Ousseni Bouda was in New York City on Wednesday with the anticipation that he would be celebrating the Right to Dream Academy at the annual cocktail party. At the end of the night, the guests were celebrating him as the best high school soccer player in the country. 

Bouda was awarded the Gatorade National Boys Soccer Player of the Year Award in front of friends, his host family, and supporters of Right to Dream at the Chrysler Building in Manhattan. He is the fourth Right to Dream graduate to win the prestigious award. 

“I’m speechless,” Bouda told TopDrawerSoccer in a phone interview after the ceremony. “What a day! I woke up this morning and saw that I was tagged in a tweet saying that I was the New York Gatorade Player of the Year. And now in front of my host family, friends, and to win this.” 

Bouda led Millbrook (9-8-2) to the New England Prep School Class C final last season. He accounted for 53 goals, scoring 49 and assisting four more, of the Mustangs’ 61 goals. Bouda already owns the school record for goals scored with 92 in his three seasons so far. 

"Bouda is a rare combination of speed and skill," Sheldon Shealer, High School Soccer Editor for TopDrawerSoccer.com, said about the forward. "An elite attacker, he's able to create space with incredible footwork on the ball, or he can simply run right past defenders. No doubt, he's one of the most exciting and talented players to watch in the high school game.”

The teenager’s journey to the United States is a legendary tale that all started on a fateful day in 2012, which he can recall in vivid detail.

“My mom was a firm believer in school, but I wanted to play soccer every day,” Bouda, who was born in Burkina Faso, said. “I was staying with my grandmother because her house was closer to the practice fields and it was the last day of break. I found out that the Right to Dream Academy was having try-outs the next day, but it was during school.”

“I knew I couldn’t skip school because my mom would kill me,” Bouda, who was 11 at the time of the trial, said. “I went to school, but during class I had a feeling that I was missing something. I got up and left class and went to the trial.”

Bouda said he was late to the trial for his age group so the coaches put him in with the 16, 17, and 18 year olds. While playing against players up to seven years older than him, Bouda impressed the scouts enough to earn an invitation to the Right to Dream Academy in Ghana. 

In 2012, he moved to Ghana and joined the Right to Dream Academy. Hailing from French-speaking Burkina Faso, he did not know a word of English when he arrived, but he is a quick learner. 

“I had to work hard at school,” Bouda said. “I had to learn English before I went into the classroom. It was three months before I felt comfortable with English.”

He graduated from the Right to Dream Academy three years later and earned admittance to Millbrook, a private boarding school in New York. 

“I remember my first day,” Bouda said about Millbrook. “I stood out in the main quad, and I remember everyone was so nice. I saw the fields and the gym, and I knew I was going to spend a lot of time there. The teachers helped me a lot here. Millbrook is really a community that you can’t find anywhere else.”

Bouda still has another year with the Mustangs, and he is ecstatic he has another year on a campus that means so much to him. In the immediate future, he is headed back home for the first time. 

He said he is going to visit his family and take care of his visa this summer while he is in Burkina Faso. Despite his absence from his native land, he has never stopped thinking about it. He has spent his time at Millbrook gathering used sports equipment to send home regularly. He is taking a couple of duffel bags with balls and other equipment for this trip. 

Bouda’s success on the soccer field has earned him this attention, but his focus has been on helping those in his past. 

“Right now, I am doing what I can, but I want to do something big for my county one day,” he said. “I want to raise money and help find a player from Burkina Faso who can follow in my path. I want to use soccer to put myself on the highest platform. I look at George Weah, the President of Liberia. He inspires me.”

Those are lofty goals for a teenager, but Bouda’s motivation is inspiring and his determination is transcendent. He already has a plan for his next step in his sports life as he gave his verbal commitment to Stanford in April. 

“It’s been a dream of mine to attend Stanford ever since I arrived in the United States,” Bouda said. “It was incredibly fortunate that the coaches were interested in me too.” 

Bouda went to Palo Alto for some camps and got to know the coaching staff of the three-time defending NCAA Division I Men’s Soccer National Champions. He loved everything about the program. 

“I want to play for coach (Jeremy) Gunn,” Bouda said. “The whole vibe of the school and the program felt right for me.”

Bouda is the first Stanford commit to win the Gatorade National Boys Soccer Player of the Year, and the first high school junior to win the award since Ema Boateng, a fellow Right to Dream graduate, did in 2012.