Emrah Klimenta has long ties to Oakland and the East Bay having first moved to the City of Oakland with his family upon emigrating from Montenegro. His family currently resides in the East Bay. Klimenta was part of the inaugural Sacramento Republic team that won the USL Championship in 2014. He played four seasons with the NorCal side, making 91 appearances and scoring nine goals all while becoming a fan favorite in that time. He spent a brief period of time in 2018 with MLS LA Galaxy before returning to Sacramento for the remainder of the 2018 season. Following his time in Sacramento, Klimenta spent a season in Reno and one in San Diego in 2019 and 2020, respectively. During his time in the USL, he has also been called up to represent his national team in Montenegro on seven occasions. Emrah earned the Roots 2021 Player of the Year, having led the team as captain and in minutes played. As captain, he made 29 appearances and 28 starts in 2021 scoring the game winning goal against Sacramento in the first rivalry match. Klimenta returned in 2022, making 27 appearances while scoring two more goals for Oakland.