Habib Bojang moved from Gambia to Indianapolis on May 12. He brought with him a love for soccer that made him a Christel House star.
INDIANAPOLIS — Habib Bojang traveled with his grandmother to her farm in Sukuta, Gambia, at 6 a.m. every day. They returned home by seven so Bojang could start his 30-minute walk to school.
At least that’s where Siya Manneh thought her grandson was always going.
Bojang wore his uniform out of the house but secretly packed soccer training attire in his backpack. A 12-year-old Bojang would find a remote area in his neighborhood and change before traveling to a local soccer field to train three mornings during the school week.
”I had no other dream but soccer,” Bojang said. “This has been it all my life.”
Bojang and his family moved from the small West African country to Indianapolis on May 12, a day before Bojang's high school equivalency exam. Bojang, 19, had to redo his senior year since he missed the test. He enrolled at Christel House and made coach Keith Stewart’s soccer team.
Bojang finished his lone regular season at Christel with 20 goals and 12 assists, the highest goal-assist ratio and most goals scored in a season in program history. He led the Eagles to their most wins in six years and a 7-6-1 record.
Bojang recorded two assists in the Eagles’ 3-0 win over Providence Cristo Rey on Monday in a first round IHSAA Class A boys soccer state sectional matchup. Christel will play Greenwood Christian on Wednesday in the semifinals. Bojang called his success “surprising” and said he “never expected to come here and do what I’m doing.”
“I think he views the game of soccer in an intimate, personal way that a lot of high school players don't,” Stewart said. “They go out and play soccer, and they go on with the rest of their night. For Habib, it means much more to him.”
How a difficult Gambian upbringing shaped Bojang into a soccer star
Bojang’s family knew he’d love soccer when he was born. Bojang’s hairstyle at birth resembled that of former Manchester City soccer player Sergio Agüero. Family and friends adopted the five-time English Premier League champion's last name and used it as Bojang’s moniker. Bojang embraced it and became a fan of Agüero and Manchester City at a young age.
Bojang started playing in local leagues when he was an adolescent. He won trophies and led teams in scoring on multiple occasions. Some leagues didn’t let him play games because he was too good. When he did step on the pitch, no one was safe.
”Even if you’re my friend, when we were playing, I didn’t know you as a friend,” Bojang said. “When I play, I play with passion.”
Bojang walked an hour to a local beach to train after high school classes ended at 1:30 p.m. He stayed until roughly 7 p.m. Bojang had no equipment, just fervor. Stones were his cones. Wood made the goal.
Bojang was used to litlle. But he found fulfillment in soccer while lacking life's basic necessities.
Bojang’s family survived without consistent access to light, water and food. Bojang studied 10 subjects a day in school growing up and was assigned daily book reports, but couldn’t study on nights when his home had no electricity. He went to bed without food sometimes. Bojang’s community had water taps, but they were often empty. Bojang had to walk roughly 10 minutes to draw water that wasn’t always clean from a nearby neighborhood’s well.
”Being poor in Gambia and then you later see those things you never had before, you will never take them for granted because I know where I come from,” Bojang said. “Anything I’m doing on the field, I don’t joke.”
Food, water, and electricity were scarce, but they would eventually arrive. In July 2016, Bojang lost a necessity he will never get back: his mother.
Amie Cham died while in labor. The baby also passed away. The U.S. maternal mortality rate was 16.7 deaths per 100,000 live births the year Cham died, according to the American Action Forum. The World Bank Group reported Gambia experienced 493 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2016.
”It’s hard because I never had my mom’s love in my teenage years,” Bojang said. “I can’t say, ‘This is my mom.’ I can only look at pictures.”
Bojang’s father, Haruna, received backlash until he remarried in 2018. Bojang said Gambians tend to look down on grown men who aren’t married with kids. Neighbors started to ask Bojang, ‘Why is your dad not married since your mom passed away?’ The time taught Bojang, “even if you’re a good person, people will talk. I learned how to let everything go and focus on his family and soccer.”
Bojang and his four siblings moved in with their grandparents, Manneh and Sulayman Cham, after their mother died and lived there until 2020. In that stretch, Bojang had a near-death experience.
Bojang contracted severe food poisoning in September 2018. At times, Bojang struggled to walk, eat and “couldn’t do anything for himself,” he said. Still, soccer was on Bojang's mind. Bojang’s father instructed him not to play and told his older brother to monitor him. But soccer was his medicine.
“I made a plan,” Bojang said with a smile as he reflected on his mischievous, yet committed 11-year-old self while sitting in a classroom at Christel House.
Bojang threw his training gear over his fence onto his neighbor’s backyard. He then told his brothers he was going to the shop. When the coast was clear, he gathered his belongings and headed to the soccer field.
”Nothing can stop me,” Bojang said. “I just wanted to get to the next level.”
Two years later, it seemed like the “next level” was an inch closer. The Bojangs were about to receive their American visas. Then COVID-19 hit. Bojang’s dream, like many others’, was put on pause.
Amid a worldwide pandemic, death struck the Bojang family again. This time, twice in one day. Around 11 a.m. on July 19, 2021, Sulayman died from hypertension. The family buried him on the same day in accordance with their Muslim beliefs. Around 5 p.m., at the funeral venue, Manneh got out of her seat to go to the bathroom.
Bojang’s grandmother never made it back to her seat. Manneh fell immediatley as she entered the bathroom. The immense weight of grief, intertwined with her own high blood pressure issues, took Cham’s life.
“Losing my mom in 2016 and then my grandparents on the same day in 2021 hit me hard. It was a lot to deal with, but it also changed how I see life,” Bojang said. “It made me realize nothing’s promised, so every time I play soccer, I give it everything I have. The pain motivates me and reminds me why I can’t give up, why I need to keep pushing. I use that energy to go harder on the field and keep improving every day.”
‘My Gambian people are watching me’
Bojang’s harrowing experiences in Gambia formulated what he called a “long journey.” He hopes it results in playing college soccer and eventually the MLS.
Stewart believes Bojang can go pro because he can make adjustments in-game like when he led the Eagles to a 5-3 comeback win over Indiana Math & Science Academy with two goals and two assists in the final 24 minutes on Sept. 30. Stewart, who is also Bojang’s advisor, praised the speedy Bojang for his work rate, being coachable and “very steadfast in his attention to detail” on the field and in the classroom.
For now, Bojang’s journey in America is still in its genesis. Bojang and three of his four siblings live in Indianapolis with their father and legal mother, Jenny, who adopted Hurana’s kids. Bojang’s oldest brother, Matarr, is still waiting for his visa.
Bojang is trying to find a community and is getting used to a washing machine after doing his laundry by hand in Gambia. When asked what his favorite American food was, his eyes lit up, and with a beam across his face, he said, “Pizza.”
People regularly invite others to their homes in Gambia. Bojang's early experience in the States revealed Americans aren’t as welcoming. However, they are more encouraging in Bojang’s eyes. He admitted Gambians seldom motivated him on his soccer journey and was shocked when teammates at Christel celebrated him after he scored his first goal. He said he appreciates Stewart for being “happy to have me here.”
It’s a different culture for Bojang. But adjusting shouldn’t take too long. He has the same companion he had in Gambia.
The one that was with him at birth and in death. Through sickness and skipping class.
Bojang has soccer. Or as he calls it, football.
And where there is football, there is a piece of Gambia — a piece of home.
And where there is a piece of home, there is peace of mind.
”When I touch the ball, it feels like I am still playing in Gambia,” Bojang said. “I saw a lot of good players better than me in Gambia who can’t fulfill their dream. I want to play for Gambia internationally and be someone who inspires people not to give up. When I touch the ball, it feels like my Gambian people are watching me, and that brings me joy.”
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This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IHSAA boys soccer: Habib Bojang’s Gambian roots formed Christel House star
Category: General Sports
