By JOEY HOLLEMAN
jholleman@thestate.com
MANY COUNTRIES, ONE TEAM
Getting on a culture kick
Mohamed Somow dribbles the soccer ball through a line of defenders, blasts a long shot with his powerful right leg and scores.
As the lanky 13-year-old glides back to midfield with his arms out, he cackles an ear-splitting laugh. “Ah-ha-ha, ah-ha-ha!”
Vanessa Campos, another 13-year-old on the opposing side during this practice scrimmage, mimics him. “Ah-ha-ha, ah-ha-ha, you’re still losing!”
Typical middle school students on a typical soccer team? In some ways yes, in others, hardly.
The Metro Stars, composed mainly of students in the English as a Second Language program at Crayton Middle School, have a United Nations roster of kids.
These children from Nigeria, Guinea, China, Argentina, Venezuela, Mexico and Somalia are assimilating into American culture through soccer.
Somow is from Somalia; Campos is one of two U.S.-born players who is not in the English as a Second Language program but who joined the team because they wanted to play with school friends.
“Soccer, I think the Italian people created it, but I think it’s for everybody,” said Sidiki Dioubate, 13, from Guinea in West Africa.
A CERTAIN COMFORT LEVEL
Crayton is the magnet middle school for the Richland 1 school district’s English as a Second Language program, designed to help youngsters from families in which English isn’t the primary language spoken at home.
About 45 middle school students from throughout the district take advantage of the program, which offers specialized training in English. Depending on their mastery of the language, they join standard math, science and history classes.
Four years ago, a Mexican student in the program recruited fellow students for a soccer team, and the teachers encouraged the effort as a way to help the children from other cultures learn about the recreational experience in their adopted home.
Many immigrant families discourage their children from assimilating into U.S. culture, said Melody Clowney, who teaches the students at Crayton. They don’t want to let go of their native culture.
But soccer offers those families a certain comfort level. Long before soccer moms were a political force in the United States, kids in the rest of the world were playing the sport.
The early efforts for the team from Crayton were lackluster, in part because the team was in leagues with few other teams in the 14-and-under age groups.
But last year, the team joined the large Northeast Columbia Soccer Association. The league opened its arms, with an anonymous donor paying the players’ registration fee and a local soccer store providing gear for those who couldn’t afford it.
This year’s team has 17 players. Their first trip to the multifield Polo Road Soccer Complex was an eye-opener.
“We drove up here last year, and they saw the flags around the field and they thought they were in the Olympics,” said Pam Cakora, another teacher who stays after school for practices and attends the Metro Stars’ games.
When league officials put out word that a new team needed a coach, Chris Carter volunteered. Recently finished with military duty, he had returned to school and had some free time. Carter, a 29-year-old Columbia resident who also coaches his son’s team in a younger age group, had no idea what he was getting into.
“I just got lucky,” he said with the enthusiasm that makes the kids love him.
Many of the kids have incredible skills, having dribbled balls most of their lives, but they struggle with team play and basics such as throw-ins.
“It took them a while to understand, you can do this, you can’t do that,” Carter said.
They don’t always agree with their coach.
“I’m the fastest on the team, and he won’t let me play midfield,” said Bin Chen, 14, who is Chinese and is the heart of the team’s defense.
“It’s because of his speed that I need him on defense,” Carter explained.
Carter knows enough Spanish to recognize when the Hispanic kids are saying bad things about him under their breath. His only real communication problem is with the parents who speak English sparingly.
During the games, the players sometimes communicate with each other in native languages, which can be distracting to other teams.
“Our kids mentioned that they were out there talking and they couldn’t understand them,” said Chip Flanders, whose AC Milan team is the only one to beat the Metro Stars this season.
But what Flanders noted most was the unspoken message from the Metro Stars. “They just seemed to be having so much fun.”
DIFFERENT COUNTRIES, DIVERSE UPBRINGINGS
Many, but not all, of the parents attend games and cheer loudly for the team in various languages.
Immanuel Adelere, a Nigerian cab driver who has two children on the team, donates time and gas to help take the kids to games and home from practices. They get some strange looks when they arrive at the Polo Road Complex in a taxi. Moises Sanchez, a Mexican with a daughter on the team, serves as an assistant coach.
They’re just like any other soccer parents — except many of them work two jobs or long hours to make ends meet while trying to overcome language barriers. School and league officials make no effort to check the families’ immigration status.
Those busy work schedules explain why the Metro Stars practice after school on a field at Crayton. The struggles now and in their home countries also might explain why the kids and parents don’t complain about Crayton’s dusty practice field with nary a blade of grass.
Adalila Pineda, whose 13-year-old son, Cesar, is on the team, gave a typical parental response when asked about soccer. “She likes that I have lots of friends and I have a lot of things to keep me busy,” Cesar interpreted for his mother.
These kids aren’t typical in all ways, either. Many have had difficult childhoods, born in areas with staggering poverty, or worse. Two of the players are Bantus, from the African tribe persecuted and uprooted during the Somalian civil war in the 1990s. Aid organizations brought them here from crowded refugee camps in Kenya.
“When I came here, I only knew how to say ‘Hi’ and ‘What’s your name?’” said Mohamed, who prefers to say he’s from East Africa rather than Somalia.
He also knew how to play soccer. Youngsters often played barefoot on dirt fields at the refugee camps. Now, Mohamed wears cleats, shin guards and a clean jersey with “NECSA” written on the back.
“When I’m playing soccer, I always feel happy,” Mohamed said.
His screeching laugh during practice mixes with Sidiki’s constant high-pitched chatter and Bin’s running commentary to create a unique playground harmony.
“I’m the best player, and you know it,” Sidiki said.
“No I am,” Mohamed answered.
“I’m the fastest,” Bin said.
The truth is, all three could be playing on high school teams in a few years if they keep working at soccer.
The ball is like an extension of Sikidi’s feet as he zips past players twice his size. Mohamed has the long strides and powerful kick that can dominate the midfield. Bin’s stocky, powerful legs give him the ideal balance of speed and body control for a defender.
Many of the other players have impressive soccer skills. Some have more heart than athleticism. Nigerian Adeola Adelere, 11, said she appreciates that “you get to run around with the boys.”
After practice, the players plop on the small set of bleachers, several pulling out cell phones to call parents. Mohamed and Sidiki start a light-hearted argument over the merits of West Africa vs. East Africa.
Coach Carter said he hasn’t noticed any real animosity between the various groups on his team. On the contrary, the boys and girls from different ethnic backgrounds flirt with each other like any other teens.
In many ways, the soccer field is an extension of the classroom.
“By playing soccer, playing as a team, they’ve learned one more skill they’ll need,” Cakora said.
They’ve also learned that most difficult lesson for youngsters — how to lose. The 8-2 loss to AC Milan depressed Mohamed so much, he told Cakora he didn’t want to play anymore.
But he said that threat was a motivational ploy.
“I was mad,” Mohamed said. “I was just making sure the others would play hard next time.”
Not surprisingly, the topic of the soccer team often comes up in class. Some students who didn’t sign up for the team this season say they want to play next year, Clowney said.
Unfortunately, the team could be a victim of a change in District 1 policy. The English as a Second Language program at the middle school level will be spread among several schools next year, rather than being concentrated at Crayton. That will make organizing the team and getting kids to practices more difficult, unless enough players to form a team end up at any one middle school.
But even if this is the last season for this special group, the experience has left a mark on the youngsters. The proof can be found in the opening lines of an essay written by Ariel Ruby, a 14-year-old Mexican.
“I worry about losing the soccer games. But I dream about winning the games! I am proud of myself.”
Reach Holleman at (803) 771-8366.
Source: The State, April 25, 2006
