Every November 18 is a memorable day in Lakeland, USA because of a Super Falcons player. It is called the Uchenna Kanu Day as proclaimed and sealed by the Mayor of Lakeland, USA. Why is this day named after the Nigerian?
Uchenna Kanu travelled to throw US to study and she was a former U-17 international for Nigeria, so she became part of Southeastern University’s soccer team. There, she broke and set new records that cuts across the male and female soccer categories in US collegiate soccer
Kanu holds the record for scoring the most goals in a single season in the entire USA. She scored 57 goals and has 18 assists in a season and she garnered 132 collegiate points in a single season, and that was a record in Southeastern University and the NAIA and she also won the Sun Conference Player of the Year, and the United Soccer Coaches NAIA player of the year
She also set another record with 23 hat-tricks in her career and she scored 5 goals in a single game twice. She won the Sun Conference Player of the week 5 times, TSC player of the year. She was also named in the All-American team and the NAIA All-Tournament team
In a particular season, she scored 42 goals and had 20 assists. While still in college, she made her Super Falcons debut and scored 10 goals as the team won the WAFU Cup and she won the Golden boot. When she returned to the US after the World Cup in France, she went to play for Pensacola and helped them to win the Women’s Premier Soccer League and won the championship’s most outstanding offensive player award
Uche Graduated with a degree in Sports Management and received award from her University. She became the all-time collegiate scorer in the US with 147 goals
It is against this backdrop that November 18 was declared as Uchenna Kanu day, in order to remember her achievements