Parade of nations fuels state-title hopes of Kansas City’s East High boys soccer team

With more than 40 countries and languages welcomed at East High as the English Language Learners hub of Kansas City Public Schools, its motto aptly is “school of many nations, one home.”

And the compelling way that parade of nations can coalesce is being spotlighted in the form of its boys soccer team, coached by Venezuela native Gerzo Guerrero with a roster of 19 foreign-born players among its 22 on varsity.

They are the world, by way of example coming from Haiti (via Chile), Honduras, Mexico, Rwanda, Somalia and Tanzania, not to mention a student manager from Syria and other way stations in their odysseys here.

So some practices are conducted in Spanish and some in Swahili, Guerrero playfully said. But for all the languages and cultures and accents, the first-year head coach who reinvigorated the program laughs and adds, “They understand each other; they understand me.”

Most of all, they understand the common language of the joy of playing a game they love together — a game that has sustained them out of the chaos in many of their pasts — and playing it for a program and a school and a broader East community that cherishes them.

And now they get to play for this:

Seeking to punctuate a 19-2-1 season in which they outscored opponents by a startling 102-18 margin, the Bears will play Springfield Glendale in a Missouri Class 3 state semifinal on Friday in Fenton.

Glendale beat East 1-0 in Springfield in September; fueled by leading scorers Jackson Twizerimana (29 goals this season) and Esube Byoke (28 goals), the Bears haven’t lost in 17 matches since.

Beat Glendale this time and East on Saturday will play the Webster Groves-Whitfield winner for what would be the school’s first state championship in any sport since the boys basketball team won a title in 1929.

“We’re from the different countries, we speak the different languages, different colors. But we are one family …” said Mayson Victor, a sophomore who arrived from Chile in March. “I feel so proud.”

Maybe not as proud as their coaches, teachers and mentors are of them, both individually and as a group.

“We don’t take one flag, we take all of our flags,” assistant coach and social studies teacher Amanda Dennison said as she considered their journeys. “It’s amazing: They’re playing for their families. They’re playing for their families back in their home countries. It means everything.”

She later added, “It means so much to me personally to just say, ‘Look at what these humans can do when they’re given the opportunity.’ And they’re just wonderful humans.”

You could see and hear and feel the crackling energy and camaraderie among them on Wednesday at their last practice of the season.

And you can bet it was on display again Thursday as the school prepared to send them off to state with a ceremony.

And again on the bus ride to Fenton, on which Dennison foresaw a scene once again of just “hype, hype, hype” and every type of music (and language) imaginable.

Alas, few family members are expected to attend the semifinals, because so many work multiple jobs to be able to provide.

That dynamic makes for a poignant reminder: Even as we celebrate this team, and hope they have plenty more to celebrate by the end of the weekend, we also pause to appreciate that many of its members arrived here as refugees.

While their individual pasts remain private, when we broached the general topic with Dennison her first word to describe their presence here was “survival.”

Most have endured trauma. And each certainly traveled a unique path few of us can fathom, including contending with the natural fears stoked by anti-immigrant rhetoric and behavior here in the U.S.

Several years ago, then-Star photographer Dave Eulitt and I put together a project about refugee soccer through a program then known as Branch Global and now called Global FC.

Over the course of time, working with Global FC executive director Mariya Dostzadah Goodbrake, we came to learn the shattering back stories of a number of those children.

A number of the East players, as it happens, became part of Global FC soon after arriving here.

Goodbrake by email this week said it was “amazing to see these boys shine!” and grow into “stellar young men” … and Dennison said “we are endlessly grateful to Global FC” on multiple levels.

That includes helping them acclimate here on the way to becoming part of this special season for the school, a path that has made them appreciative of these opportunities even as their pasts will always inform who they are.

“With their backgrounds and their own personal histories, I think that builds resilience that you and I will never know,” Dennison said. “That none of those teams at state know: the resiliency and the grit and the determination.

“These boys work so hard, and they always do it with a smile on their face. I know that sounds cliche, but they are always up. And if one’s not up, somebody else is bringing them up.”

She added, “They’re the most resourceful people that I’ve ever met. And they don’t complain about it.”

So, sure, it was freezing on Wednesday as the sun descended over the practice field.

But Msafari Ebunga, a sophomore from Tanzania, looked around and considered his gloves and insulated gear.

Then perhaps he said it all when he said, “We have all we need.”

Now it’s about what they want: to defeat Glendale and play for the title Saturday.

“It’s not revenge,” Ebunga said, smiling, “but the plan is we’re going to beat them.”

Winning a state championship would be tremendous in itself, of course. But Guerrero also hopes it could lead to fresh visibility for more scholarship opportunities and an increasingly brighter future.

Put it all together, and no wonder Dennison says this moment in time “means the absolute world to us.”

In more ways than one.