Ousman Touray '19 Recruiting Profile

My background is about football (soccer). When I was a little kid like about 7-year-old, my parent took to Senegal for me to learn the Quran. People in Senegal have a different lifestyle as people in the Gambia because when I was in the Gambia I wasn't playing football but in Senegal, people always play football. The time I got in Senegal I was practicing football like all time people playing football, I'm playing with them, but many people were bullying me as the way I play football and I know that I’d love football that’s why I did not give up. Many people in Senegal their family member have an experience of football but me I’m the only one in my family that plays football, I was very serious for the first time get to try out, but people were making fun of me and laughing at me by telling me too late for me start playing football, however, there was my best friend who was encouraging me to play football nothing is impossible in life and I believed football is a part of my life so I was trying my best to make it.

By the time started play football I wasn’t good so people always telling me to stay in goalie (because nobody wants to be the goalkeeper), over time I realized that can be better than who they think am I  that makes me change my mind and start focusing on defend (in front of the goalkeeper) but nobody trust me for after they find out, people let play defend. I was enjoying to be a defender for while and I realized that people who play forward have more value (attacking position) because they able make more goals than anyone else, I was talking peoples about moving forward and they were giving some advice (basically all they were saying to me that I’m not good enough to play forward), I was thinking about that I must show them that I can handle it to play forward. When I started some people attended to stop me from playing forward soon as they find out and they put me on the striker (center forward).

Even today’s life many people attend to fight against me in football (in the USA every summer my friends and I going to the park and play football, when school opens we’re going to the park and play football every Friday after school but most of my friends do not enjoy to play football with me) because they be complaining about me by saying that I’m selfish, that even makes football harder for me because people that I play with many people don’t want to be in the same team with me, if we’re in the same team nobody would like to pass me the ball, as they know me as a striker but still I can play many different positions this like back at the beginning of football even though I’m good at football but people that I play with still do not see my value but I do not mind. I’m always happy when I realize my dream has finally become reality.