential for City2’s defense.
“I think it’s worked really well,” said Hiebert, who is from Canada but won’t count as an international player because he has a green card. “Josh is a veteran guy. He’s been around, a quality guy to be around. Off the field, he’s humble, he’s hardworking. And I think we both have similar styles in terms of being athletic shorter center backs who like to be on the ball, like to step in and press and track runners in behind.”
So is there a common bond, a link shared by good accountants and good defenders? Hiebert thinks for a moment.
“Attention to detail,” he said. “I’d say that’s a big one. I think in anything in life, it’s not just like one thing you got to do to be a pro soccer player. It’s a whole bunch of small decisions, and it’s a whole bunch of small actions that you stack together over time. And that’s similar with accounting too. It’s a whole bunch of numbers and stuff you got to stack together and work you’ve got to do over time. And that’s what makes a great accountant. That’s what makes a great soccer player too.”
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