The rebirth of Cyrus Saydee, Detroit City FCs trailblazer

HAMTRAMCK, Mich. — Steve Horn was going through the routine rounds of offseason high school soccer this past December when his attention was taken elsewhere.

Horn, a Lansing-area coach, was propped up on the metal bleachers of a local Soccerzone, watching the development of one of his current players, when a quick peek over his shoulder put his eyes on a former one.

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The field parallel to where Horn was sitting was absent the game chaos right in front of him. The simulated green grass was as tranquil as a Montana pasture. The only thing disrupting the serenity on the other side of the walkway was the zeal of Cyrus Saydee, who was working out by himself, galloping end to end, with little regard for what was going on around him.

“I talked to a couple of parents and they say he’s doing that every night,” said Horn, who coached Saydee a decade prior.

In Lansing, Saydee is known as a one-of-kind talent. By many accounts, the product of Lansing Everett High School, from which he graduated at 16, is the best soccer player to come out of the area, and maybe the state. A scholarship to Michigan State adds validity to that, and so does an invite to play with the U17 National Team.

Close to 100 miles away, though, in Detroit, Saydee’s stature holds similar weight. There, the 27-year-old is a pillar for Detroit City FC, with which he has been a fixture since the club’s birth in 2012. Saydee is the only player on Le Rouge’s roster that remains from that inaugural team, a feat the midfielder never anticipated when he finished with Division I soccer at the turn of the decade.

“Never,” Saydee said. “It’s crazy, and each year has been more and more than I could ask for.”

Yet his sporadic involvement with the team last season, a year after being named a First Team All-NPSL selection, left many loyal supporters wondering what happened. Saydee wasn’t around as much. He played in just five National Premier Soccer League games. Saydee was often a training-session truant.

It was a disjointed campaign because that’s what life called for.

“Last year was kind of tough because I just had my first kid,” said Saydee, who had been living in Lansing until recently. “I didn’t play in as many games as I wanted. It was a lot of transition from being a father to not being a father. There were a lot of things I had to grow up with.”

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Saydee, following the birth of his daughter, isn’t the only one going through a transition. Detroit City FC is transferring in August to pro status, a level Saydee once flirted with after college. (He had an audition with Major League Soccer’s Sporting KC, but he said things “just didn’t work out, contract-wise.”) In preparation for its step up, DCFC made Saydee the first player it signed to a professional contract.

In the meantime, though, Saydee is using Le Rouge’s final go-round as amateurs to further what he started when he jumped aboard all those years back, and show that the game never left him.

“There was a hope of one day that the club will turn pro,” he said. “I wasn’t ever too much in a hurry to chase this pro dream, but if soccer is here, and I can play, it’s good for me. People knew about me, people know who I am. That part felt good. Chasing the pro dream was nothing I really had in mind.”

Over the years, opportunities to turn pro elsewhere have been presented to Saydee. The most recent, and possibly most tempting, came last season. Despite his hit-and-miss on-field appearances, the midfielder caught the eye of visitors from Italy’s Frosinone Calcio.

Frosinone Calcio, which plays in Serie A, one of the world’s most prestigious leagues, visited Hamtramck’s Keyworth Stadium last season to participate in an international friendly. The Italian side thumped Detroit City FC, but Saydee impressed enough to get offered a trial with the club after the season was over. He took Frosinone Calcio up on the offer, but the Liberian-born player said that issues with his visa and citizenship halted that life-changing opportunity.

Saydee says those issues are now cleared up, but he’s enthusiastic to see what the evolution of Le Rouge presents.

“It was very interesting because Detroit turned pro this year and Lansing did as well,” he said. “It was tough because I’m from the Lansing area. I had meetings with the guys in Lansing, but it didn’t work out. But this is huge. For me, I was always like a family guy, trying to stay close to my family. They’re in Lansing. To me, that stuff is important.

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“Playing here, though, is great because of the fans and the people here.”

Saydee’s longstanding relationship with former DCFC manager Ben Pirmann, who was an assistant coach at MSU when Saydee was there, helped him stay with club as long as he has. Pirmann moved on after last season, and earlier this year, the club hired well-respected, English-born manager Trevor James as its headman.

For the past few months, James has had the challenge of crafting both an amateur and professional roster as the club gets ready for its transition. And one of the first players he wanted to lock up was Saydee.

James, a former MLS scout, was hip to Saydee and his talents before agreeing to lead DCFC.

“You’re aware of the more talented players in the so-called lower divisions, even when you’re in the MLS,” James said. “I was aware of Cyrus. I had him on a scouting radar over the years because of what he did with Detroit City. I know he’s been a big part of this club since Day 1, and he’s also been a very talented player. I wanted him part of this team when I got here, so that was done pretty quickly.”

Today, with only one game in the books and the home opener on Sunday, James and Saydee are still in the feeling-out stages of their relationship. Saydee’s trying to adjust to full-time life in Detroit, a club without his trusted longtime manager and, of course, as a father. On the other side, James is attempting to learn more about his midfielder, while getting him to adopt the mindset necessary to become a professional, and not just a talented soccer player.

“There’s a learning process for me to learn what makes Cyrus tick, what makes him play,” James said. “He’s also got to get to a position where he trusts me. He had a pretty good relationship with Ben, the previous manager. Change is always difficult sometimes for people. But, like I said, we’re doing OK and I think our relationship is quite good. It’s an adjustment, obviously, for me to work with him and get the best out of him. But also for him to realize it’s a profession, and all general standards get raised a little bit. He’s taking it on well.

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“I think he’s an exciting player for the summer season, but when I look at him I think, sometimes, we’re getting 50 percent of what we can get. Once we get more out of him, I think he’ll be one of the more exiting players in the pro season come August.”

It would be a disservice to Saydee to refer to him as Le Rouge’s wild card, and that’s because when he’s at his best, there are few who can match his skill at this level. But James is strong in his belief that a locked-in Saydee will allow Detroit City FC to carry immense momentum into its new endeavor, to ride off into the sunset on its amateur farewell tour.

Saydee’s up for the challenge. He’s as committed as he has ever been. And his love for the sport, despite the monotonous nature of what he has been used to at this level, has never wavered.

If anything, it seems like it has taken on new life.

“I just love the game of soccer, which is why it’s basically my job,” said Saydee, who’s also a youth personal trainer. “I can be dead tired right now and someone could say, ‘Hey, Cyrus, want to go play?’ And I’d go play. This is what I was made to do. Some people are very good at fixing cars or doing certain things, and this was for me.”

(Top photo of Cyrus Saydee: Allison Farrand / For The Athletic)

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