Roger Espinoza is coming home. The 2005 Regis Jesuit graduate returned to Major League Soccer on January 6th after playing in England for two years. Espinoza also played in The 2012 London Olympics and two World Cups for his country: Honduras. He signed with the American side, Sporting Kansas City, on a free transfer from the English side, Wigan Athletic. His minutes began to dwindle when Wigan was relegated, and his return to Sporting KC was well overdue.

“I always knew I was gonna come back; I just didn’t know when. This is the league I started in and I wanted to come back,” Espinoza said.

Espinoza got the chance to play in the MLS when he was just 20. He entered into the draft in 2008 and was chosen by Kansas City with the eleventh overall pick.

“Right when that happened it was a dream come true. Many athletes dream of being drafted into professional sports and that was it for me; that was the day I saw all my dreams come true, but I knew I had to work hard to keep going,” he said.

And he did. In his five seasons as a defensive midfielder at Sporting KC, he played in 113 games, scored two goals, and assisted 12, but those numbers don’t tell the whole story. In the 2011 and 2012 seasons, Espinoza ranked fifth among MLS players with 358 match-ups won, seventh with 128 tackles won, and sixth among midfielders with 134 interceptions.

Five years later, after his 2012 season, the opportunity arose to play for Wigan Athletic. His hard work had finally paid off, and he jumped at the chance. But playing in the English Premier League is no easy task. In the 2012-13 season, Wigan Athletic was relegated to the Championship League, or the second league of English soccer.

“It was a very sad moment, I can tell you that, but the game goes on,” he said.

The move to the Championship left Espinoza out of favor and his playing time started to decrease, and with only one year left in his contract, he had to make a decision.

“I didn’t want to jump from team to team, I’m not the type of player that wants to do that,” he said, “and I just had to think about either signing with Wigan again or coming back to Kansas City. Wigan was going through a tough moment, and being away from home was another thing, so I decided to get in contact with Kansas City. It was a quick situation, it was really easy, and I’m really happy and excited to be back.”

Espinoza is now one of only three players in the MLS that has been to the Olympics and at least two World Cups.

“You never know where your career is gonna end, but hopefully it’s in Kansas City; the team that I have always loved and the team that gave me the opportunity to play,” he said.

But despite all of his accomplishments, Espinoza never forgets where he is from.

“I think Regis definitely had a huge impact on my career,” he said, “Being in soccer practice everyday with my teammates and being in classrooms where the teachers give you a great education sets you up for the future.”

In the Fall of 2004, Espinoza played in his only season at Regis Jesuit. His team made it to the quarter-finals of the state tournament, but lost to Grand View. Although his time at RJ was short, Roger has had a lasting impact on the program.

“Never give up. I wasn’t the best soccer player or athlete in the state of Colorado, and definitely not the best student either, but the one thing I did do is work very hard everyday to be where I am now.”