Niyungeko Moise said, "They like, put your father's name in a list, and one time my brother was like, coming from a store, and he looked at the list and saw my dad's name, so we decided to come here to see if here's better or not."
Abilene High senior running back Niyungeko Moise or Mo was born and lived most of his young life in Tanzania Africa before his family was picked to come to America, and America wasn't completely what he thought it would be like when he got here.
Mo said, "I was nervous because they tell us some crazy stories about America. They say aw they're going to change you, or some people would say you're going to see money on the ground. I do see pennies though, but I don't see like $100 bills. It took me forever to learn my ABC's, but yeah it took me a while to learn the language."
Terrell Franklin said, "He could not speak English at all. He could barely like, I could understand him a little bit, but not that much. I had to help him out a little bit."
Brianne Welch said, "Not only did Mo have to learn a new language to talk to his new friends, he also had to learn a new complicated sports. In Africa, soccer was Mo's sports. And now in America, he was trying to figure out a completely different sport, football."
A lot of kids grow up wanting to play football as soon as they see it on tv. Not Mo
Mo said, "When I first saw the game on TV I was like, I will never play that cause of all that hitting."
So how did he become the running back he is today? Simple, his coaches saw a fast kid.
Mo said, "I just wanted to be a kicker, so I tried out, and they saw I was fast, so they put me at running back, and ever since then I started liking it and liking it."
Franklin said, "He just got the ball and ran straight. That's all he did. Take it and go. He was very fast, faster than everybody on the field."
Mo came into this season as one of the main ball carriers for the Abilene High Eagles, and he was until he broke his fibula and joined Terrell on the DL, so now the two are leading the Eagles from the sidelines.
Head coach Del Van Cox said, "It's nice to have those guys continue the leadership, but it's still not quite the same as them being on the field and doing it with their play as well."
Franklin said, "We have each other's back. We have a crutch shake actually. It's pretty nice, but yeah I support him, he supports me. We're going to make it through this, and we'll move on to our next sport."
Even through learning a new culture, language, sport, making new friends it has all been worth it.
Mo said, "And it is. It's a better life."
More...
Abilene High senior running back Niyungeko Moise or Mo was born and lived most of his young life in Tanzania Africa before his family was picked to come to America, and America wasn't completely what he thought it would be like when he got here.
Mo said, "I was nervous because they tell us some crazy stories about America. They say aw they're going to change you, or some people would say you're going to see money on the ground. I do see pennies though, but I don't see like $100 bills. It took me forever to learn my ABC's, but yeah it took me a while to learn the language."
Terrell Franklin said, "He could not speak English at all. He could barely like, I could understand him a little bit, but not that much. I had to help him out a little bit."
Brianne Welch said, "Not only did Mo have to learn a new language to talk to his new friends, he also had to learn a new complicated sports. In Africa, soccer was Mo's sports. And now in America, he was trying to figure out a completely different sport, football."
A lot of kids grow up wanting to play football as soon as they see it on tv. Not Mo
Mo said, "When I first saw the game on TV I was like, I will never play that cause of all that hitting."
So how did he become the running back he is today? Simple, his coaches saw a fast kid.
Mo said, "I just wanted to be a kicker, so I tried out, and they saw I was fast, so they put me at running back, and ever since then I started liking it and liking it."
Franklin said, "He just got the ball and ran straight. That's all he did. Take it and go. He was very fast, faster than everybody on the field."
Mo came into this season as one of the main ball carriers for the Abilene High Eagles, and he was until he broke his fibula and joined Terrell on the DL, so now the two are leading the Eagles from the sidelines.
Head coach Del Van Cox said, "It's nice to have those guys continue the leadership, but it's still not quite the same as them being on the field and doing it with their play as well."
Franklin said, "We have each other's back. We have a crutch shake actually. It's pretty nice, but yeah I support him, he supports me. We're going to make it through this, and we'll move on to our next sport."
Even through learning a new culture, language, sport, making new friends it has all been worth it.
Mo said, "And it is. It's a better life."
More...