CARSON, Calif. – The news of the untimely death of Columbus Crew midfielder Kirk Urso stunned the American Soccer community and those reverberations were felt in the LA Galaxy locker room.
Galaxy Rookie defender Tommy Meyer was a teammate of Urso’s while the pair were on the United States’ Under-17 team for the 2007 U-17 World Cup in South Korea. The similarities between the pair did not end there as two Midwest natives played in regional teams together before heading off to top college programs—Urso at North Carolina and Meyer at Indiana—and both were eventually drafted by MLS clubs.
After learning of Urso’s passing on Sunday, Meyer was among the many left shocked
“He was a good friend of mine. We grew up playing soccer together with a regional team and then we were in Residency together and I played against him at UNC a couple of times,” Meyer said on Tuesday. “We’ve always talked and always been good friends and it’s definitely hard to lose a good friend so young. He had such a promising career and he was a good kid. It’s hard to wrap your head around.”
In order to deal with the untimely death of his friend and former teammate, Meyer has reached out to many whose lives were touched by Urso.
“I’ve talked to guys that I was in residency with and people have messaged me about it. Just to see how I’m doing and how they’re doing,” said Meyer. “It’s been pretty hard for everyone.”
Although dealing with the untimely death of a friend and teammate has been challenging for the Galaxy defender, Meyer had a special message to the Urso’s family.
“To Kirk’s family, I met his mom and dad once, they were great people. I know that he has a lot of good friends and everyone in the soccer community that knew him, knew he was a great kid so my prayers are with his family.”
