Cameron Duke - Sporting KC’s Homegrown kid & MLSNext Pro Impact - E5

Sporting KC & MLS young standout Cameron Duke joins Jamil and Dom in the Back Stick studio this week. We dig deeper into Cam's journey from the academy at SKC to his MLS first team debut, and being a kid from Kansas becoming Sporting KC’s 11th homegrown player. We delve into his experience as a USA Youth International, and his new experience living in Charlotte, playing in MLSNext Pro and the impact it will have on US soccer. Cam shares insights about his MLS debut, scoring his first MLS goal, and the importance of the early mentorship from veteran players at SKC, players such as Johnny Russell, Roger Espinoza, Graham Zusi & more. As always, Cam goes through ‘Extra Time’, where Cam answers light-hearted questions about his career and teammates.

00:00 Intro & Career Summary

02:05 MLS Next Pro & Its Impact on Player Development

04:48 The Dynamics of Being a Second Team Player

06:05 Adjusting to Life in a New City: Charlotte

07:37 Independence and Personal Growth Away from Home

10:32 Navigating Relationships with Teammates

13:02 Growing Up in a Soccer Family

17:29 US Youth International Call-Ups

23:03 Signing with Sporting Kansas City: A Dream Realized

25:00 MLS Debut Nerves

28:06 The Fast-Paced MLS Game

28:57 Sebastian Blanco Nightmares?!

32:17 First MLS Goal vs Seattle

34:22 SKC Veterans & Johnny Russell Influence

37:03 Extra Time

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Transcript

Jamil Roberts (00:00)
Hello everyone and welcome to the Back Stick Podcast. I'm here with my co-host Dom Okus. Dom, how are you mate?

Dom Okus (00:09)
Yeah, good, bro. Good, good. Super busy here in Austin. Starting to cool down a little piece. I know earlier we saying it's super hot, so it's starting to cool down a little bit, so that's nice. But I'm all good and really looking forward to this conversation,

Jamil Roberts (00:22)
Yeah, and me too because we're joined by my boy out in Kansas City Mr. Cameron Duke, how are you mate?

Cam Duke (00:31)
Doing well, bro. Just got back in town. Excited to see friends, family for the offseason and just keeping shape and getting back to work for the preseason coming up.

Jamil Roberts (00:44)
Yeah, love that mate, love that. So, for the listeners that aren't familiar with Cam, and I'm sure there's gonna be quite a few that are, Cam is a graduate of Sporting KC's academy. The 11th homegrown player, I believe, to play for the first team. 50 MLS appearances, two MLS goals at the age of 23. Yeah,

So, you know, just kind of sum up that quickly for us that early part of your career.

Cam Duke (01:13)
Yeah, so obviously I started my career at Sporting Kansas City, played in the academy from the age of 11 all the way up to 18, I believe. And I was committed to Duke. I was about to travel or go to college at Duke and play soccer there. But two weeks before, I decided to sign professional with Sporting. And obviously both are really good options, but I felt the best pathway for me as a pro was

to sign professional and keep developing as a player. And then last year I played at Crown Legacy, Charlotte FC's second team. And I felt like it was an amazing time. Met a lot of great people, coaches, staff, teammates. Everything was awesome and got a lot of minutes last year. So just really happy about that.

Jamil Roberts (02:05)
And obviously the MLS Next Pro is a new, how many years has it been going now? Is it two years?

Cam Duke (02:14)
yeah, two or three, I think. I'm not exactly sure, but I know it's a pretty new league.

Jamil Roberts (02:19)
Mm-hmm Yeah, yeah cuz Obviously me being in Chattanooga. We've got we've got Chattanooga FC Which I'm sure you played against this season so I went down to a couple of games and you know It's a little bit of a different dynamic. I'll say it's then the USL and the MLS But certainly there's a lot of talent in the league like you can't deny that and

Cam Duke (02:28)
yeah.

Jamil Roberts (02:45)
In all honesty, think for younger guys, long term and for American soccer in general, I think it will be good long term for the development of young lads.

Cam Duke (02:45)
yeah.

Yeah, 100%.

Dom Okus (02:55)
Yeah, just to

actually jump in there for our folks, for our folks who are listening from the UK, is MLS Next Pro similar to like the under 23 kind of Premier League league that we see folks come through? the thought to be something similar to that or is it something else?

Cam Duke (03:13)
Yeah, I think obviously the MLS Next Pro was developed for Academy players and younger players on the first team to try and develop them and get them ready for the first teams in the MLS. So yeah, I would say it's a bit similar, but the level might be a little bit different. It might be a little bit more, a little bit better over there obviously, but.

the whole system and structure, I'm sure is very similar.

Jamil Roberts (03:45)
Yeah, yeah, I mean, because obviously we've had we've had lads on here already that have come through the 23 system in England.

But certainly for you, obviously, you've gone to Crown Legacy. Was part of the thought process doing that, that you thought, you know, there was a pathway back to the MLS that you maybe didn't see at sporting at the time.

Cam Duke (04:07)
Yeah, so obviously I was out of contract with Sporting and when Crown Legacy reached out to me, they had thoughts about me maybe one day making the first team. And at the time, they offered me a second team contract. And I was thinking in my head, yeah, I'm going to play this year and keep developing, getting better. And hopefully I can prove to them that I am ready for the first team at Charlotte.

But unfortunately, didn't get that opportunity. But still, it was an awesome time there. And I was thinking the whole time, I'm going to work my way into the first team there.

Jamil Roberts (04:48)
Yeah, definitely. I I can relate to that because that was basically, as you know, when you was on the first team at Sporting, that was what I was doing, you know,

But, you know, it is a grind and you really, feel like you can't, did you feel like the difference in dynamic where you felt like maybe you couldn't make a mistake in training or there was a little bit more pressure on just to...

to do your thing to the max every single day than maybe at sporting where you were kind of, you knew you had a contract, you knew you were homegrown, you knew you were in a place that you felt confident. So what was the difference between being a first team player and being a second team player when you're around the first team?

Cam Duke (05:29)
Yeah, I think that's a great question. I think definitely at sporting, I knew I had guaranteed a guaranteed contract for multiple years. But at the same time, I was trying to push into the first team, trying to get those minutes, trying to start.

But when I was at Crown Legacy, I had a really good relationship with the coach just because I was a little bit older and he trusted me. So

at the same time, I kept working on myself and kept developing as a player.

Jamil Roberts (06:06)
Yeah, cool. Well, that's all you can do at the end of the day,

want to take it away from football a little bit. So obviously, you moved to a new city, right? You moved to Charlotte. Dom, have you ever spent time in Charlotte?

Cam Duke (06:16)
Mm-hmm.

Dom Okus (06:18)
I haven't, I haven't, I haven't. I've got some close friends of mine who live in Charlotte and I hear some great, great things. But Cam, if you've got any recommendations for me, if you didn't know I'm a DJ, so I definitely kind of want to check out the nightlife scene over there. But if you've got any recommendations, let me know. But I would love to know kind of how Charlotte was for you.

Jamil Roberts (06:20)
Nah?

Mm-hmm.

haha

Cam Duke (06:31)
nice.

Yeah, no, I think going into it, moving to Charlotte, I didn't know what to expect. But a couple weeks in, got to know some of the guys. We had a couple nights out where we got dinner, a couple drinks, whatnot.

Charlotte ended up being really cool for me.

Just open my eyes to see what a new city is.

Jamil Roberts (07:02)
So on the city itself, so we touched on earlier that you're from Kansas City, you played for Kansas City, it's the first time that you've played away from home, correct?

Cam Duke (07:14)
Yes, yeah.

Jamil Roberts (07:15)
Yeah, so what was that like, take football out of it? Just not being able to go home and necessarily be able to go and see your boys or go and see your mom and dad, go see your brother, whatever. How is that being on your own for the first time and having to just focus on you? It's just you and football. How was that?

Cam Duke (07:28)
Yeah.

Yeah, no, think being away for my first time it was a bit scary at first I think, but probably like two or three weeks in I was like already excited. Like I was comfortable with where I was at, with who I was, like with the coaches, with my teammates. Like everyone made me feel very welcomed. And I actually felt like I grew a lot as a person. I know

When I was in Kansas, I was near family and friends a lot, but I feel like I was still pretty independent, but I think I've even grown even more independent now and just learned a lot of new things, how to do things on my own. But yeah, I think it was really awesome just living on my own, being away from friends. I'm growing up finally, bro. It's about damn time. Nah, but.

Jamil Roberts (08:25)
my boys growing up.

Dom Okus (08:32)
Actually,

I actually want to ask you a quick question. What did the move actually look like for you? Are they helping you find an apartment? Are they helping you move your stuff? Are you living with teammates? All of the people who are in your team live in a similar area of town. What is the kind of off the field part look like for you?

Cam Duke (08:37)
Yeah

Yeah.

Yeah, so when I first got there, they were still getting all the apartments set up and stuff for the team. And I would say probably about 75 % to 80 % all lived in the same area, same apartments. And I actually lived in a hotel for probably about a week while they're getting the apartment set up and whatnot. once our apartment was ready,

It was pretty easy to move in. I had all my stuff in my car pack, but we kind of all just helped each other out, like moving stuff we needed help with, like all the heavy stuff. And then the lighter stuff, obviously you could take care of by yourself, but

it was just really, it was really awesome. think living with teammates in the same area and it was all really close vicinity to the training facility as well.

So it worked out perfectly.

Jamil Roberts (09:51)
Yeah man, welcome to my world. Every fucking year. Moving my whole life. Jesus Christ.

Cam Duke (09:54)
You

Bro.

It's terrible, bruh.

Dom Okus (10:03)
One thing I was actually going to say on that though, is it good to be like with all your teammates all the time? You're on the training ground together, you travel together, you live together or near each other. Like we all know we've all played football our whole lives. There could be a bust up in training or sometimes personalities just clash. And so like, what is that dynamic like? And Jum, you can talk about this too, where it's like, you might have had a big bust up with someone in training and now you've got to walk back to your apartments together. Like what's that dynamic like?

Cam Duke (10:17)
Yeah.

Yeah, for me, think last year at least.

Dom Okus (10:32)
You

Jamil Roberts (10:34)
I don't know, don't

think- I don't think Dookie's ever fought anyone in his life.

Dom Okus (10:38)
hahahahah

Cam Duke (10:38)
Bro, come on, what you mean, dude? You know I be starting to fight at training all the time, bro.

Jamil Roberts (10:42)
I'm

Cam Duke (10:46)
Nah, I'm not starting no fights. I can't take a fight, bro. I'm not trying to get my ass beat, Nah, nah. I'll talk shit a little bit, but I'm not throwing hands, no nothing. Never. But I think...

Dom Okus (10:47)
You

Jamil Roberts (10:52)
You

Nah, I mean

it definitely is definitely different in it like you don't have the separation I'm guessing yeah

Cam Duke (11:12)
yeah,

I think it was like good for us to all live in the same place just because we were so close on and off the field. And I think if there ever was anything that happened on the field, would get solved like in the locker room after training, like no one held any grudges, no one.

brought it back to the apartments or else like we would try and talk like a couple of us and get everyone like back on the same page like like this is not even worth fighting about like guys grow up and all this stuff so it was good living together you could chill with whoever you wanted to whenever you wanted to but it was also nice that you could also like just go in your room at times and have your own free time and just relax on your own so you kind of got the best of both worlds.

Jamil Roberts (12:01)
Yeah, yeah, I can definitely agree with that. where my living situation this year was, it was kind of crazy because my townhouse was actually like a one minute walk from the club. So for me, it was tough to actually get that separation from work.

Dom Okus (12:26)
something that people who aren't in the footballing environment take for granted a little bit, right? It's that you might really like your colleagues, but there's the separation, come five o'clock, six o'clock, whatever the time is, where you go off and go on, and then maybe you come back in to work the next day. But in the footballing environment, especially because you've got to travel together or you've got to live together in some of these cases, it's just a completely different dynamic.

Jamil Roberts (12:29)
Ahem.

Yeah, honestly, it's so true and

it can be tough, but I think that's a good place for us to move on. And obviously I want to bring you back now.

Cam Duke (12:54)
Yeah.

Jamil Roberts (13:02)
So you're just a kid right? Cameron Duke, Overland Park, OP, Science for Sporting KC, in the academy. What was that like bro? Were you a sporting fan growing up or?

Cam Duke (13:15)
Yeah, I grew up a sporting fan. Come on, bro. I'm from Kansas, bro. Obviously, I'm gonna support the club. And I play for them. Come on, bro.

Jamil Roberts (13:20)
There you go.

Dom Okus (13:24)
Fire, fire, fire.

Cam Duke (13:25)
Nah, but...

Jamil Roberts (13:26)
Love that, love that. So how did that feel? How did that feel?

Cam Duke (13:30)
Yeah, no, I think it felt like a dream come true just because played in the academy. My dad actually played for the Comets which was an indoor team in the Kansas City area. and my brother played for, yeah bro, that indoor league back in the old days.

Jamil Roberts (13:44)
wow, I didn't know that.

Cam Duke (13:49)
But my brother played, they're still going. He is bro, he is, yeah.

Jamil Roberts (13:51)
They're still going, ain't they? Mikey Lennis is playing for a minute.

Cam Duke (13:56)
But that just tells you, bro, how this thing's going on so long. My dad's old as hell, But still, that team's been around forever,

Jamil Roberts (13:58)
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Cam Duke (14:10)
But my brother played for Swope,

And then just having them both play professional soccer made me want to play soccer.

Once I signed that contract with Sporting Kansas City, I was one of the happiest kids alive in Kansas, at least. So

Dom Okus (14:29)
just touched on having a brother and a dad who played pro. Do you feel like that motivated you because obviously they were kind of road models for you? Or do feel like it put pressure on you because obviously you've got your dad and your brother's footsteps to kind of follow in and perhaps if you didn't meet what they were able to achieve?

you you might be seen in a different light. So just talk to me a little bit about kind of growing up and trying to follow in their footsteps.

Cam Duke (15:00)
Yeah, think so ever since I was a little kid, obviously I was grown into a family of soccer and I think it was more of I kind of wanted to follow their footsteps rather than there being pressure on me. Just because

I wanted to make this

my job one day and just play soccer, get paid.

for doing what you love.

Dom Okus (15:25)
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Cam Duke (15:25)
The other thing

is I felt like I was always better than the two, so I didn't really have that worry ever. man.

Jamil Roberts (15:31)
There it is God

I hope your brother sees this

Cam Duke (15:40)
Hey

Dom Okus (15:40)
Do you know what's funny

is my follow-up question was actually gonna be, given you had a brother that played pro soccer that was older than you, you're probably known as Christian's brother for a long time, right? But I'm gonna scrap that question, because clearly not. Cam, you're just a guy. You were just a guy. So that didn't apply to you.

Cam Duke (15:53)
yeah, 100%.

Yes, sir. Exactly. Hey, Christian is Cam Dukes brother right there.

Jamil Roberts (16:05)
Yeah

Cam Duke (16:07)
Nah, he nah, he no, but in all honesty,

Dom Okus (16:07)
I like that

Jamil Roberts (16:11)
There it is

Cam Duke (16:13)
man. In all honesty, Christian was a really good player. And what he's doing right now, he's actually

Dom Okus (16:13)
Yeah

Cam Duke (16:21)
doing like individual soccer trainings and has his own business. He's growing it

I hope one day that like I can follow in his footsteps with that for sure too.

Jamil Roberts (16:32)
Mm-hmm. Yeah, yeah, and I know Dom, two are very similar in that way, that obviously your brother played for West Ham, a couple other clubs in England, so I'm sure you can relate to him in terms of having a brother that's played professional football. Obviously, Dom, you went a different way, but I'm sure as kids it was very different, the dynamic that you two both share with your brothers.

Dom Okus (16:59)
Yeah, I think the only difference between me and Cam obviously is he made it pro and I sit at a desk all day. So bit of a difference there, but... No, I'm joking. No, no, no. I love my job and I like what I do and I wouldn't change it for the world. But I can confidently say that my... Yeah. But I can confidently say my brother was a lot better than I was. He was a lot better than I was.

Cam Duke (17:05)
Hey, there's nothing wrong with that, bro. There's nothing wrong with it.

Jamil Roberts (17:05)
Hahaha

you

Cam Duke (17:15)
my gosh.

Jamil Roberts (17:20)
Yeah, he's here on the pod man, that's all that matters.

Cam Duke (17:24)
Exactly.

Dom Okus (17:29)
He was a good player.

Cam Duke (17:31)
my gosh, bro.

Jamil Roberts (17:32)
mate, that's class, that's class. So you go, so we go in, obviously you go through the academy. What was it like? You got a couple of international call-ups, right? So what was that experience like?

Cam Duke (17:46)
Yeah, so I've been to a lot of domestic camps around the United States and then I've also been to a lot of international camps as well. And I feel like it was an honor every time I got called into camp. I was always really excited, except for the first one. The first camp, was like extremely nervous just because it was like first call up ever. was...

scared I was like damn I'm to go compete and play with like the best kids my age in the country. But after I got that out of the way it was like every time I got called up I was like excited and I just wanted to prove every time that I was a great player and I feel like every time I came back from camp I had a ton of confidence so I feel like that played a huge role in my development as a player just because

I'm coming back from an international camp. I'm coming back to my academy. I want to make them better. I want to make myself better. Let's all get better together, you know? But I think the experiences that I've had with the youth national teams have been so amazing. And I've seen so many places around the world that I never thought I would have gone to. But all fun experiences.

Dom Okus (19:05)
Sick, sick. And how does the process work? So if you get selected, let's say, I don't know, first time you got called up, you was probably 13 or 14, maybe younger. Does it come through sport in Kansas? So it part of the academy system. Do you get an email? Do you get a letter to your house? Like how does the call up actually work?

Cam Duke (19:13)
Yeah.

So it's been so long, but I believe it would always go through sporting first. Like my head coach would always get the email first. They would have to approve of me leaving. And then I would actually get an individual email saying you've been selected for this camp. Here's like a list of players or they're going to send the itinerary out. They're going to send the list of players that are

going, these are the dates and like all the information, but it would always have to be approved through the club just because you never know if you have like an important game or like the players injured or anything like that.

Jamil Roberts (20:04)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure. my other question was to do with the US teams. So throughout your progression up and all the camps that you went on, what were some of the players in those camps with you that are maybe playing now in Europe or they're playing now in the MLS? Who were the names that you were kind of alongside of there?

Cam Duke (20:28)
Yeah, so obviously one big name, Gio, Gio Reyna. He wasn't actually in my age group, but he got called up to one of our ages. But he's like a really big name right now. I played with Julian Araujo. He's playing in the Prem right now. Played with Taylor Booth. He plays in Holland, I believe.

I mean, there's a ton of guys. Conrad de La Flente played at Barcelona. I don't know where he plays now. But yeah, bro, there's a lot of guys that I played with. Like, I don't think we were one of the strongest groups, because that was the group below us. That was like Bucio's age group, you know, the O2s. They're crazy. But we definitely had a couple guys that are doing their thing right now, playing.

Jamil Roberts (21:18)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Cam Duke (21:26)
all over the world, bigger leagues, some smaller leagues, but I feel like most of the guys I played with through the national team camps are still playing soccer.

Jamil Roberts (21:37)
obviously, yeah, you touched on Bucio there and, you know, I haven't caught up with him in a while, but the boy's still smashing it in Italy, isn't he?

Cam Duke (21:46)
Yeah, he's killing it bro. They just got promoted again back to Syria. Crazy bro. With the national team too right now.

Jamil Roberts (21:52)
Mm-hmm Yeah Dom just for context weird

talking. Sorry. I should have said before Gianluca Busio so I only caught him for a sports for a small time But obviously can play with him a lot when they were growing up He left probably about a month after I signed with with sport him got a move over to Venezia the guy he's sick man like he's getting back into the national team now and Potch is Potch is loving him. Yeah, he's he's a very good player

Dom Okus (22:14)
sick.

Cam Duke (22:15)
Great player, bro.

funny guy too.

Dom Okus (22:22)
Sick, sick,

sick, sick, sick, sick.

Jamil Roberts (22:24)
But anyway, bringing it back to you, enough about Buseo.

Cam Duke (22:27)
Yeah, enough about that. Enough about that dude, man.

Dom Okus (22:28)
Yeah

Jamil Roberts (22:31)
Yeah, I knew he was about to say clown as well don't think I didn't notice that

Dom Okus (22:31)
Hahaha

hahahaha

Cam Duke (22:38)
man. man. All jokes, all jokes.

Jamil Roberts (22:41)
Nah,

alright so, of course, of course, always. So we go through, and you've gone through the academy right, and you sign, I believe you sign first with Swope. And then you play your years there in Swope, you get the experience. But then you get offered your homegrown deal in the first team.

Cam Duke (23:03)
I actually signed first team first.

Jamil Roberts (23:06)
You did!

Cam Duke (23:07)
Yes bro, on. Jamil, come on bro. You gotta do your...

Dom Okus (23:11)
He's saying,

Jamil Roberts (23:11)
Bro,

Dom Okus (23:12)
Jam, he's saying don't play my man's thing. You know what I'm saying? First team straight away, bro. We talking about swapping these things, like homegrown.

Jamil Roberts (23:13)
my bad bro. my,

Cam Duke (23:18)
Not like that though, not like that. I'm just trying to get the facts, the facts straight. man.

Jamil Roberts (23:21)
my god.

yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, aye. Aye.

you know I'll do my research next time yeah

Cam Duke (23:36)
Come on Jamil, bruh. my

gosh,

Jamil Roberts (23:46)
no that's funny that's funny anyway you gotta fact check me from time to time

Cam Duke (23:43)
Love it, bro.

Dom Okus (23:49)
Yeah. Yeah.

Jamil Roberts (23:52)
Alright so we move on yeah so anyway so you signed the fucking you signed your first team deal my bad but obviously you're young and you know we talked about before being a young kid playing in the academy at Kansas City but you've signed a homegrown you're in the first team now that must have been like you must have been the proudest kid in the world

Cam Duke (24:16)
Yeah, no, I think I was definitely proud of myself just for signing that contract, making it through the academy and also being from Kansas. So I was a homegrown automatically. But

That's why I chose to go professional rather than going to college first.

Jamil Roberts (24:36)
Yeah, nice, nice. So, obviously you're in the team there now,

Dom Okus (24:36)
Makes sense, makes sense.

Jamil Roberts (24:42)
You make your debut. So all of the things that we've talked about up until this point, when your number, sorry, when the gaffer calls your name, tells you you're going on and you see your number come up and you're about to come on, I don't wanna talk about the game.

Cam Duke (24:42)
Mm-hmm.

Jamil Roberts (25:00)
I wanna talk about you, the young kid from OP on the touchline. You're about to step over the touchline to make your debut for the first team. Talk to me about how you're feeling in that moment.

Cam Duke (25:09)
Yeah.

Yeah, bro, was, I mean, I was excited, but I was nervous as hell, bro. I was like, this is really happening right now, bro. I'm about to go in, but I actually made, so it was crazy because remember when they had the MLS is back tournament when COVID was going on, all that stuff. They had us locked down. It was actually.

Jamil Roberts (25:34)
Mm-hmm. Yeah, yeah, yeah

That was through

COVID, right?

Cam Duke (25:40)
through COVID, yeah. But I guess you can technically count that as my debut. I mean, I do at least. it was already, yeah, I remember we were playing against Philadelphia. It was like 9 p.m. because you had to play at either early as hell in the morning or late at night because of the heat and the humidity. And it was like, yeah, 9, 9.30.

Jamil Roberts (25:50)
Yeah, 100%.

Cam Duke (26:09)
and we were losing to Philadelphia like three or four zero. And my name gets called at the 80th minute and I'm like, I'm still nervous, bro. I don't want to make any mistakes. I don't want to give up a goal or anything. But went in there, just kind of did my job as a midfielder, made sure not to do anything dumb. But yeah, I was really happy for myself, very excited in that moment. And I was thinking to myself the whole time, this is kind of...

Jamil Roberts (26:24)
Yeah

Yeah

Cam Duke (26:39)
the first part of your career, like just keep building on it now.

Jamil Roberts (26:43)
Yeah, yeah, who did you come on for?

Cam Duke (26:48)
think it was either... I think it was Rog... It might have been Roger... I can't remember, bro. I think it was... I think it was Roger or it was Gotti. It was either Roger or Gadi. in that game.

Jamil Roberts (26:52)
Come on bro, you don't remember who you came on for.

Uh-huh.

Dom Okus (27:03)
Jam,

Jam, give him a break. Obviously his knees were trembling while he was in the touch line and he doesn't remember.

Cam Duke (27:09)
Exactly bro, bro. I was freaking out bro. I was nervous, bro Come

Jamil Roberts (27:10)
Yeah

you

Cam Duke (27:18)
on, dude. That's the least of my problems right there Who's coming out right now? Who's coming around? I don't even know

Jamil Roberts (27:18)
Didn't even know it could vote and Dom let me tell you got it get

Get Gadi Kinda and Roger Espinoza do not look alike and he's just throwing two midfielders out there that were in the squad

Cam Duke (27:28)
Hey,

Dom Okus (27:31)
Hahahaha

Cam Duke (27:34)
bro. Hey, come on. Come on now, bro. Cut me some slack, bro. This dude right here, bro. my gosh, bro.

Dom Okus (27:36)
Hilarious, hilarious, hilarious.

Jamil Roberts (27:39)
Hehehehehe

to you for me that's too funny

Dom Okus (27:49)
So just on your debut then, is there anything that surprised you when you got on the pitch? Obviously you've probably been training with the first team, been around the first team environment, but that was the pace of the game, something you were surprised with, the level of physicality. Like obviously we all know.

Training the game is two different ball games. So that was the only thing that surprised you when you came on.

Cam Duke (28:06)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah, I think definitely the pace of the game. It was really fast and MLS is a really physical league as well. So you just got to and I'm a smaller guy as well. So

no, think definitely that's one of my biggest attributes is my speed and my pace. So, I mean, if I need to get into a tackle, I'll try my best, but I would say I'm more of an attacking player. So I just use that to my advantage as much as I can.

Jamil Roberts (28:41)
Mm-hmm. Yeah, yeah and just Just talking about the MLS in general. So obviously We know you're you're a sentiment fielder, but you had some some stints through injuries playing a right back as well So who were some of the toughest players that you played against in either of those positions? Obviously the MLS is as we know is it is a mixture of guys like yourself who have come through

Cam Duke (28:57)
Mm-hmm.

Jamil Roberts (29:09)
The academies and pros from elsewhere, but there's also some superstars about as well So, you know those those direct matchups who was some of the tough ones that you remember?

Cam Duke (29:19)
Yeah, I think I forgot his name. I think it might have been Lidero. He was a left winger. I played against him. I think it was Lidero. I got to look this up real quick, bro. I'm a fact checky, unlike you, bro.

Jamil Roberts (29:35)
hahahaha

Cam Duke (29:38)
Nah, it wasn't Lidera. What's his dude's name, bro?

Dom Okus (29:41)
while you're

tell me about...

Tell me about what he was like. Was he super physical? Was he really quick? Was he really skillful? What about him stood out to you?

Cam Duke (29:51)
Nah, he was just a very technical player. here we go. Yeah, Sebastian Blanco. He was like, he's been in the league for a long time. Bro, he was, I was actually kind of locking him up though, I'm not gonna lie. In the first half, but then the second half, bro, second half was terrible, bro. Second half was awful, bro. I was getting cooked, bro, but.

Jamil Roberts (30:03)
of course.

Dom Okus (30:20)
Hahaha!

Cam Duke (30:21)
He's one of the players I played

But yeah, bro, I think when I played outside

was just helpful in the academy to play that. And I mean, I kind of just took everything I knew from there.

implemented into the first team game.

Jamil Roberts (30:37)
Sebastian Blanco, yeah. nightmares. anyway...

Dom Okus (30:42)
I Cam, Cam

Cam Duke (30:42)
Alright bro, put me on

Dom Okus (30:48)
fight back,

Cam Duke (30:48)
blast.

Dom Okus (30:48)
bro. Don't let him do this to you. Don't let him do this to you. Don't let him do this to you

Cam Duke (30:51)
Hey, don't make me pull up some training clips,

Jamil Roberts (30:54)
EEEE

Cam Duke (30:54)
bro. Don't make me pull up some Swope Park training clips. Bro, for real, bro. So many

Jamil Roberts (31:03)
And God I don't know if you remember this just on on the subject of me and you playing together But I actually made my professional debut. I think I came on Atlanta United and You were playing in that game and we hadn't really spoken then like all that much But I don't know if you remember this game, but you slipped me a ball on the left and it was my

Cam Duke (31:05)
I'm

Jamil Roberts (31:26)
professional debut dumb and I've ripped the ball from like 30 yards and it's like hit Perfectly like the most powerful thing I've ever hit in my life hit the crossbar and I swear down I think I think the whole club must have thought like my god, this guy's a joke

Cam Duke (31:34)
You

bro

Dom Okus (31:42)
hahahaha

Cam Duke (31:45)
my gosh bro i'm weak bro nah you're gonna do you still have the video of that

Jamil Roberts (31:50)
Yeah, we can clip it.

Cam Duke (31:52)
Yeah, we're gonna have to clip that bro.

Dom Okus (31:52)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, we gotta see that. We gotta see that.

Jamil Roberts (31:54)
Yeah, so we can go from me almost scoring to you first MLS goal. It was against Sounders, right?

Cam Duke (32:06)
Seattle bro, yeah.

Jamil Roberts (32:07)
Yeah, yeah, to me. Talk to me through it.

Cam Duke (32:11)
Yeah, obviously, so in that game, I subbed in at probably the 70th minute. We're winning 2-1 away at their stadium.

And I remember we get a, we get a spell of possession. Johnny's going down, dribbling down the right side and he's in their corner. He cuts it back, plays Zusi. And you know in Zusi, I know he, he's got a good, he's got a good cross. He's going to cross it first time or something. I'm in the box. I'm with the defender.

Jamil Roberts (32:46)
Yeah.

Cam Duke (32:47)
I kind of do like a double movement, like check in and then check away again. And I free myself. I don't know how the defender just let me go. I, till this day, I will never know. But, Zusi puts a great ball in and at this moment I'm thinking, this is going right to me. I cannot mess this up right now. Comes to me, volley it and luckily it goes in bro. And then as soon as it goes in,

Jamil Roberts (33:10)
you

Cam Duke (33:16)
I'm like, shit, am I outside? I look back at the ref and no flags up. like, let's go, come on. And I basically, yeah, it was a really awesome moment for me. It was sick, man. It was so sick.

Jamil Roberts (33:22)
Ha

Yes!

I

that and I distinctively remember watching that game and it was clear to see how happy all the other lads were for you as well. I remember you ran over to the subs didn't you? And it was like everyone was buzzing.

Cam Duke (33:43)
yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, it was really awesome. I was really excited, but it just made me even more happy that everyone else was so excited for me too. And just meant a lot in the moment. And yeah, it's something I'll probably never forget for sure.

Dom Okus (34:03)
And just on that, were there any older players who really brought you into the fold as you were getting more integrated into the first team? Because you're saying you had a good group of players who looked after you and were happy for you that you scored, but more broadly, was there a group of players who looked after you, whether older or more experienced players?

Cam Duke (34:22)
Yeah, think 100%. I think there were a lot of guys that were older veterans on the team that tried to help all the younger guys. They would always give us advice. I think especially like Roger, Zusi, Johnny, like kind of those guys, they would always be leaders on the field and even off the field. They would help us with anything we needed and would just always give us advice, which was really helpful.

It was very awesome that they do that.

Dom Okus (34:54)
Sick, amazing.

Jamil Roberts (34:54)
Yeah,

yeah, very, very nice guys. You mentioned, you mentioned Johnny there, Johnny Russell. Now we both know.

funny guy around the place.

Cam Duke (35:06)
Crazy guy bro, crazy.

That is one dude who is a clown bro.

Jamil Roberts (35:11)
However,

yeah, yeah,

think one of the best things that he did is he treated the young guys the same way that he treated his boys, like the senior players as well. Cause he, my God, he would like one minute he would be bullying the young boys. Like, you know how it is Dom.

Cam Duke (35:25)
Yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

Jamil Roberts (35:35)
I

think Johnny, when I was at the club, was maybe early 30s, played in Scotland, played at Derby, and then finds himself at Kansas City. He's a funny guy to have around. Cam, just talk to us a little bit about Johnny and your experience with him as a player and as a person.

Cam Duke (35:51)
Yeah, bro. think for me, he was like one of the best teammates I've ever had just because great player on the field. He was a good leader. He always came to training working hard. And if you weren't doing something wrong or if you weren't doing something right, he would immediately tell you he'd be pissed off. Sometimes yelling, sometimes not. He would get into you.

Off the field, like in the locker room, this dude was a clown.

he would get the team together. He would pick on people sometimes, not in bad way, just like joking around and whatnot. But yeah, I think he was just a great teammate to have overall, just cause he cared for everyone, cared for the players.

just brought everyone together at the end of the day.

yeah

bro, my gosh. Dude's crazy, bro.

Jamil Roberts (36:48)
Yeah, well, I guess that kind of rounds us off well. And I think for this edition of Extra Time, the final segment, I think Mr. Oakes, I think it's about time that you take us through Extra Time. So I'm going to pass over to Dom here, and we're going to run through it if you can.

Dom Okus (37:03)
yes yes yes yes

Yeah, I think we've greased the wheels on this episode very well. So we're going to take you into our statement segment here,

Cam Duke (37:10)
Alright.

Dom Okus (37:18)
It's called Extra Time, and I'm just going to take you through four simple questions. So the first one, and you've had some time to think about this now, Who is the best player that you've played with? Could be in high school, could have been for the US, could have been at sporting, could have been your current team, wherever. Who is the best player you've played with?

Cam Duke (37:25)
Alright.

I think...

That's a great question. I'll say just because he's a big name right now and I've played with him in camp, Gio Reyna, but I also want to mention Benny Feilhaber because I looked up to him when I was growing up through the academy and I actually got the chance to play with him my last my first year at sporting and his last year as a professional at sporting. So I always looked up to him and I always thought Benny was a great player.

Jamil Roberts (37:47)
Ahem.

Dom Okus (38:10)
Shoutout to Benny, shoutout to Benny. Right, who's the best player you've played against?

Jamil Roberts (38:10)
sick.

Cam Duke (38:16)
played against.

I will say I subbed into this game against LAFC and I will have to say probably Gareth Bale. That dude is one quick dude. I cannot tell you bro. I cannot. That dude is so quick bro. It's insane.

Dom Okus (38:32)
Woo!

So good.

Cam Duke (38:42)
Ha ha!

Dom Okus (38:42)
So I need to double click into that a bit. Tell me a little bit more about that game. Is he just picking up the ball, running past everyone? You're just amazed by his first touch, how quick he is off the mark, his shooting power. Tell me a little bit more about playing against Bell, who I think is criminally underrated in terms of wingers in this generation. What a player.

Jamil Roberts (38:43)
Ugh.

Ahem.

Cam Duke (38:53)
Gosh.

Yeah.

Jamil Roberts (39:00)
are criminal, criminal.

Cam Duke (39:03)
Yeah,

no, I think so I didn't start that game. I came in at probably like the 70th maybe 80th minute. It was not too long. But just watching him on the bench was insane, bro. Like he has such high IQ. His speed is nice. His shots are crazy. Like so much power placement, everything. I remember I subbed into the game and I think five minutes later

They play a ball through and this dude just goes on like through our back line and basically dribbles and scores. And I'm like, this is crazy. In our home stadium, In our home stadium, bro, it terrible. But yeah, what a player. What a player he is.

Jamil Roberts (39:47)
Uff... Uff... Uff...

In that situation, how can you even get mad at your teammates? Like Gareth Bale has just come and took you apart. Yeah!

Cam Duke (39:58)
You can't do anything. Yeah. You can't

do anything, bro. I mean, this is one of the greatest players to have played. I don't know. All you can do is like, well damn, bro. We try.

Jamil Roberts (40:11)
Mm-hmm.

Cam Duke (40:19)
my gosh, bro

Dom Okus (40:22)
And

just quickly before we move on, Jam, as a left-sided player, kind of coming through around the same time that Garret Bale's doing all his madness, is he someone that you really looked up to?

Jamil Roberts (40:34)
Yeah, 100 % mate, 100%. And I won't lie, I've been in the garden a few times growing up trying to do the free kicks and lost more balls that went well. But yeah, mate, honestly, I remember some of the games that, you know, when he destroyed Maicon on and then the final season, I still think...

Cam Duke (40:43)
Hahaha

my gosh, bro.

Jamil Roberts (41:03)
It has to be top five at least, top five individually best seasons that the Premier League's ever seen his last year at Tottenham because that team wasn't even Champions League and he was the like the stuff he was doing week in week out was unbelievable. I'm actually so jealous because

got to play on the same pitch as him and see it live in person. I never saw him play, you know. So I'm jealous, but I'm happy for you. And that's as far as it goes, man.

Cam Duke (41:33)
Yeah, bro.

man, bro.

Dom Okus (41:41)
Whenever you talk about that

last season at Tottenham, I just think about that goalie score against West Ham, which is my team, where he gets it on the outside of the D in the attacking half, he shifts it and bangs it in the 90th minute in the top corner.

Cam Duke (41:56)
Thanks.

Jamil Roberts (41:57)
Like literally

on a six pence as well no back lift no anything and just this ball dips into the top corner From I don't know how far was it last minute as well

Bro, he's one of them players where he was definitely like, boys, just give me the ball and I'll score.

Cam Duke (42:18)
Literally bro, literally.

Dom Okus (42:20)
If you watch his highlights from that season,

it's just him shifting it out of his feet and banging it. That was literally him.

I think

this is a good segue though, because Gareth Bale is a very vocal person, funny guy on social media in his interviews, and he's definitely someone I would want to go on a night out with. So Cam, I'm gonna kick it back to you.

If you could pick three past or present teammates that you could go on a night out with, who would they be and give us a little bit about why.

Cam Duke (42:48)
You

Oof. Alright.

I'm have to go with...

I would say Johnny won just because crazy guy, funny guy. And he's picking up the bill. That is a good point,

Jamil Roberts (43:07)
He's picking up the bill.

Cam Duke (43:12)
That is one.

Jamil Roberts (43:13)
You

Dom Okus (43:13)
I like

that. I like that. I like that.

Jamil Roberts (43:18)
Mmmmm

Cam Duke (43:19)
man, let me think. Who's two?

okay. I'll go with one of my boys from Charlotte. His name's Isaac. Isaac Walker. The goalkeeper, funny guy. He's a clown, just like Johnny. But yeah, great guy overall. So funny, bro, to go out with. And then I would say for the final, I gotta go with my boy. With my boy

That dude right there. I miss you, bro.

Jamil Roberts (43:51)
There you go, see?

Dom Okus (43:51)
Okay, okay.

Jamil Roberts (43:52)
Dom, I told you someone would pick me eventually.

Cam Duke (43:53)
every my god jameel

bro gotta go with them funny dude great great dude to be around i mean and jameel's picking up the bill too just like johnny

Dom Okus (43:58)
That's it. So hold on a second. on a second. on. So he's

Cam Duke (44:10)
Yeah.

Jamil Roberts (44:10)
Bro,

let's just remember I was on a second team deal.

Cam Duke (44:16)
man, bro.

Jamil Roberts (44:22)
That's my boy right there Dom. Come on. That's my boy

Cam Duke (44:23)
I know, it's crazy, it's crazy.

Dom Okus (44:24)
it it it it it it it it it it it it it it it it it it it it it

it it it it

Cam Duke (44:27)
Hey, one of these days, one of these days, bro.

Jamil Roberts (44:30)
Nah, we're running back, we're running back.

Dom Okus (44:35)
So then the final piece of extra time is what is your biggest achievement on the pitch? You've talked us through your debut, you've talked us through your first goal, you've talked us through playing for the US. So what would you say is your biggest achievement thus far on the pitch?

Cam Duke (44:55)
That's a good question. I think I'd probably just say making my debut as a professional just because that's kind of where it all started. And ever since then, I've always wanted to be the best player I could. And I'm still learning every day, still trying to develop, be the best player that I can. So that was the start of it all.

Yeah, I think that was probably my biggest achievement so far as being a professional. Obviously, you got the goals, the assists, what not, but the debut is where it all starts. So for sure that.

Dom Okus (45:42)
think a lot of people that we speak to say that because I think it shouldn't be like undervalued how amazing of an achievement it is to become a professional footballer and play anywhere in the world, right? Whether it's in the MLS, in the USL, in the Prem, the championship, whatever it is, that's a massive achievement. So yeah, you should be super proud of that.

Cam Duke (45:54)
Yeah.

100%. I appreciate that.

Jamil Roberts (46:10)
I love that boys.

Dom Okus (46:10)
Well, I guess

I'll kick it back to Jam who, know, all friends now friends. So go on Jam, close us out.

Cam Duke (46:20)
man, bro. This is funny, bro.

Jamil Roberts (46:22)
I dumb I see yeah, it's cool dumb. You can leave us to it now

Cam Duke (46:28)
man.

Jamil Roberts (46:30)
Nah, nah, mate, this is we catch up all the time cam, but I've really enjoyed this mate me personally Dom you've been laughing over there and And I know I know the both of us firstly Really appreciate you coming on mate. I've really enjoyed it. We hope you have And Yeah that about that about wraps us up so if you've made it this far

Cam Duke (46:51)
Yeah.

Jamil Roberts (46:59)
Thanks ever so much for listening. Please go like subscribe on all the platforms at the back stick pod on all socials Comment let us know who you want to hear from next but from me from Dom Cam, thanks again mate. Thanks for listening and I'll see you guys next time

Dom Okus (47:18)
Peace.