After fleeing Ukraine, Arkadii Ososkalo uses soccer to adjust to the U.S.

Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox. Subscribe to our sports newsletter here.

Arkadii Ososkalo’s move away from home was urgent. Due to the ongoing war in Ukraine, Ososkalo and his family left the city of Rivne in April 2022. After staying in Poland for a few months, his family came to the United States and settled in Solvay, New York.

Two months before his arrival in the United States, the country implemented martial law, which states that men between the ages of 18 and 60 could be drafted into the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

“My parents were so scared about the war,” Ososkalo said. “Until you are 17 years old, you are allowed to leave the country. I was 16, and my parents were like, ‘You have to. We have to leave here.’”

When Ososkalo arrived in central New York, he was far away from anything familiar. He missed his friends dearly, but immediately found solace on the soccer field for Solvay High School. Through 11 games this fall, Ososkalo has tallied 12 goals and four assists in his senior campaign.

One of Ososkalo’s earliest adjustments was learning a new language. Though he now speaks English at a conversational level, it still isn’t polished. Ososkalo said his parents don’t practice English because they want to return home one day. So, Ososkalo helps his family translate and navigate everyday tasks such as going to the grocery store.

After settling into the Solvay area, Ososkalo joined the men’s varsity team and immediately made a lasting impression. Solvay’s head coach, Matt Tenorio, remembered that Ososkalo communicated with teammates nonverbally, through hand motions, to overcome the language barrier.

As he built comfort on the field, Ososkalo started to make friends. He developed a close relationship with then-senior captain Sam Gonzalez, who helped Ososkalo settle into the American high school landscape.

Cindy Zhang | Digital Design Director

“He kept learning more English. I was taking him to his classes, helping him out with homework and stuff like that,” Gonzalez said. “Sometimes, we used Google Translate to talk but we definitely started building a friendship from there.”

Gonzalez, a Cuban immigrant, came to the U.S. at 9 years old. He related to Ososkalo’s early struggles.

“I felt the same way when I first got here,” Gonzalez said. “So I was like, yeah, I’ve got to help him with that, everything he didn’t know.”

As Ososkalo grew familiar with central New York, his performances on the soccer field skyrocketed.

In the 2022 season, Ososkalo netted eight goals for a middling Solvay team that finished with a 4-11-1 record. But this year, Ososkalo has become the Bearcats’ target man, leading his team in goals and assists. Ososkalo’s elevated play has also helped Solvay earn a 9-2 record through 11 games.

“Arkadii (Osokalo) is the type of player that you always want on your team. You want him to get the ball,” Tenorio said. “He can just score, create an opportunity out of nothing, really. Whatever the game calls for, I ask him to do it, and he does it.”

Despite an expected but lengthy adjustment period, Ososkalo has grown accustomed to the U.S. Gonzalez said that Ososkalo has come to relish his brief time in America.

“He always says that he loves his life here and how he would always dream of this,” Gonzalez said. “He would watch it in the movies, but he didn’t think it was actually real how life is here. Going to high school, going to the football games.”

Heading into the final third of the 2023 regular season, Ososkalo wants a future in soccer. Gonzalez, who now plays for Onondaga Community College, hopes he can convince Ososkalo to join him next fall.

But, whether Ososkalo pursues soccer at the next level or not, he said that he’s happy to stay in the U.S.

“You can just live better here. My family does want to go back, but I just want to stay here,” Ososkalo said. “I think it will be best for me.”