Keynote Speaker - Author - Pro Soccer Player
Kotaro Umeda
Kotaro Umeda was born in Tokyo, raised in Cleveland, and competed professionally as a soccer player across Brazil, Portugal, the United States, and Hong Kong over a six-year playing career. He became the first Asian athlete to play for Joinville Esporte Clube in Brazil and the first Asian athlete to win a USL League One championship. He is a globally published author, a model, a PAC Speakers Bureau member, and now a keynote speaker on a mission to be the best in the world.
From Tokyo to Cleveland, One Constant at a Time
Kotaro’s childhood was defined by movement and by what anchored him through it.
Born in Tokyo, he moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico as an infant, returned to Japan at three, and relocated to Cleveland, Ohio at six when his parents found work in one of the country’s most underserved communities. By the time he was 12, his family had lived in seven different apartments. He did not speak English well. He faced racial abuse regularly. And through all of it, soccer was the one thing that did not change.
“Soccer was always there for me. It kept me away from the streets. It was my anchor.”
He learned English through rap music. He played every chance he got. But even then, soccer was never the whole story. He was already dreaming of writing books, of standing in front of rooms and moving people with his words. The field was where he found stability. The page and the stage were where he always knew he was headed.
At 12 years old, attending his first ever NCAA soccer game, watching the University of Akron and Louisville compete for a national championship, he decided those were the two schools he wanted to attend. Three years later, he had offers from both. He chose Louisville. The program felt right, and the financial support they offered his family made the decision easy.
A Career Built on Firsts
At Louisville, Kotaro shared locker rooms with future stars like Donovan Mitchell and Lamar Jackson. He watched their work ethic up close. He absorbed it.
After transferring to the University of Akron in his junior year, the opportunity he had always been working toward arrived. A professional club in Brazil came calling, and Kotaro did not hesitate. He left college early to sign with Joinville Esporte Clube, becoming the first Asian athlete in the organization’s history and officially beginning his professional career. In 2021, he won the Brazilian league. In 2022, playing for South Georgia Tormenta FC in USL League One, he won a national championship and became the first Asian athlete to lift that trophy. In 2024, he played in Hong Kong’s Premier League at stadiums his family had talked about since he was a child.
“When you’re actually in the process, you don’t even realize. You’re just taking one day at a time. When I picked my head up, these accomplishments were there.”
Six years. Four countries. A career that opened doors for Asian athletes in professional soccer. But even while competing at the highest level, Kotaro was building something else entirely.
The Stories He Had to Tell
Kotaro began writing during his playing career. Not as a side project. As a calling.
His first book was part autobiography, part self-help, a way of putting his life on paper and offering it to others who might be navigating something similar. The process was as much about healing as it was about storytelling. He translated it into Japanese and Portuguese, two of the multiple languages he speaks, reaching audiences across three continents. He has since published five books in total, all available globally through Barnes and Noble.
He also wrote and illustrated a children’s book, which he donates to a local hospital in his hometown. He goes back to read to the kids whenever he can.
“Any type of art is therapy for me.”
The books were never separate from the speaking. They were preparation for it. Every page Kotaro wrote was him learning how to communicate what he had lived, finding the language for experiences most people never have to navigate. By the time he stepped onto a stage, he had already done the hard work of turning his life into something others could hold onto.
He is also a working model, beginning at FACE Models in Lisbon, Portugal in 2020 and now represented by EMG Models in New York City and Twenty Model Management internationally.
The Be Great Tour
When Kotaro retired from professional soccer at the end of 2024, the competitive drive did not leave. It redirected.
Before PAC Accelerate in Phoenix the spring of 2026, he organized what he called his own “Be Great Tour,” 12 speaking engagements across eight weeks, spanning Cleveland, Tokyo, New York, and universities including Cornell and Syracuse. He booked every engagement himself. He showed up and delivered at every one.
“Be great” is not a phrase for Kotaro. It is a standard he holds himself to, the same one he carried onto every field, now applied to a bigger arena.
“That competitor side of me is always inside of me. It was on the field. Now it’s about being the best keynote speaker I could possibly be.”
For Kotaro, the stage is not about recognition. It is about reach. Every speaking engagement is an opportunity to connect with someone who might be navigating the same hardships he once faced, whether that is identity, belonging, mental health, or simply figuring out what comes next. He speaks on those topics because he has lived them, and because he knows firsthand how much it means to hear someone else say they have too.
He works with corporate organizations, schools, universities, nonprofits, and faith-based communities. For booking, visit kotaroumeda.com.
“Growing up, the one question I hated was where are you from. Since I left Japan at an early age, whenever I would go back, I was an outlier. When I was in Cleveland, I was Asian. I never had a home. But then I realized I don’t have to be from anywhere. I’m just me. I’m KOTA. And so as I got older, I started embracing that.”
Kotaro Umeda
Keynote Speaker - Author - Pro Soccer Player
Kotaro joined PAC at the right time. The transition out of professional sports is disorienting for almost every athlete who goes through it, and Kotaro was no different. His first PAC experience was the public speaking course led by Shon Hart. It lit something up.
When PAC Accelerate came around, he was all in.
I signed up and wasn’t sure what to expect. I’m not a networking guy. But the moment it started, everyone let their guards down. We talked about our struggles. We put all of our accolades and trophies aside. It was just, who are you outside of your sport? That’s what was life changing for me.
Kotaro Umeda
Professional Soccer Player
He walked away from Phoenix with relationships he describes as genuine brotherhood and sisterhood. As a Signature Member, Kotaro has gone all in on what PAC has to offer. He has joined the PAC Speakers Bureau and is actively building his speaking career within the community, learning from and alongside some of the best in the business.
Kotaro Umeda is an author, a speaker, a coach, a model, a PAC Spears Bureau member, and a former professional athlete who broke barriers on every continent he played on. He is not done breaking them.