A Heavy Price for Love of the Game
By SCOTT FRENCH,
AOL
Posted: 2008-02-25 19:57:20
There was only one rule: It had to be round.
"I made a lot of balls," Alex Nimo says. "I used to take all the plastic we had in the house, the old clothes. I put it together, wrap it up, make a ball. ... We would make a ball out of plastic, we would make a ball out of leaves, we would make a ball out of tape. Anything we could make round, we would do it."
Doug Murray, RSL/Getty Images
A Story
Of Survival
When Alex Nimo would "break the rules" by playing soccer as a youth in a Ghanaian refugee camp, he would be whipped because children "would not come back" after going outside.
Soccer was the primary diversion for Nimo and his friends, and when he looks back on his childhood in a Ghanaian refugee camp, it's the one thing that brings him joy.
"It was (a difficult existence). It was tough," he says. "I try not to talk about it a lot, because it brings back memories. What happened in the past, the bad, I try to look and see for the future. It was a tough experience. It was very, very tough."
It makes Nimo thankful for the opportunities he's had since coming to America, the latest turning pro at 17. The Liberian-born midfielder was Real Salt Lake's second-round draft pick in January, and the trials he's endured are part of what made him so attractive to the Utahns.
"One of the things we said in the offseason that we had to do: We had to make our practice sessions better," said RSL general manager Garth Lagerwey, whose club, in its fourth year, is still seeking its first Major League Soccer playoff berth. "We had to make them more competitive. And we had to bring in guys who would fight and compete and raise our talent level. I think we've done that. I think Alex Nimo does that.
"Here's a kid, he's got a great story. And you talk to him, and this kid, he'll do anything. He's so grateful he's in America and has the opportunity to be a professional soccer player. That's the guy we want on our team."
The drive and the skills that define Nimo were bred in that Ghanaian camp. He was an infant when his family escaped Liberia's civil war and lived in the refugee camp until he was 9, when the U.S. government granted his family asylum. Soccer was his escape, and he put up with beatings to play the game.
Houston Dynamo goalie Pat Onstad watches as the ball enters the net on a goal by New England Revolution's Shalrie Joseph which tied the score in overtime during the SuperLiga final soccer match, Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2008, in Foxborough, Mass. The Revolution won 3-2 in a shootout. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)
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Houston Dynamo goalie Pat Onstad watches as the ball enters the net on a goal by New England Revolution's Shalrie Joseph which tied the score in overtime during the SuperLiga final soccer match, Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2008, in Foxborough, Mass. The Revolution won 3-2 in a shootout. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)
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Houston Dynamo's Corey Ashe reacts after missing his shot in a shootout, giving the New England Revolution a 3-2 win in the SuperLiga final soccer match Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2008, in Foxborough, Mass. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)
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New England Revolution owner Robert Kraft, center, hugs Shalrie Joseph as coach Steve Nicol, left, looks on after the Revolution beat the Houston Dynamo 3-2 in a shootout in the SuperLiga final soccer match, Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2008, in Foxborough, Mass. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)
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Teammates surround New England Revolution goalie Matt Reis, in light blue, after the Revolution beat the Houston Dynamo 3-2 in a shootout in the SuperLiga final soccer match, Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2008, in Foxborough, Mass. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)
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New England Revolution's Shalrie Joseph holds the trophy after the Revolution beat the Houston Dynamo 3-2 in a shootout in the SuperLiga final soccer match Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2008, in Foxborough, Mass. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)
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New England Revolution goalie Matt Reis (1) clears the ball from in front of the net before the Houston Dynamo's Brian Ching, second from left, can get a head on it during the first half of the SuperLiga 2008 final soccer match, Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2008, in Foxborough, Mass. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)
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Houston Dynamo's Bobby Boswell, right, and New England Revolution's Kenny Mansally vie for the ball during the first half of the SuperLiga final soccer match, Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2008, in Foxborough, Mass. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)
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Toronto FC fans hold signs before the Toronto FC play FC Dallas in their MLS soccer match in Toronto August 3, 2008. REUTERS/Mark Blinch (CANADA)
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FC Dallas' Drew Moor battles for the ball with Toronto FC's Jeff Cunningham (back) during the first half of their MLS soccer match in Toronto August 3, 2008. REUTERS/Mark Blinch (CANADA)
Reuters
"The only way I could (play) was to break the rules," he says. "I'd be in my room, and I would see (the other kids) playing. And if I go out, I get a whipping. But I still do it the next day. The only thing everybody does for fun is play soccer. And the next day I get a whipping and the next day.
"It's what I love to do, but (my parents) want me to be in the house and not go out because every time when people go out, their kids would never come back."
Children disappeared from the camp, and Nimo has no idea what became of them. "I just hear they don't come back," he says. "Their parents be crying sometimes. I didn't really know. I was blind. My eyes were closed to everything."
Nimo's first thoughts when he learned he was moving to the U.S. were about soccer.
"The hardest thing was leaving all those guys that I play with," he says. "'Cause we all grew up together. Leaving them and knowing they won't have the opportunity to make their life better -- that was pretty tough. At the same time, I was excited, 'cause the only thing on my mind was, 'Wow! I'll be able to play soccer!' That was the only thing on my mind."
His family landed in Portland, Ore., where everything quickly fell into place. He was spotted at an open tryout by Clive Charles, the legendary University of Portland coach who also worked with U.S. Soccer with a variety of teams, notably assisting Steve Sampson at the 1998 World Cup and guiding the U.S. U-23s to the semifinals at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
"It was a blessing from God," Nimo describes it. "When we came (to Portland), I'd go to the backyard and juggle, go to the park an see people playing, ask to join and they say, 'You're not on my team.' You had to go through a process, but I don't know anything. I kept asking my dad, and he talked to a friend of his, who took us down to UP for open tryouts, me and my brother."
Nimo, just 9, dominated the players in his age group. Charles put him in with players from three to six years older, and Nimo still impressed.
"I was playing good," he says. "I was really playing and really showing, had some amazing goals. Clive took me home and talked to my parents, said he wanted me to play for his club."
Nimo starred for FC Portland, one of the country's top clubs, for more than a half-dozen years. He grew close to Charles and his family and suffered when Charles succumbed to prostate cancer in 2003.
"He's not ever going to leave my heart," Nimo says. "He's the person who said, 'This kid, I can really see him going pro.' He was like my second father. He was a father, a brother, a counselor. I'm not going to forget him."
Nimo left FC Portland to join the U.S. under-17 residency in Bradenton, Fla. He scored three goals with two assists in qualifying for last year's FIFA U-17 World Cup, then started all four U.S. games in South Korea, assisting two goals. It was then he decided to turn pro.
"I've spent a long time waiting to turn pro," Nimo says. "I want to learn so much about the game, and I want to play at the highest level. I want to be a better player. The only way you can do that is to step into the professional level, and then it's how hard you want to work."
Nimo has the work ethic. He has speed, skill and vision, making him a capable creator on the wing. He could use a little more strength -- he stands only 5-foot-5, 140 pounds -- and, as is the case with most 17-year-old pros, will probably require some seasoning before he can make a real impact in MLS.
He scored in his second game for RSL, a preseason victory over Santa Barbara (Calif,) City College, and he's ready to do what must be done so he can contribute, so that he can make an impact.
"It's a lot different," he says. "(At this level) every pass is accurate, every play is accurate. You have to come to play every day -- every single day. I like it.
"And I love the team. Everybody is nice guys, everybody likes me. The team is like I'm a younger brother to them."
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