Tucked away in Clinton, Mississippi, Mississippi Brilla FC has spent nearly two decades operating well outside the spotlight of American soccer’s biggest stages. Playing in USL League Two, a development circuit built for college-aged players chasing a professional break, Brilla has never been about star power. Yet a surprising number of names who once wore the club’s colors went on to carve out real careers in professional soccer, and tracking where they ended up says something interesting about how unlikely paths to the pro game can be.

A Launchpad Built on Faith and Development

Founded in 2006 as Mississippi’s first soccer franchise since the Jackson Chargers folded, Brilla has always carried a distinct identity. Its name, Spanish for “shine,” nods to Matthew 5:16 and reflects its ties to Brilla Soccer Ministries. On the field, though, it functions like dozens of other USL League Two sides: a proving ground where college players spend a summer trying to catch a scout’s eye before returning to campus.

Micheal Azira: The One Who Stuck Around Longest

Of the club’s notable alumni, few have enjoyed a career as durable as Micheal Azira. The Ugandan-born midfielder built a reputation as a tireless defensive presence across more than a decade in MLS, with stops at Chicago Fire and Seattle Sounders before settling in as a holding midfielder for New Mexico United. Azira also earned international caps for Uganda, including an appearance at the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations. His game was never about scoring goals; it was about the unglamorous work of shielding a backline, the kind of role that rarely draws headlines but keeps coaches calling.

Kharlton Belmar: A Career Built on Persistence

Few Brilla alumni traveled as far or as widely as Kharlton Belmar. Selected in the 2015 MLS SuperDraft by the Portland Timbers, Belmar was waived from that camp but refused to let it end his career. He built a genuinely impressive résumé instead, winning USL Rookie of the Year, lifting the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup with Sporting Kansas City in 2017, and earning nine caps for the Grenada national team. His journey through Nashville SC, Sacramento Republic, Colorado Springs Switchbacks, Richmond Kickers, and Charlotte Independence reads like a map of American lower-division soccer, and it stands as a reminder that a single draft-day setback rarely tells the whole story.

Alec Kann: From the Crease to the Sideline

Not every alumnus stayed on the field forever, and goalkeeper Alec Kann’s story shows what a well-managed transition looks like. After a career that included stints with Chicago Fire, Sporting Kansas City, and a long run with Atlanta United, Kann closed out his playing days with FC Cincinnati before officially retiring in late 2024. Rather than stepping away from the sport entirely, he has moved into private coaching in North Carolina, passing along the goalkeeping fundamentals he sharpened over more than a decade of professional play.

Emir Alihodžić: A Bosnian Journey Through the American Game

Emir Alihodžić’s path shows how international the USL League Two pipeline can be. Born in Tuzla, Bosnia, he played college soccer at the University of Nebraska Omaha before becoming the program’s first player selected in the MLS SuperDraft, taken 54th overall by the Seattle Sounders in 2016. Though he did not stick with the first team, he kept playing professionally in the USL and briefly returned to Bosnian football, a path that shows how a summer with a club like Brilla can be one stop on a genuinely global journey.

What These Stories Tell Us About Player Development

Taken together, these four careers highlight something worth remembering about lower-tier development leagues: outcomes are rarely uniform. One alumnus builds a decade-long MLS career, another bounces between a dozen clubs before finding a lasting role, another pivots gracefully into coaching, and another’s path fades after a promising draft selection. That range is fairly typical of USL League Two, and it is part of why scouts keep watching these summer circuits even when the games draw modest crowds.

For fans who follow the sport at every level, from small college towns to Major League Soccer, these developmental stories add real depth to understanding the wider game. It is also the kind of storyline that fuels growing interest in soccer across North America, where fans increasingly compare notes on odds and outcomes through a betting site as the sport’s profile rises heading into another major international season.

Brilla FC will likely never produce a household name in the way a top academy might, but its alumni list is proof that meaningful careers can start almost anywhere, including a small club in Clinton, Mississippi, built as much around community and faith as it is around competition.