RAINBOW CITY, Ala. — Two youth soccer teams from the Alabama Rush Soccer Club are heading to nationals in Salt Lake City, Utah, this month — the first time the Rainbow City club has made the trip.
The club is coached by brothers Jorge and Cesar Ndong, originally from Equatorial Guinea.
‘A little town called Gadsden’
Jorge Ndong coaches the U-17 team and said he did not expect the sport to be this popular when he arrived in Alabama.
“When I moved here, I did not think I would coach a team like that,” Jorge said. “I thought people hated soccer here and I thought it was going to die after three years.”
The Alabama Rush Soccer Club has now been around for more than a decade. Jorge said this is something he and his team have been working hard for.
“It has always been my personal goal and dream as a coach to take a team from little town Gadsden somewhere where we can put our name out there,” he said.
U-17 player Lucas Applegate said the team works tirelessly at every match to prove they belong.
“When we go on the field, we have to show everyone who we are and how we play,” Applegate said. “We come in, we’re smaller than everybody, we have to work ten times as hard than everybody else to be better than them.”
U-14 team also bound for nationals
The Alabama Rush U-14 team earned a nationals berth as well, coached by Jorge’s brother Cesar Ndong.
“They do a lot because they love it,” Cesar said. “They believe. They trust in each other. Like we always say, we’re more than a team. We’re like a family.”
U-14 player Fisher Loyd credited the team’s chemistry as a key factor.
“The thing that’s made this team special this year, I think is just our bond,” Loyd said. “A lot of us have been playing together for a long time and I think that really helps us in the long run.”
Jorge said he hopes his players draw inspiration from Hoover native Chris Richards, who starred for the United States in the World Cup.
“That is where you guys have to dream,” Jorge said. “That’s one guy that came from Alabama. You guys have to dream. Soccer has no limits.”
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