Home at last, for now

Sesay comfortable in his surroundings

Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2005

Click here to enlarge this photo Susan Whitney-Wilkerson⁄The Gazette Quince Orchard sophomore Israel Sesay (center) shares a laugh with coach Jim McEvoy (left) and classmate Erik Cifuentes Monday during the Cougars’ win over Poolesville. Sesay is settling in at Quince Orchard after moving in with his club soccer coach, Festus George, last fall and spending this preseason training with St. John’s (D.C.). Sesay is part of the U-15 national team pool.

Sesay’s soccer credentials are as impressive as those of anyone his age — he’s part of the Region I Olympic Development Program team, and the U-15 national team pool. The story of how he came to be a sophomore forward at Quince Orchard High School is a long and sometimes sad one. But for now, he has found a home.

‘‘It’s a lot better this year than last year,” Sesay said. ‘‘I can play for Quince Orchard, unlike last year, and things are pretty good for me.”

For his first decade on earth, Sesay’s home was Sierra Leone, a small nation on the Western coast of Africa. When he was an infant, his father, Samuel, emigrated to the United States, leaving Sesay in the care of his mother.

About five years ago, Sesay said, he followed Samuel to Washington, D.C., leaving his mother in Sierra Leone. Sesay played soccer, but didn’t have a team when he got to the U.S. So his cousin, Abdul Bangura, introduced Sesay to another native of Sierra Leone, Festus George.

‘‘A friend of mine [Bangura] called me and said there’s a kid who just came to the U.S., and he wants to play soccer,” George said. ‘‘We played phone tag for a while. Finally ... he came to a practice and impressed everyone. We invited him to a second practice, and he did the same thing again.”

So Sesay signed on with the Potomac Soccer Association, a club he and George have both since left. But during his time with Potomac, Sesay caught the eyes of the powers that be, launching himself into the national team mix.

Sesay’s soccer career was taking off, but not everything was going so well. George said Sesay didn’t see much of his dad, who worked multiple jobs. In the summer of 2004, right before Sesay’s freshman year of high school, Samuel Sesay asked his son to move again, this time to Boston.

‘‘I didn’t want to leave my club team,” Sesay said. ‘‘He wanted me to move to Boston with him, but me and him decided I didn’t want to go. I kind of talked to Festus to see if I could live with him.”

Sesay was lending a hand at George’s summer training camps when he approached his coach with the idea.

‘‘We had a nice talk one day and he said he would love to stay in my area and go to school,” George said. ‘‘I said, ‘You know what, why even hesitate? You’re more than welcome.’ We spoke to his dad, and his dad said, ‘Hey, no problem.’”

Sesay went to live with George and his wife, Sarah Motley, last fall, while the couple went through the process of gaining legal guardianship. Sesay started high school at Quince Orchard that September, but couldn’t play soccer because he wasn’t officially a resident of Quince Orchard’s district yet.

The paperwork came through and everything became official last November, right at the end of the high-school soccer season. That same night came the cruelest blow of all.

‘‘It was the day we came back from the court when they granted us the guardianship,” George said. ‘‘He was so happy to come home to us. ... Then his dad called me and told me that his mother had passed away.”

‘‘It was bad for me,” Sesay said. ‘‘It was the same week that I was having the national camp, and I couldn’t concentrate on my game. I talked to the coaches and explained to them what I was going through. It was terrible.”

Sesay kept playing, though, and time passed. Finding a home with George and Motley has helped.

‘‘With Sarah and Festus, they’re like mom and dad to me,” Sesay said. ‘‘It’s way better, you know, I’m settled down.”

After an adjustment period, Sesay is also settling in with the Quince Orchard Cougars. Like many of the area’s national pool players — Freddy (The Heights) and Fro (Georgetown Prep) Adu, Kevin Alston (Good Counsel), Chris Agorsor (McDonogh) — Sesay was slated for a private school this fall.

He opened preseason camp with St. John’s (D.C.). But George said Sesay didn’t feel comfortable there, and Sesay said the travel time was too great. So, just before the start of the school year, he came back to Quince Orchard.

‘‘I heard rumors all summer that there was a sophomore who’s really good, people throwing the word ‘national’ around,” said first-year Cougars coach Jim McEvoy, who coached the JV last season. ‘‘But a lot of kids make up stories, so I didn’t really believe it. He came out for tryouts, and we got to see how good he is, and how dangerous.”

It took some time for Sesay to adjust. Because he joined late, it took a while for him to develop chemistry with his new teammates and take to his role up top. Sesay, at 15, is also still getting used to the varsity game.

He has 5 goals and 3 assists this season, including a spectacular game-winning strike against Poolesville in the rain Monday night. With the game in overtime, Sesay gained possession along the right sideline. He dribbled left-footed across the width of the field, turned the corner on two Falcons defender, and struck a left-footed shot back across the face of goal and into the lower right corner.

‘‘At first it was kind of hard, it’s varsity and everything,” Sesay said. ‘‘Now I’m kind of used to it. I’m really getting experience playing with older guys.”

‘‘Him coming in with all the stuff he went through last year, there was an adjustment period,” McEvoy said. ‘‘I think [Monday]’s game really showed what’s been going on with him all year. He’s been up top and learning to work with people.”

Naturally, now that Sesay is comfortable, there’s talk of another new home for him. George and Sesay say the forward has been approached about joining U.S. Soccer’s residency program in Bradenton, Fla.

Sesay is still mulling that one over. For now, he’s enjoying the feeling of having a place to call ‘‘home.”