Josh Yaro: In Service of Others 

Written by Michael Haffner

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Service is a word that carries many meanings. Service is what you receive from the staff at a restaurant. A service can be a special event or memorial you attend. On the soccer field, it’s often meant as receiving the ball in a critical area of the field or during an attacking play. But for some people that word carries a deeper meaning.

Josh Yaro is a person that believes service is at the core of not only being a captain for his team but as a human being. Ultimately, that service is different based on what he’s hoping to achieve, but his actions are always in service of others. It’s an attribute of his personality that comes through almost immediately and a topic that comes up multiple times in our conversation.

There’s no separation between the player and the person for Yaro. Likewise, there’s no separation between what the club represents on or off the field. It’s one of the reasons why he chose St. Louis CITY SC for the next step in his career. It’s why when he was first approached by the club, he asked himself and the club: “What does the team stand for? What are their values?”

While the club had an answer that helped solidify the deal, Yaro’s presence has added even greater meaning to the club’s actions and their goal to be an active participant in the greater St. Louis community. It’s in his footsteps and leadership that we see what CITY truly stands for.

Finding Cleats and Opportunity Along the Way

Sometimes leaders step into a role after learning by example. But first, they need the right shoes to help them soar.

Josh Yaro grew up in a family of three other siblings, a sister and two brothers. Home was “the cultural capital of the country,” explains Yaro. Kumasi is a mecca for art, music, and even the film industry in Southern Ghana. “It's a big city and really diverse,” he goes on to describe. Ghana is one nation made up of a lot of groups, and Asante, also known as Ashanti, is the dominant group in the country. That's the part of the country where Yaro grew up. Despite all there was to see and explore in Kumasi in the late 1990s, he was still missing something to set him on his way.

His dad never came home with a gift unless he got one for each child. It was an unspoken rule. Except for one day when he came home with cleats for everyone – except a pair for the future captain.

“I bothered my dad. Like, ‘What is going on? You're gonna have to give me a pair of cleats,” he begged his dad. His father realized his misstep and soon corrected it. It was a pair of shoes that kickstarted something greater.

“I didn’t need the cleats, but when I went to school with them, one of the kids saw them and said I should try out for the club he played for.”

Yaro ended up trying out and making the team. It was the first of many steps to get to where he is today as a person and player.

The 27-year-old center back’s personal and professional journey really took off at Georgetown University. In his sophomore year, he was named the 2014 BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year and was awarded First Team All-BIG EAST squad honors. He would go on to earn Georgetown University’s 2014-15 Outstanding Achievement by a Male Athlete and shortlisted for the Hermann Trophy – the soccer equivalent to American football’s Heisman Trophy – before graduating in 2018 with an International Relations Degree.

His success at Georgetown led to being chosen as the second pick in the 2016 MLS SuperDraft by the Philadelphia Union. In his rookie year, he got the opportunity to learn under team captain Maurice Edu about how to pick yourself up when you’re down or injured and the mental strength to be a captain. After an injury sidelined Yaro, he bounced around between a handful of USL teams for a couple of years before being spotted by St. Louis CITY SC.

“Coach Hackworth got in touch with me initially. I think he watched almost all my matches last year.” But it took more than a great team of coaches to convince Yaro. He needed to see a future in a city where he could develop as a person. “They presented where the club was heading and what it was trying to do. It was an opportunity for my career and me as a person. The club's values and my values aligned.”

It was an opportunity that Yaro describes as an “easy decision.”

St. Louis instantly became home. As soon as he was announced by the club, he received welcoming tweets from fans encouraging him to reach out if he needs anything. It was a moment he wasn’t expecting. “Those sorts of things may seem small, but it was huge because it's an indication that it's not a group that just cares about what you do on the field. They care about you as a person.”

Laying the Foundation to Inspire Others

Yaro exemplifies the mantra that “You are more than what you do on the field.” While he’s living his dream job as a soccer player, he knows that that’s not going to last forever. And so, he’s laid the foundation for a much bigger goal.

In a 2008 interview, Yaro expressed how he wants to go back to Ghana and “make an impact in my community and serve my country in any way I can.” It was a goal inspired by other individuals and organizations that he saw give back to his home country.

“Seeing how someone can help others and make people's lives better was ingrained in me from the start. I always had in the back of my mind that if I made it professionally, and possibly in a position to give back, that I would.”

In 2017, Yaro was able to do exactly that. He founded the Josh Yaro Foundation which helps provide educational necessities to children in Ghana. Simple things that are often taken for granted have a large impact, items such as notebooks (called exercise books in Ghana) and uniforms to schools in remote areas that don’t have as many resources. The end goal is to provide academic opportunities for children and put them in positions to excel.

“I started the Josh Yaro Foundation right when I signed my first professional contract because I thought it was the best way to give back. The thinking process behind it is going into remote areas where kids don't have school supplies or the help to get a proper education. Some of the schools I work with don't even have an infrastructure. They sit under mango trees to learn.”

It’s a chain reaction Yaro hopes to continue. Just as he saw how someone can make a difference in the lives of so many, he hopes to pass on that tradition of service to the next generation of leaders in Ghana.

A CITY Supporting One Another

When Yaro was announced by the team, he was asked to serve as more than a player for the First Team in 2023, but as the Captain of CITY2. In their first season playing, the team surpassed expectations becoming Western Conference Champions and making it to the MLS NEXT Pro Final. Despite the eventual loss, Yaro says there’s so much to glean from this past year.

“I am fortunate to be a part of a group that I cannot point to one guy on the team and say, ‘this person is lazy.’ Everyone went out there, every training session, and every game and gave 100%. And so the big takeaway for me is if next year we have a group that's willing to put in the hard work and everyone is working toward the same goal… we can have another great year.”

There’s a huge amount of pride that Yaro exudes when talking about the team. And he’s already looking to next year and thinking of ways he can improve and serve his team better. “I want to improve on being a lot more vocal.”

Josh Yaro is trying to teach through his actions the attributes of the game that often don’t get taught, especially to those players who are just beginning their journeys. “We have 15- and 16-year-old players in the locker room. How can I be of service to these guys? How can I help them learn and lead in a way that I'm not imposing my will on them? I'm not really telling them what to do, but helping them figure out who they want to become.”

If that sounds like one of your favorite teachers you had growing up, it makes sense given the fact that both of his parents are teachers.

“A coach can come to you and ask you to work harder. But it's got to come from you. That’s one of the things that can’t be taught. Hard work…togetherness… work ethic. And we got that part right this past year. When you have that, anything is possible.”

Josh Yaro has his sights set high. And for good reason. Despite his humble demeanor, he sees how this past year’s successes have created a strong foundation for future success stories. He is guiding the change he wants to see in St. Louis and around the world. And those are big shoes he’s not afraid to fill.