In the small but growing kids’ soccer leagues of the Kiowa tribe of southwest Oklahoma, the young boys don’t dream of being a Messi or a Ronaldo.

They want to be the next Bau Daigh, which translates to “warrior coming over the hill.” If that name isn’t familiar, try Chris Wondolowski, the 32-year-old Major League Soccer forward, whose San Jose Earthquakes host the Vancouver Whitecaps tonight at Avaya Stadium.

Bau Daigh is the Kiowa name bestowed on the Danville, Calif., native and tattooed down his right rib cage. His mom, Janis, is part Kiowa, part Cherokee, and often brought Chris and his brother back to the reserve as kids to soak up a culture and a heritage that is a big part of Wondolowski’s identity.

The game’s roots in the United States can be traced back to at least a century before Scottish, English and German immigrants introduced modern football in the late 1800s.

Native tribes in what is now the New England area contested games of Pauschguakohowog, literally meaning “kicking ball sport,” on fields and beaches nearly a mile long with as many as 500 players a side. It was as much warfare as anything else — broken legs and other serious injuries were not uncommon — and games would last days.

But soccer never had much of a foothold among the Kiowa. Few played the game, fewer still ever watched it on television. That started to change when the late-blooming Wondolowski tied an MLS single-season record in 2012 with 27 goals.

When he became the first native American to play on the U.S. national team at a World Cup in 2014, his hero status was cemented. Viewing parties were set up to watch the U.S. play. The Kiowa youth sports club now hands out yearly Wondo Excellence awards.

Wondolowski is an ambassador for Nike’s N7 program, which aims to bring sports to native American communities. And he helps out with projects like Street Soccer USA, which uses the game to help special needs and homeless youth and young adults in recovery.

He says working on projects like those and seeing the growth of youth soccer among the Kiowa drives him to do more.

“I’m extremely proud of that,” he said in a phone interview this week from San Jose. “My native heritage is who I am and if I can use that platform to influence even one or two young kids that means a lot.

“It’s what I enjoy and I get so much out of it, so I’m open to do more work,” added Wondolowski who was on the Kiowa reserve for three days in early December for a clinic and a celebration honouring him. “I think kids soccer on the reserve can grow exponentially in the coming years. There’s more work to do on it, but it’s a lot of fun.”

•

It’s been a remarkable MLS season for goal-scoring newcomers.

The Atomic Ant, Italian Sebastian Giovinco, has popped 20 for Toronto FC, Spain’s all-time leader David Villa has scored 17 for New York City FC and 37-year-old Chelsea legend Didier Drogba has seven in six games after joining Montreal in August.

Canadian Cyle Larin has set a rookie record with 14 goals for Orlando City and Sierra Leone international Kei Kamara, back in the league after a 14-month stint in England, leads MLS with 22 goals after never scoring more than 11 in eight previous seasons in the league.