Five-Star Marriott
So, why FGCU? Kamar Marriot smiled from ear to ear.
“Sometimes I think of how it would be if I went to a bigger school,” Marriott said, “but overall I’m happy with the decision I made.”
The 6’4, 20-year-old senior, is a native from Tampa, Florida; the legal studies major is also a defensive midfielder for the FGCU men’s soccer team. Nicknamed “K-Mart” by some of his fellow teammates, Marriott has been a dominant force on the pitch for FGCU ever since his freshman year in 2014.
But, when he’s not on the soccer pitch, you can catch him spending time with his family. Being the middle child of 3, he was able to watch his older brother play the game he eventually fell in love with. His older brother, Khalil Marriott, played soccer at UCF. He also has a younger brother, Kayson Marriott.
But, his soccer success didn’t begin at FGCU. In high school, he was a Second Team All-State member, District Player of the Year, a member of the 2014 North Texas State Cup winners and he led his team to the South Regional Championship and was named MVP of the tournament. He also placed second in Nationals, scoring two goals and being voted a top-11 player by the coaches.
He said the environment; campus life and athletic program are the factors that sealed the deal in his decision to come here.
He wanted to play somewhere that was about winning and somewhere that wasn’t too far, so his family could come see him play anytime they wanted.
Coming onto the field his freshman year, Marriott started off strong, capping off his first season by starting the final five games. Did I also mention that he scored his first collegiate goal in his first game here? He came on as a second-half substitute, scoring the insurance goal in a 2–0 victory over USF back in 2014.
As a sophomore, he played in 13 games and started six of them. He logged no goals that season, but was ranked tied 2nd with four assists in the Atlantic Sun.
2016 was arguably Marriott’s best season with the Eagles. He logged a team high 1,798 minutes on the pitch. 130 more minutes than anyone else on the team. He helped secure an FGCU defense, which allowed just six goals in ASUN action, tied for the 2nd-fewest in the league. His only goal came in the regular season finale, when he headed home a corner to tie the game 1–1 versus Lipscomb, capping off his junior season with an ASUN Championship versus Jacksonville.
Going into the 2017 season, Marriott had the same goal and that was to win. The eagles were at the top of the conference and on pace to win their 2nd consecutive ASUN title. “Winning the ASUN back in 2016 was a great feeling,” Marriott said. “I believed we had the squad to do it, we just came up a little short.” The eagles fell 2–1 to Lipscomb in the semifinals of the ASUN Championship.
Marriott always knew he could play at the collegiate level but didn’t really understand that he would be a division 1 soccer player until his recruitment started to pick up his senior year of high school.
Growing up, Marriott played multiple positions on the pitch because he’s tall, lengthy and can use his athleticism to cover ground. But, when he reached high school, he eventually fell in love with the defensive side of the ball.
Some midfielders play a disciplined defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are otherwise known as defensive midfielders. “I’ve always had that killer instinct when it came to soccer,” Marriott said. “If you have the ball and you’re coming at me, chances are you won’t have the ball soon after.” The killer instinct is something he credits to his father.
Raising three children, Marriott’s father, Lloyd Marriott, trained his two older sons, and both eventually became division 1 soccer players. Marriott says it was trial and error with him and his older brother. The skills that his older brother lacked became Marriott’s strength.
“My dad is probably the most influential person when it comes to soccer,” Marriott said, “He would always come to games and give me extra advice, even when it wasn’t what I wanted to hear.”
“I’ll never forget this one time in club soccer, he threatened to take me off the team because I was visibly not playing hard. It was the tough love I needed,” he said.
But, one thing about Marriott he values his relationships on the field, as much as he does off the field.
Arion Sobers, Marriott’s teammate and roommate for the past four years, speaks highly of his good friend. Marriott and Sobers have been with each other every step of the way during their journey at FGCU.
They both come from different backgrounds; Sobers being from Maryland and Marriott being from Tampa. But, when they arrived at FGCU in the summer of 2014, everything just clicked.
“It was the summer and majority of our time was spent training for the season coming up in the fall,” Marriott said. “There aren’t nearly as many people on campus either during the summer, so that really helped our team with bonding because all we had was each other.”
Marriott and Sobers knew about the winning culture here at FGCU and wanted to not only be apart of the winning culture but continue it.
“I can say he’s my best friend,” Sobers said, “we are able to learn from each other every day and I can honestly say we are like brothers.”
Marriott and Sobers, together, create a dynamic duo and complement each other very well. Although Marriott has been a force on the field during his career at FGCU, he believes he owes much of his success to his father.
Marriott said he has a great support system overall from his family. “They’ve always had my back with anything, not even just soccer. It’s great to have them in my corner,” Marriott said.
Since it’s the offseason right now, Marriott has just been training every day and keeping his body in shape.
For his best memory at FGCU, he couldn’t pick just one. He said it was a tie between his first career goal at FGCU and winning the ASUN championship. “If I had to go with one, I would say the championship because not everyone has a ring.” Marriott said.
Marriott said he will always rep FGCU wherever he goes. The men’s soccer program at FGCU was built on winning. With only 11 years in the existence, the men’s soccer program wasted no time in being recognized as one of the nation’s top elite soccer programs.
Players like Marriott and Sobers have helped FGCU maintain its winning culture and national credibility.
“We’re a top-25 team every year now,” Sobers said. “We can keep up with any team in the nation. We’re just going to continue to pave the way for the athletes that’ll come after us so they can maintain the winning culture here.”
When asked about his plans for the future, he gave a sly grin.
“Hopefully my career will continue after I graduate,” Marriott said. “But, if that doesn’t happen I want to still be involved with the game and one day maybe have a team of my own.”
