Freshman striker Mohamed Tamour has sparked the fire for the men’s soccer team in their inaugural season and has led the Raiders to a Regional tournament appearance. He leads the team in goals scored, shots on goal and overall points and his journey to get to Grand Rapids Community College is nothing short of remarkable.
Tamour was introduced to the sport long before he played in high school, many years before stepped foot in the United States.
“Back home, all we do is play soccer,” Tamour said. “We breathe soccer and to us, it is something special because it is a part of our culture. Every kid from where I’m from plays soccer and that’s something we all love to do since we were kids.”
Tamour is from a small country in Africa, Central African Republic, which is known for its violence and consistent wars that occur.
“We had a war when I lived there so my family there believed I needed a better opportunity, which allowed me to travel to America,” Tamour said. “I got the chance to come to the U.S. as a refugee and now I am a permanent resident earning the ability to become a citizen. It was not easy where I came from or what I’ve been through but I will say I am grateful to be alive and to be living my dreams.”
At age 15, Tamour fled his country to Morocco due to an ongoing war. Several months later, he was with a group of boys who were about to travel to Spain by boat. Before the boat left, the United National International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) interviewed Tamour and his interest in gaining refugee status in the U.S. This agency was able to convince Tamour to come to the U.S. rather than travel to Spain.
Tamour came to the U.S. at the age of 15 in search of a foster family in Michigan. That’s when the O’Dell family decided to step in and bring Tamour into their family.
“My husband and I finished our refugee foster care classes with Bethany Christian services in December of 2018,” Joslyn O’Dell said. “We decided we were going to wait until we found a young person that would be a good fit both ways because we have sons that were 16 and 12 at the time. We looked through many profiles but it wasn’t until we read through Mohamed’s in July that we decided we wanted to meet him. He moved in at the end of July, and he started soccer practice and school shortly after in August.”
Although Tamour is ecstatic to be living in Michigan now, there is one thing he will never forget from his home country.
“One thing from my country that I will miss is the food,” Tamour said. “No food in this world can match the food I ate back home. It was so delicious.”
Tamour is no longer in contact with his birth family but still communicates with his friends from Morocco and Central African Republic.
“Unfortunately, I am here alone doing everything by myself,” Tamour said. “I still stay in contact with my friends but not my family members.”
However, Tamour sees his foster family as role models and people he looks up to.
“My foster family are a family every orphan kid back home wishes they had and are my inspirations,” Tamour said. “I love what they have done for me and I’m so inspired by them.”
Once Tamour gained his footing with his new family, he decided he wanted to graduate high school early. In his first two years, he saw a lot of success due to his tenacity along with the help of his foster parents.
“Mohamed is extremely smart and it showed as soon as he joined our family as he already spoke three languages, French, Arabic, and Sangu,” O’Dell said. “I’m sure it was annoying for him to have his foster mom as his English teacher because I kept after him but it helped him in the long run. My husband taught math for 20 years so that helped him out as well.”
After two years with the O’Dells, Tamour decided he wanted to move into a semi-independent living facility. This was tough for Tamour as he started to struggle with academics.
“By his senior year, Mohamed had to pick up the pace and was determined to graduate,” O’Dell said. “He had to work harder than ever, and he did. Mohamed graduated high school in three years.”
After graduating, Tamour still had a passion for soccer but originally was unable to receive any offers. He was a first team all-conference player for the Wyoming Wolves but didn’t receive interest like other players around the area. That changed when GRCC announced they were starting their inaugural men’s soccer program, with Dameikco Smith being announced as the head coach.
This allowed a path to be a student-athlete at GRCC for Tamour, something he could not pass up.
Not only does Tamour view the opportunity at GRCC to increase his athletic skills and at some point to transfer to a bigger school, but he views it as a chance to continue his love for technology.
“I love technology and I’ve always loved technology whether it is a phone, computer, or a console,” Tamour said. “I am majoring in cybersecurity right now as a career, and honestly I don’t know if I will stay in this field, but I am learning to know what I want to do later in my life and this is something I am interested in.”
Tamour has a few goals outside of being an athlete on the soccer team during his time at GRCC.
“While at GRCC, obviously school comes first and making sure I’m passing my classes,” Tamour said. “Also being a good human being to other people, that’s a thing people tend to forget sometimes. It makes me feel good and I love helping people and enjoy the road while doing it.”
Tamour has led the Raiders to a 10-3-1 record along with a National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Tournament appearance. He has tallied a total of 21 goals, five assists, 47 points, 75 shots, and a 60% shot on goal percentage. Tamour is second at the NJCAA Division II level in goals scored while being third in total shots.
When asked about what Tamour has meant to the program, Smith had only positive things to say.
“He is a prime-time player and is one of the reasons our team has seen success this season,” Smith said. “He sees so much success because he puts the work in. He’s a great leader and teammate, and he is also humble but talented.”
Tamour has a few objectives for the remainder of the season.
“One of my goals is to make nationals, but first we have to win conferences,” Tamour said. “The team has been referring to a quote from Thomas Jefferson, ‘If you want something you have never had, you must be willing to do something you’ve never done.’ We are a group of strong individuals and we are going to fight for each other until the end of the season.”
GRCC heads into the NJCAA Regional tournament as the third seed as they face Muskegon Community College for the third time this season. With a win, it is almost guaranteed that they will face Schoolcraft for the Regional championship. The Raiders face the Jayhawks on Saturday, Oct.28 in St.Clair.
