| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Oluwanisola Abolaji | ||
| Date of birth | March 27, 1985 | ||
| Place of birth | Carbondale, Illinois, United States | ||
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | ||
| Playing position | Defender/Midfielder | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Lillehammer Fk | ||
| Number | 9 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2003 | Barton Cougars | ||
| 2004 | Northern Oklahoma Mavericks | ||
| 2005–2006 | Buffalo Bulls | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2005–2006 | Boulder Rapids Reserve | 30 | (0) |
| 2007 | Carolina RailHawks | 17 | (0) |
| 2007 | Vancouver Whitecaps | 10 | (0) |
| 2008 | Colorado Rapids U23's | 18 | (0) |
| 2009– | Thunder Bay Chill | 25 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 20 June 2009. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Oluwanisola "Sola" Abolaji (born March 27, 1985 in Carbondale, Illinois) is an American soccer player of Nigerian heritage who currently plays for Lillehammer Fk in the 2 Division Norway.
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Abolaji attended Eaglecrest High School in Aurora, Colorado,[1] and played college soccer at Barton County Community College in Kansas, where he was named to the NJCAA Region VI All-Region second team in 2003. He transferred to Northern Oklahoma College in 2004, where he was named the team's defensive MVP and helped lead the Mavericks to the NJCAA Region II championship. He then transferred again, to the University at Buffalo, where he spent his junior and senior years. He played 18 games for the Bulls his senior year, scoring two goals and one assist, the helper coming on the game-winning goal in the Bulls' upset win over 19th-ranked Northern Illinois.
While in college, Abolaji also played for Colorado Rapids U23's in the USL Premier Development League.
Abolaji was the first overall selection in the 2007 USL-1 Draft by the Carolina RailHawks,[2] making him the first athlete from the University of Buffalo to be drafted first overall in any professional sports draft. Having played just 10 games for the RailHawks, Abolaji was traded to the Vancouver Whitecaps in exchange for Joel John Bailey on July 29, 2007,[3] but later left the team after a coaching change.
He spent a year in and out of professional soccer in 2008 due to a lagging injury, and joined the reiging PDL champions Thunder Bay Chill in the USL Premier Development League for the 2009 season after failed negotiations with Hertha Berlin of the Bundesliga and Austria's Rapid Wien.