More Than a Hometown Hero

HARRISON, NEW JERSEY -  Omar Sowe regularly reflects on the long journey that’s taken him from Harrison High School to the New York Red Bulls. Growing up in the New Jersey town with a population near 18,000, Sowe is the city’s proclaimed hometown wonderkid. It’s a title that’s been bestowed on him ever since he suited up for HHS and had 89 goals and 67 assists in four years. It wasn’t long until the New York Red Bulls would be vying for his signature. 

In 2019, Sowe signed his first professional contract with the Red Bulls II. The story of the hometown kid signing for the local MLS club made headlines across town, but his story is not as straightforward as it may seem. 

When asked how he feels about the title that many local papers and the club itself have given him, he stops for a second and says, “I’ve never fully felt like that title fits me. There’s more to it than that, but that’s how people see me.”

Sowe was born in Serekunda, Gambia, and that’s where his love and talent for soccer were cultivated. 

“We were all soccer players because in Africa everything is soccer,” Sowe said. “If you're not doing sports, then you're going to be a school kid, basically. You didn't have much of a choice. But even in school, we’d have rec time, and everyone would go out to the field. Soccer was just everywhere.”

Sowe confesses he was never much of a school kid when he was younger. 

“There'd be times when I'd get home at like 2:00 A.M., but guess what I was doing, I was on the field playing soccer. My mom would tell my family, ‘Nobody's eating until he comes home from the field.’ It's like, everybody would go home at like 8:00 P.M., and I would just stay at the field all by myself. I’d just sit there, close my eyes and just daydream.

When he wasn’t playing, though, Sowe would do his best to catch as many matches as he could.

“My friends and I, we used to sneak into these little theatres to try to get to watch soccer games. We used to try to sneak in and just watch the games that they’d have on the projector. You needed to have money for that, but we didn’t, we were just kids. We usually always got caught and got like whooped a little bit, but nothing crazy. It was worth it anyway.”

Photo courtesy of the Sowe family.

At the age of seven, though, Sowe’s days of sneaking into theaters and playing soccer with his friends in Gambia were finished. 

“Honestly, they tricked us into coming to the U.S. I remember vividly that I thought we were going on vacation somewhere else.” 

By that point, Sowe’s father had already been in the U.S. for four years, and his mom had joined him in Harrison when Sowe was only five. 

Sowe said that he initially “wasn’t excited at all” about moving to the U.S., but once they landed and he saw his parents again, it was all worth it.  

“I was not excited at all, but I was traveling with my little brother so I had to act accordingly, you know,” Sowe said. “Play it cool. But we got on a plane, and I started throwing up. They even had to take me to the cockpit with the flight attendants to take care of me. I think I even passed out. Anyways, we landed and I just remember dropping our bags and running to my parents. It had been over two years since we’d seen them.”

The transition to life in Harrison wasn’t easy. Leaving behind his childhood home and the tight-knit community he’d known growing up was perhaps the hardest part for Sowe.

“Back in Gambia everything was -- I don't want to say organized -- but simple, you know? You're able to do anything you want, but in a safe environment. But here, it was like you couldn’t walk out as a kid or go outside without your parents having to worry about something happening.”

During his childhood, Sowe could get together with his friends and play a pickup game right outside of his house and in the middle of the street with no problems whatsoever. Although it might seem obvious, not being able to go out and play in the middle of the street was difficult for him to adjust to.

Things were even harder in school for Sowe. He was uncomfortable in his new environment, and he couldn’t relate to anyone else around him. 

“I couldn't speak to people, you know,” Sowe said. “It was a difficult experience. I was just shy being in this new country and everything. I had people asking me if I hunted lions or if I ran around with snakes! They were all intimidated and they were all, I would say, a lot more afraid of me ‘cause they didn't know me. They all looked at me different. Every day I'd come home and tell my mom like, ‘What's going on, do they not like me?’ All the basic foreigner things, which sucks a little bit because sometimes people don't even try to understand you or approach you until they see that you have something they like. Once they found out I was a baller, that’s when I started making friends.”

After two years in Harrison, Sowe joined Kearny United, a local club where he began to develop as a young player. He also participated in local rec leagues and looks back at that time with fondness, particularly because of the kindness that he received from teammates and coaches alike. 

“Even if the nearest kid was 30 minutes away from me, I wouldn't even stress. I wouldn't have to ask for rides or anything. I also remember my coach bought me my first cleats. He took me to Pegasus when they were first on Harrison Ave., and he bought me cleats and sandals. And I always made sure to say thank you and be respectful for everything they did. There were times I felt I shouldn’t be getting something, but they’d always help me out and showed love because of soccer.”

One of Sowe’s favorite spots is a caged soccer court on the corner of Harrison Ave. and Rodgers Boulevard. Just like when he was a young child in Gambia, Sowe would play on this court for hours on end.

“My dad showed me this field when we first moved, and I used to come here every day. My routine for maybe like two or three years was going to school, pick up my little brother, go home, change, and go out and play soccer with my siblings.”

For Sowe, soccer and family have been tied forever, and in Harrison, that didn’t change. Sowe’s older brother, Modou, was the first in the family to earn a name for himself among the New Jersey soccer community. For a while, Sowe was known as “little Modou,” and that served as fuel for him to live up to that nickname and eventually carve a path in soccer on his own.

Apart from the initial guidance from his brother Modou, it’s clear that Sowe’s father had a crucial role in molding Sowe’s soccer mentality.

“I always hear him in the back of my head, and I always try to do things in a way that he would be proud of. It doesn’t matter if it’s on the field or off the field. And when it comes to anything I might have accomplished, even until today, my dad never brings up achievements. He's always telling me, ‘they're waiting for you to slip up.’ It’s a way to keep me on my toes because he knows what I'm capable of. It’s funny because he didn’t bring us here for soccer. It was for education and opportunity. But he saw I was very invested in soccer and he’s always been there to keep pushing me and keep me on the right track.”

For Sowe, staying on the right track has paid off in many ways throughout the years. It seems the entire city has come to love Sowe for the joy that he gives everyone who’s seen him play. Sowe told me of the little things that people around the community have done for him, whether it’s helping him get summer jobs, helping his family move, or opening up fields for him to play and practice. He’s thankful for everything that his community has given to him.

“You can't get me off my grind because the reason everyone knows me is soccer. And that's why I dedicate so much into it because I notice how much it’s given me. The whole town knows my name, and it comes down to simple things. Like my mom would be walking down the street, and they recognize her and tell her they’re proud of me which makes her happy.”

After a stellar junior and senior year of high school where he tallied a combined 74 goals and 57 assists, the New York Red Bulls pursued Sowe’s signature. Sowe had already been training with the academy team for a few months during his final year of high school, and by June 2019, he was already training with the Red Bulls first team. 

Sowe received multiple Division I scholarship offers to go and play college soccer, but his goal had always been to become a professional as soon as possible.  

“My decision was made, I think before I was born. It was always about getting to be a pro as quickly as possible because anything can happen when you go to college. And on top of that, college athletes sometimes take three years to get drafted to be at the USL level. In my head, I was just thinking ‘Why would I take three years to be where I can be in two months?’”

Unfortunately for Sowe, due to only spending a short amount of time at the RBNY Academy, he was unable to get the lucrative homegrown contract that many talented youngsters are eligible to receive from MLS. Instead, he had to negotiate a contract directly with the Red Bulls, but the Harrison-based franchise was still eager to sign him to a regular contract. Finally, on August 17, 2019 -- just a month after his high school graduation -- Sowe signed his first professional contract with the RBNY II.

Sowe’s first “welcome to the big leagues” moment occurred that same day.

“It's funny because that same day we had a first-team scrimmage against Army, and I started the game playing next to Bradley Wright-Phillips. I even scored a hat-trick that game, then right after I signed my contract.” 

Since then, Sowe has been playing with the Red Bulls II for the last year-and-a-half, while also training with the Red Bulls first team. In 2020, Sowe made 14 appearances in USL, and he led his team in goals with seven. 

Even if Sowe tells me he’s disappointed that he’s not on an official homegrown contract, he makes it clear that there are no mixed feelings when it comes to Harrison itself. 

“My family and I, we're in Harrison, and we’re set pretty much. You know, like people know who we are, and people are very respectful and caring towards my family. So, I love Harrison because of the people.”

Going into the 2021 season, Sowe has been training with the Red Bulls’ first team since the USL season ended. With the Red Bulls seemingly in a rebuilding phase, this year could be the perfect year for Sowe to burst into the MLS scene. 

“Honestly, I’ve never felt this way before -- as in like excitement because now I've figured out how it works. I've gotten my confidence up. I've picked up a lot and now I understand what it truly means to be a pro. I never understood that before, but now I kind of understand it's a lifestyle. And there’s not much to it. It's the same concept as I was a kid until now. You just gotta work hard, keep those distractions away, and focus on your goals ahead. As my dad always used to tell me, ‘Doesn't matter what you do today, it matters what you do tomorrow.’”

Words by Pablo Bayona Sapag

Photography by Peter Bonilla

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