Former Reggae Boy transforming lives through football in Cincinnati

Loganville, GEORGIA:

HAVING GROWN up in Bodles, St Catherine, former Reggae Boy Omar Cummings knows all too well about the importance and impact of sport, which was a mainstay in his community back in the day.

Cummings would recall days when he and his cousins, the Wolf brothers, Wolery Rafe and Kemeel Wolf, would play football with the older men, prompting the boys to pursue the sport professionally.

After spending a decade doing the same in the US, Cummings, who made 35 appearances for the Reggae Boyz and scored seven goals, has transitioned into his new role as community coordinator for FC Cincinnati, the team where he last made 20 appearances in Major League Soccer.

With discipline as part of his DNA, Cummings is hoping to make an impact through football with the kids from volatile communities in the West End side of Cincinnati, Ohio, which has seen above-average crime statistics year after year.

PROPER DRILLS

“Before, we use to see 50 kids, especially from the Hispanic communities, playing with one ball and so we decided to structure a programme to teach them proper drills with multiple balls and goals so that they can see a different side of the game than just a kickabout,” said Cummings.

Through FC Cincinatti’s foundation, Cummings has helped to conceptualise the ‘Soccer Unite’ in-school and after-school programme, which caters to teaching football to children between the ages of four and 14. With basketball and American football being more popular in the US, the former Reggae Boy had to make the programme fun to appeal to American children.

“It is a joy for me to see the impact the programme is having because, when we started, we would hear some of the kids saying they hated football, but, after a couple of weeks with them, they were asking why we had to leave because they have come to love the sport.”

Cummings said the programme has already begun to bear fruit, with thousands of participants taking more interest in the game. Since its inception, a community team dubbed the West End Pride has also been formulated, with one player from the current team’s roster being drafted into the FC Cincinnati Academy to pursue a professional career.

Cummings, along with FC Cincinnati C0-CEO Jeff Berding, said their dream would be in 2026 to see one of the youngsters in the programme go on to play internationally for the United States on home soil.

“To see those inner-city kids who have never played the game getting back to just playing, having fun and enjoying themselves is just tremendous. One kid came to me and said I did the impossible, which was getting him to like football, and that made me feel that I had done my job,” said Cummings.