Hanson Tamba Boakai is a Canadian professional soccer midfielder who plays for FC Edmonton. He holds the record for the youngest player ever to appear in a NASL game at the age of 16 years and 231 days, taking the record away from his former coach, Colin Miller.
Club career
Boakai was born to Liberian parents in Teldou, a small southwestern village in Guinea located a short distance from the border with Sierra Leone. He moved to Edmonton, Alberta, when he was seven-years old. Before joining FC Edmonton's reserves, Boakai played for Xtreme FC. He joined FC Edmonton in 2011 after trying-out with the side.
FC Edmonton
After spending two years with the reserves, Boakai was signed professional by FC Edmonton of the North American Soccer League on 20 February 2013, becoming the youngest player ever signed by an NASL side. On 16 June 2013 Boakai made his professional debut for Edmonton against the Carolina Railhawks in which he came on in the 65th minute for Sadi Jalali and at the same time becoming the youngest ever player to play an NASL game. Edmonton drew the game 1–1. Boakai scored his first goal for FC Edmonton against Ottawa Fury FC in the 2014 Canadian Championship. FC Edmonton won the game 3–1 and advanced to the semi-finals. Boakai scored his first goal in the NASL against the San Antonio Scorpions in a 4–0 win on 5 July 2015. His contract with FC Edmonton expired at the end of the 2015 season.
On 11 July 2016 Boakai signed with Landskrona, who play in Division 1 Södra, the third tier of football in Sweden, which was to run through 2017 November. In November 2016, Landskrona announced that Boakai's contract was terminated.
After almost a year without contract, Boakai signed with Romanian Liga II side UTA Arad in October 2017. Due to visa issues, Boakai was unable to appear for UTA for over a month before making his debut on 10 November 2017 as a 71st-minute substitute in a 2-1 loss to Târgu Mureș.
Boakai joined Finnish Ykkönen side Ekenäs IF on 16 March 2018. Made his first appearance 14 April 2018. He scored his first goal for the club against FC KTP on 26 June 2018. At the end of the season, Ekenäs picked up Boakai's option for the 2019 season. Boakai would score 6 goals and add 6 assists for Ekenäs in 2018.
After one season with Ekenäs, Boakai would be transferred to Veikkausliiga side Inter Turku for the 2019 season, with a contract option for the 2020 season.
Boakai had played for the Canada U15 soccer side while with the Edmonton reserves. He then played for the Canada U17 during the 2013 CONCACAF U-17 Championship, scoring against Costa Rica U17 and Jamaica U17 sides as Canada managed to make it the semi-finals and thus qualify for the 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup. Boakai continued to represent Canada at the U20 level and was a part of the team that traveled to Northern Ireland for the 2014 Milk Cup. After a strong showing for the youth sides, and a continued presence with Edmonton, Canada coach Benito Floro called up Boakai to the senior team for a friendly against Colombia in October 2014. He did not play, however.
