Hudson’s holiday surprise for All White
Kip Colvey was about to head out on a tour through Milford Sound when Anthony Hudson threw him a career lifeline.
The former All Whites coach sent a message on Thursday morning, asking for Colvey to call him. He was about to select the defender as the third pick in the Major League Soccer waiver draft - his first signing as Colorado Rapids coach. Hudson has also hired All Whites assistant coach Darren Bazeley and video analyst Jase Kim.
‘‘If we had left any earlier I probably wouldn’t have found out until 12 hours later, after they sent the pick in, so lucky we got the afternoon trip and I got to speak to him before we left,’’ said Colvey, who is currently on holiday in New Zealand.
The 15-cap international had heard the rumours of Hudson’s possible move to Colorado, in the weeks leading up to New Zealand’s World Cup qualifiers against Peru. But he said at no point during the two-legged tie did Hudson reveal his intentions to leave for MLS, or that he wanted to take Colvey to Colorado with him.
‘‘Anthony was really professional the whole time we were in Peru. He was focused on the team so we didn’t really know anymore than you did and we didn’t find out until it was announced through the media that he had gone there,’’ he said.
During the qualifiers, Colvey was still holding out hope for a contract extension at San Jose Earthquakes, where he had spent the first two years of his professional football career.
But once San Jose opted against renewing his contract, and once Hudson was confirmed at Colorado, there was immediate speculation of a potential reunion between the pair.
Colvey liked the idea of a shift to Denver but said there was never any direct communication between him and Hudson until the day of the waiver draft, which consists of players who had been released by their clubs but did not meet the minimum years of service requirement for free agency.
‘‘Knowing Anthony I thought there may have been a chance but you just never know what is going in the front office of a club. They could have easily been going in a different direction. I thought there was a chance but I wasn’t getting my hopes up so to speak. It was a nice little surprise.’’
After enduring frustrating 2017 season with San Jose, not seeing a single minute in MLS and playing just once in the US Open Cup, Colvey said he was looking forward to a change of scenery.
‘‘There was a lot of change in the club and I just felt myself being cast aside and it wasn’t a good feeling. There was a lot of frustration and a lot of emotions going through the whole year but lucky I had the national team to fall back on and that was a really positive thing. It kept me going a little bit through the tough times at the club.
‘‘I’m happy to be moving on and getting a new opportunity with Anthony and Colorado but I’ll never have any bad thoughts or feelings about my time in San Jose. Even though there was a bit of frustration there I’m forever grateful for what they did for me.’’