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Indy Eleven’s Gordon Wild sends heartfelt Father’s Day message to ailing father

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — At just 25 years old, Gordon Wild already has crisscrossed the United States, wowing soccer fans at the collegiate and professional level.

Wild arrived on American soil as a completely unknown prospect to play college soccer for the University of South Carolina Upstate.

After one stellar season in the A-Sun Conference, Maryland picked up the German forward and he quickly showed his professional potential. 

Wild earned the Big Ten’s Player of the Year honor in his first season with the Terps, and after more success as a junior, it was time to turn pro. 

His travels thus far in the pros?

Well, a bit wild. 

Bouncing between stints in Major League Soccer and prolonged periods as a top goal scorer in the United Soccer League, Wild has already lived in Atlanta, Charleston, Washington D.C., Leesburg, Los Angeles and Indianapolis. 

This tour would even raise Wild’s father’s eyebrow. 

“My dad is a very unique person,” Wild said. “He is an entertainer. He loves people. He loves to make people laugh.”

Gordon’s mom and dad found each other while flying through mid-air.

The duo traveled Germany as young parents, a world class gymnast and an acrobat, performing in different acts with two young boys to boot.

“My dad’s career was probably very similar to that of many professional athletes,” Wild said. “You go from one contract with one circus to another contract with another circus and in most cases, you always follow the money. There was a point where he spoke nine languages and lived just about anywhere you can imagine.”

Their son stayed on foot, moving to the United States for college soccer, blossoming into a pro, and then recently nearly having to walk away from soccer in the U.S.

“I was not sure if I wanted to come back to the United States cause my father is very sick unfortunately, and I had a very tough last year in Los Angeles where I didn’t play much,” Wild said. “When I actually left, that was actually the most difficult.”

“But he gave me his blessing to come,” Wild added. “If he had not said go for it and go follow you dreams, I wouldn’t have done it.”

This Father’s Day, Wild and his dad will be separated by over 4,000 miles and six time zones. 

But the son, who took the tradition of life on the road to heart, is sending a message back that will surely hit home.

“I love him,” Wild said. “I have a very open relationship with him, and I will do everything to make him proud. “I am very proud of the life that he has lived, and I know he is proud of me.”