La Grande High School Varsity Senior and Former UCYSA & UC United Soccer player Owen Rinker Commits to The College of Idaho.
Owen Rinker started playing soccer in the UCYSA Summer Recreational League when he was three years old. It quickly became a passion for him, as he looked forward to spending warm summer nights playing the game he loved with his sister and his friends while his parents coached him.
Owen started watching as many games as he could on TV along with YouTube videos and reading every book he could on soccer to improve his knowledge of the game. He also spent countless hours in the driveway and at the LMS field working on his skills against the soccer wall and shooting on goal.
In 2015, when Rinker was a nine-year-old Fourth Grader, he was invited to try out for the UC United U12 Boys Team. He made the team, starting every game at either Center Back or Defensive Holding Midfielder. He continued to play for UCU every spring and fall season from then until 2017.
As a sixth grader playing up on the U14 Boys Team, Owen was voted the youngest team captain and was selected as a captain every season thereafter. In 2016, Rinker was a part of the first team in UC United Boys Soccer history to win the highly competitive Idaho Boys U14 Division Championship.
In 2017, Rinker, along with UC United teammate Lucas Young, tried out for and was named to the Idaho Olympic Development Program Boise Pool. Along with Young, he was then selected to the 04 ODP Idaho State Team as well as the ODP Regional and Sub Regional Camps.
From 2017 to 2019, Rinker competed on the 04 Boys Black Team with the Three Rivers Soccer Club based out of Pasco, Washington. He was twice named team captain and was a Washington Youth Soccer Championship Cup Winner with the club.
In 2019, Owen was named a varsity starter on the La Grande High School Boys Soccer as a freshman. That year, LHS reached the OSAA state quarter-finals and Rinker was named Second Team All-Greater Oregon League and Newcomer of the Year.
In 2020, LHS made the OSAA Championship Round of 16 and Owen was named First Team All-GOL and Team Top Defender.
In 2021, LHS made the OSAA Championship Round of 16 with Rinker being named First Team All-GOL and Team Most Valuable Player.
In 2022, LHS took second place in the GOL, earning a play-in game. First place went to eventual Oregon State 4A Champion, Ontario. Owen was named First Team All-GOL and Team Most Valuable Player.
Rinker is a member of the National Honor Society and maintains a 4.0 Grade Point Average. He also is active in student government as ASB President, sings competitively with the LHS Acapella Choir and plays varsity basketball and baseball. Owen has earned state championships in both choir and baseball.
In the spring of 2023, Owen received academic, leadership and athletic scholarship offers to play Men's Soccer at The College of Idaho where he has signed a Letter of Intent. Rinker intends to study Pre-Law and Mathematics while minoring in Coaching and Youth Ministry.
Owen feels blessed to have grown up in such a supportive community as Union County. UCYSA and UC United started the fire to play soccer in him at an early age and then helped him to grow tactically and skill-wise. He is very grateful for all the opportunities UCYSA afforded him. In addition to soccer, Owen has numerous relationships, life lessons and memories that are priceless to him and are directly attributable to the club.