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Pro Soccer Player Sharing His Talent with Local Youth
By Christina Grant, Johnson City News and Neighbor
African-born professional soccer player Declan Jogi is bringing his love of the sport to the young people of Johnson City Kingsport and Bristol.
Declan is coaching soccer for Fusion FC (United Soccer Association,) a new regional soccer league. He attended and played soccer for King College and went on to play professional soccer for the Charlotte (NC) Eagles.
While Declan’s life has revolved around soccer, it has not been an easy road. As a child growing up in Harare, Zimbabwe, Declan says he doesn’t remember a time in his life when he was not playing soccer
“Everyone knew how much I loved soccer. If I wasn’t watching it, I was playing it. I couldn’t wait to go to school because then I could join a team. In Zimbabwe, there are no outside teams, only school teams,” Declan said.
Unfortunately, Declan was not allowed to join a team because, at the age of 8, he was diagnosed with rheumatic fever, an inflammatory condition that can affect the heart, joints, nervous system and skin. His doctors told him he would grow out of it by the age of 21, which Declan states, was no comfort at all considering he wanted to be a professional soccer player. However, even with his handicap he continued to practice and always participated in the playground soccer games at school.
“Every time I would play, I could feel the toll it would take on my body. I had no endurance and after a 30 minute recess, I was always completely tired and drained for the rest of the day” Declan remembers. “You can imagine how devastating this was for me because it was ruining my one and only dream, to be a professional soccer player” Declan said the condition continued to plague him until one day, at the age of 13, while sitting in church, he felt it was not God’s will for him to be sick.
“That Sunday I went up to my pastor after church and asked him to pray with me asking God to heal me of this sickness. I knew it was possible because healing was done in Bible times. So, we prayed,” said Declan. “Afterwards, I went home and asked my mother to take me to the doctor. All through those years I was constantly going to the doctor for tests and updates on my condition. The next day, when the battery of tests was completed, my doctor was shocked that every thing tested normal. She didn’t know what had happened and didn’t know what to say other than, ‘Your condition seems to have vanished.’ I knew God had done this. I immediately signed up for the soccer team at school and have had no symptoms of rheumatic fever to this day.”
Almost everyone in his grade was (in the soccer team and by the time they went to high school they were a force of 20. “In our high school, Rugby was the big sport. The soccer teams, Junior Varsity and Varsity were always getting beat. One day, all 20 of us were playing soccer with a tennis ball on the basketball court using the hoops as goals. A teacher, Mr. Chigaazira, came out and watched us for a long time. Finally, he asked if we were going to play soccer, we said, ‘Of course’, and then he said I want to be your coach. I am going to put soccer on the map with you guys.’ After that, he began to hype it up that we were going to be the team that makes our school unbeatable. He did such a good job, even the varsity soccer team came to our first game. We lost. But it was the only game we lost and for the rest of my high school years we were the team to beat. We had nothing but winning seasons!”
While playing semi-pro, he met a teammate who was also a coordinator for Athletes in Action (AIA), a group of Christian athletes who hold clinics for children in all sports to teach them skills and share their faith. He joined AIA and, after his first set of clinics, he felt this was God’s plan for his life: to teach and to share his faith. Soon thereafter, while teaching clinics in France he met Johnson City natives Daniel Burns and his father, Rev Percy Burns. After their joint endeavor, Declan was recommended to Matt Lavinder, the soccer recruiter from King College.
Now after a wonderful soccer career, Declan has brought his knowledge and skills to local youth. He and his partner’s goals are to create an environment to maximize their soccer development and their personal development as members of a community. “We do not want to take the place of the local soccer clubs, but we do see a need for this regional team,” Declan states. Declan explains that under their teaching the youth will build a strong foundation of skills that will pave the way to a very successful soccer record.
“Our emphasis is on technical development. The players will learn all of the fundamental ball skills, dribbling, passing, receiving and ball handling. When they master these skills, we will then move on to individual tactics, small group tactics arid team tactics. Eventually, we want every player to take this foundation and use it to make their own decisions which have to be made in split seconds,” explains Declan.
Even though Declan and his partners are affiliated with Fusion FC ., they do run their own programs which will soon be under the name Destiny Foundation. Declan and his coaches teach soccer year-round. For more information, call (276) 591-1118.
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