Twenty years ago, Robbie Robinson was a little kid with big dreams growing up in the small city of Camden, South Carolina, where he practiced soccer, morning, noon, and night.
“When I was young, I was a dreamer. Every day, just dreaming that I could make it, even when people told me, you’re not gonna make it from Camden, South Carolina. No one makes it from there,” he says.
Next Wave 2026 · Robbie Robinson
Robbie Robinson is part of Northshore’s Next Wave 2026, spotlighting 14 leaders, entrepreneurs, and creatives helping shape what comes next for the region.
But those people were wrong. Robinson soared to soccer success, winning the Hermann Trophy at Clemson University, becoming Major League Soccer’s No. 1 overall draft pick when he was tapped to play for the David Beckham co-owned team, Inter Miami, and sharing the field with soccer superstar Lionel Messi.
Now, Robinson is helping local kids make their own soccer dreams come true as director of One FC Boston, an elite youth soccer academy based at Governor’s Academy in Byfield. The organization is an offshoot of Miami-based One FC, founded by World Cup champion Blaise Matuidi and Premier League veteran Kieran Gibbs, who are both former teammates of Robinson’s. “It’s our passion to develop and really push soccer in America,” Robinson says.
Following His Passion
From nearly the beginning, Robinson’s professional career was plagued by injuries, including one that required major surgery.
“I had about 12 major injuries throughout four years,” he says. “My hamstring tendon came off the bone in a game. It totally detached from my knee. After that, I knew it was going to be very tough, because then I had lost a lot of my extension, and the recovery was really brutal.” Even after his return post-surgery, the injuries kept coming.
“I’d try to play, and I’d tear something,” he says. “Tear a calf, a hamstring.”
Despite being “the type of person that’s gonna go till I can’t go anymore,” his injuries ultimately forced him to medically retire in 2025 and eventually relocate from Florida to the North Shore, where his fiancée grew up.
At first, Robinson struggled to find his footing.
“It was tough. It’s like, what am I going to do next? What’s my purpose?” he remembers thinking.
He even briefly considered a career in real estate. But his heart was still on the soccer field. “I figured out kind of quickly [real estate] wasn’t my passion,” he says. “I wanted to go into something that I was passionate about, which is soccer.”
Robinson started picking up private training gigs and quickly amassed 30 clients, realizing that there was a “huge need” for good-quality training in the region.
Shaping the New Generation
“During that time, I was always thinking, there has to be some other way to be able to make a bigger impact,” he says. “I contacted Kieran and Blaise and [asked] have you guys ever thought of branching out to up north?” Not long after, One FC Boston was born.
Open to players ages 6 to 18, One FC Boston aims to develop young soccer talent using a European-style approach that encourages technical skill development and offers what it calls a “competitive pathway” in the New England Club Soccer League. The goal is to start honing tactical awareness and skills in kids at a very young age.
“A lot of clubs in America don’t focus heavily on the technical, tactical piece,” Robinson says. With One FC Boston, however, that’s the main focus.
“We’re very focused on the development, both tactically and technically and also as people, too,” Robinson says. “We really want to teach the kids the right way and also let them express themselves on the field. We’re never going to hold back the kids. We want them to be creative on the field, express themselves. We think this is the best way to, you know, show your true potential and grow as a player and a person.”
The club is also carefully training its coaches to ensure they follow One FC’s methodology. “We have calls weekly with the coaches where we’re explaining to them exactly what we want to focus on this week, exactly what drills we’re going to need to be able to focus on,” Robinson says.
Robinson adds that part of his role is being a hands-on presence at trainings and games to manage coaches and sessions, be a point of contact for parents, and ensure that coaches are training according to the club’s methodology. “Our goal is to provide that development piece for these kids that they’re missing. I think what’s most important is to teach them the right way the game should be played,” he says. “We want to have a major impact and really change the game of soccer in America.”
The timing couldn’t be better. The World Cup took Boston by storm when the United States, Canada, and Mexico hosted it over the summer and soccer fans from around the world streamed into New England. Now, Robinson hopes One FC Boston will inspire another generation to chase soccer greatness like he once did in Camden, South Carolina.
“We want these kids to dream,” he says.
Explore Next Wave 2026
Discover the leaders, entrepreneurs, and creatives bringing fresh ideas to the North Shore, from restaurants and retail to museums, music, and community philanthropy.
Join Us for the Next Wave Event
Join Northshore for the Next Wave event on Wednesday, October 14, 2026, from 6 to 9 p.m. aboard Beauport Cruiseline in Gloucester. Enjoy live music and local bites on Gloucester Harbor as we celebrate the people and ideas shaping the North Shore. Reserve your tickets and join us on the water.