| Ahinga Selemani | |
| Fullname: | Ahinga Bienvenu Selemani |
| Birth Date: | 15 March 1996 |
| Birth Place: | Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada |
| Position: | Forward |
| Youthclubs1: | Windsor Internationals |
| Youthclubs2: | Michigan Tigers FC |
| Youthyears3: | 2009–2014 |
| Youthclubs3: | Michigan CSA Wolves |
| Collegeyears1: | 2014 |
| Collegecaps1: | 18 |
| Collegegoals1: | 3 |
| Collegeyears2: | 2015–2016 |
| College2: | UC Santa Barbara Gauchos |
| Collegecaps2: | 43 |
| Collegegoals2: | 12 |
| Years1: | 2015 |
| Clubs1: | AFC Ann Arbor |
| Years2: | 2016 |
| Caps2: | 1 |
| Goals2: | 0 |
| Clubs2: | Ventura County Fusion |
| Years3: | 2017 |
| Caps3: | 0 |
| Goals3: | 0 |
| Clubs3: | Panetolikos |
| Years4: | 2018–2019 |
| Caps4: | 15 |
| Goals4: | 2 |
| Clubs4: | Vlašim |
| Years5: | 2018–2019 |
| Clubs5: | Vlašim B |
| Years6: | 2019–2020 |
| Caps6: | 16 |
| Goals6: | 10 |
| Clubs6: | Hawke's Bay United |
| Years7: | 2020 |
| Clubs7: | Lincoln Red Imps |
| Years8: | 2021 |
| Caps8: | 17 |
| Goals8: | 3 |
| Clubs8: | Cavalry FC |
| Years9: | 2022 |
| Caps9: | 20 |
| Goals9: | 4 |
| Clubs9: | Gudja United |
| Years10: | 2023 |
| Caps10: | 15 |
| Goals10: | 0 |
| Clubs10: | One Knoxville SC |
| Years11: | 2023 |
| Caps11: | 10 |
| Goals11: | 0 |
| Clubs11: | Valour FC |
| Nationalyears1: | 2012–2013 |
| Nationalteam1: | United States U17 |
| Nationalcaps1: | 4+ |
| Nationalgoals1: | 2+ |
| Nationalyears2: | 2013–2014 |
| Nationalteam2: | United States U18 |
| Pcupdate: | September 29, 2023 |
| Ntupdate: | December 31, 2014 |
Ahinga Bienvenu Selemani (born March 15, 1996) is a professional soccer player. Born in Canada, he represented the United States at youth international level.
Selemani was born in Canada in Moncton, New Brunswick, later moving to Windsor, Ontario as a child, before moving to the United States and being raised in Ann Arbor, Michigan.[1] [2] He began playing youth soccer in Canada with Windsor Internationals.[3] From 2009 to 2014, he played with the Michigan CSA Wolves.[4] He attended Pioneer High School in Ann Arbor, where he won the district championship with the soccer team in 2011 and was named to the All-State team.[5]
In February 2014, he committed to attend the University of Michigan, where he played for the men's soccer team.[6] He made his collegiate debut on August 29 against the FIU Panthers.[7] He scored his first goal on October 26 against the Indiana Hoosiers.[8] At the end of the season, he was named to the Big Ten Conference All-Freshman Team.[9]
In 2015, he transferred to the University of California, Santa Barbara to play for their soccer team.[10] He scored his first goal on September 6, 2015, against the [11] [12] On November 11, he scored against the UC Davis Aggies, to propel the team to the Big West Tournament final.[13] At the end of the season, he was named to the All-Big West Conference Second Team.[14] On October 10, 2016, he earned Big West Offensive Player of the Week honors.[15] The following week, he was again named the Big West Offensive Player of the Week and was also named to the College Soccer News Team of the Week.[16] [17] At the end of the season, he was named to the All-Big West First Team.[18] He chose to not return for his senior season in 2017 to instead pursue a professional career.[19]
In 2015, he played in the Premier Development League with AFC Ann Arbor in the Great Lakes Premier League.[20]
In 2016, he played with the Ventura County Fusion in the Premier Development League.[21]
In February 2017, Selemani went on trial with Superleague Greece side Panetolikos.[22] [23] He subsequently signed a three-year contract with the club.[24] [25] In August 2017, he mutually terminated his contract, without having appeared in an official match, electing to return to North America.[26] [27]
In July 2018, Selemani signed with second tier Czech National Football League side Vlašim.[28] He also spent some time with their B team in the sixth tier I.A Class, including scoring a hat trick May 20, 2019 against Úvaly.[29]
In October 2019, Selemani signed with New Zealand Football Championship side Hawke's Bay United.[30] He scored 10 goals and added 6 assists in 16 games that season, winning the Hawke's Bay's player of the season award.[31] He was also a runner-up in the league MVP race and was the team's Player's choice player of the year and Coach's choice player of the year.
In July 2020, he joined Gibraltar National League team Lincoln Red Imps.[32] [33]
In December 2020, he signed with Canadian Premier League club Cavalry FC for the 2021 season.[34] [35] He scored his first goals for the club on June 30, netting a brace in a 4–1 victory over Atlético Ottawa.[36] [37]
In January 2022, he signed a short-term deal with Gudja United in the Maltese Premier League.[38] [39]
In late December 2022, he joined USL League One side One Knoxville SC, ahead of the 2023 season.[40] [41]
In July 2023, Selemani returned to the Canadian Premier League, signing with Valour FC.[42] He made his debut on July 23, in a substitute appearance against York United FC.[43]
Selemani was born in Canada to parents from the DR Congo, and moved to the United States at a young age, and is eligible for all three national teams. In 2012, he began playing with the United States U17 as a member of their residency program. On November 28, 2012, he scored in a friendly against Brazil U17.[44] He was named to the squad for the 2013 CONCACAF U-17 Championship, scoring a goal against Haiti U17.[45] In 2013 and 2014, he was selected to the United States U18 for various tournaments.[46] [47] He also spent some time with the United States U20.[48]
| Club | Season | League | Playoffs | National Cup[49] | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Ventura County Fusion | 2016 | Premier Development League | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Panetolikos | 2017–18 | Superleague Greece | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Vlašim | 2018–19 | Czech National Football League | 15 | 2 | — | 1 | 0 | 16 | 2 | ||
| Hawke's Bay United | 2019–20 | New Zealand Premiership | 16 | 10 | — | — | 16 | 10 | |||
| Lincoln Red Imps | 2020–21 | Gibraltar National League | ? | ? | — | ? | ? | ? | ? | ||
| Cavalry FC | 2021 | Canadian Premier League | 17 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 18 | 3 | |
| Gudja United | 2021–22 | Maltese Premier League | 10 | 3 | — | 2 | 1 | 12 | 4 | ||
| 2022–23 | 11 | 1 | — | 0 | 0 | 11 | 1 | ||||
| Total | 20 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 23 | 5 | |||
| One Knoxville SC | 2023 | USL League One | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 | |
| Valour FC | 2023 | Canadian Premier League | 3 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 87 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 92 | 20 | |||