A sense of belonging created with a soccer ball
“I walk around campus and its like, I know that guy from soccer, that guys from soccer…I feel like after a while you just grow into the family.”
On a bitterly cold night in early February, most students would be in their dorm rooms staying warm and watching Netflix. But, the 25 individuals who make up the UMBC Men’s Club Soccer team do not have the same mindset. This glorious, 36 degree evening, on the UMBC stadium turf, something glorious is taking place. For the first time in over 2 months the team is back together and allowed to practice. This is an occasion every single member of the team looks forward to the second they return to campus for the semester.
For one, and probably many other, members of the team, this moment marks a return to a place of true solace. Ahmed Jones (fake last name to protect identity) has earmarked this day ever since the last practice of the fall semester in December. His winter break was spent back in his native country of Egypt. The entire time spent relaxing with family and preparing for his final semester of his time at UMBC.
But, through his 4 years at the school one thing has allowed Ahmed to truly flourish. His love and passion for playing soccer. As his first few years on campus transpired he made a few friends on his dorm floor. But, he had not yet really gotten to open up socially. Then, as he describes it, “one day a friend of mine walked into my dorm room, he had a soccer ball in his hand. He asked if i’d like to go to join him and some others at the RAC for some pickup soccer. I jumped at the opportunity.”
This was a pivotal moment in Ahmed’s experience at UMBC. Ahmed, being an international student who had very few friends because he did not really connect with many people and was not very socially extroverted, needed a push to go out and be social. “UMBC isn’t really connected to anything, I missed out on a lot of social possibilities because of that lack of connection.”
Soccer became his haven of social life. Ahmed never fit in with the typical college crowd of going out to parties and drinking or smoking. So, his place was cemented in pick up soccer games around campus. There was a large group of people who all were put in a GroupMe group where at any time there may be a notification on his smartphone that there was a game going down.
His true calling came at the beginning of his Junior year. As Ahmed became closer and closer with his friends who played pick up. He noticed that a lot of them were also members of the UMBC Men’s Club Soccer team. Finally, over the summer of 2015 while back in Egypt visiting family he had a conversation with a friend from UMBC. The person implored him that a lot of the seniors from the club team had left and there would be ample opportunity for them to possibly make the team. After a little coaxing Ahmed finally caved and agreed to partake in the tryouts that fall.
Since that time, he says the transition has been night and day. Whereas before he spent most of his time either in his dorm or maybe playing pick up soccer. Now, he had a core group of people who came from a multitude of different backgrounds that he could truly identify with on a deeper level. Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7pm were the highlights of his week, every week. There was a true sense of belonging to something bigger than himself that he had not experienced before, in the United States or back home in Egypt. Soccer had provided him the chance to truly thrive and come into his own, in a time when he was on a constant search for answers about not just his environment but himself as well.
