J
ason Hernandez was coming to the end of his playing days when Richie Laryea entered the Major League Soccer ranks. Happily for Hernandez, though, he did have a coming together with Laryea that was captured and preserved. “I have a funny photo of me kicking him or sending him to the turf,” says Toronto FC’s general manager, himself a hard-nosed player in his day. “I point to that on occasion when I pass him in the hallway.”
That collision with his future GM occurred when Laryea was young midfielder struggling to find his way with the Orlando City squad that selected him seventh overall in the 2016 Major League Soccer SuperDraft. Prior to Orlando, things had gone well for Laryea as he climbed the ranks. Even as a small kid, often playing against competition two and three years his senior — and numerous inches taller — Laryea had always excelled. “You could just tell he was special and had it in him to go all the way,” says Reggie Laryea, who is three years younger than his brother.
The pro ranks are a different ball of wax, however. Laryea acknowledges his time in Orlando was a struggle, and by 2019 he was over the moon to join his hometown squad on a trial. “It was a breath of fresh air,” Laryea says. “I was [in Orlando] for three years and my time [there], honestly, wasn’t great, just in terms of playing time. Overall experience, I learned a lot, but they weren’t pleasant memories on the field.”
