Kei Kamara: Leone Star, Great Guy

Today, we finally had the chance to speak with Kei Kamara on camera. We knew Kei would be a great interview—look no further than this YouTube clip of his Michael Jackson goal celebration to know that the guy is comfortable in front of the camera.

We imagine a lot of our readers are based in the tri-state area. You might not follow Major League Soccer and if you do, you probably support one of the teams along the Eastern seaboard. Let us tell you a bit about Kei.

Back home in Kansas City, Kei plays for Sporting KC. If you grew up going to MLS camps, you probably know Sporting better as the Kansas City Wizards. In the last year, they dropped that name, opened arguably the best soccer facility in the country and sold an insane amount of season tickets.

For a newly rebranded team trying to win fans to soccer, Kei is a publicist’s dream. Personable, funny and a social media machine, he’s accessible to his fans, a force on the pitch and a humanitarian off of it (we first connected with him through our mutual support of Schools for Salone). Kei shared the spotlight with fellow Kansas City resident Chad Ochocinco, a surprisingly big soccer fan, when the two exchanged friendly barbs over Twitter. Sadly, when the media-loving Ochocinco pulled a reverse Tony Meola and laced up his soccer boots during the lockout, Kei was on national team duty and the pair never faced off in their long-anticipated penalty kick shootout. Kei has now earned eight appearances (caps, for the uninformed) for Sierra Leone’s national team and he’s still seeking his first international goal.

His fans in Kansas City—and there are many that wear his #23—know Kei as a fun-loving, Chipolte-eating, snowball-fighting star that often Tweets from the handle he created for his dog, @ChelseaTheDog23. Admittedly, that’s how we knew him before today. We knew a bit about his history, but Google can only take you so far. Today, we got a chance to see Kei represent his nation—not by wearing the green, white and blue, but by showing us a spirit of hope unbroken by years of war and everything that comes after.

In the States or in Salone, it’s easy to forget what Kei’s been through. Laughter comes easily to him and between drills, you’ll catch him with his teammates, hamming it up for our cameras, or, as he says shamelessly, flirting with the fans. But talk to him for a bit and it’s evident that, no matter how fast he is with a ball at his feet, he can’t outrun the pain of a wartime childhood.

Moments after we started rolling today, he began talking about when the war came to him. He was only six when the rebels attacked. He knew there was a war on, but didn’t think much about it until the explosion rocked his school. Though his family had told him to stay put if the rebels invaded, six-year-old Kei fled with the rest of his classmates and teachers. As aimless bullets ripped into the crowd around him, familiar faces fell to the ground. Kei stopped running. He didn’t see his brothers. They were older than he was and they weren’t in the same class. What if they had listened to their parents? They’d have stayed sitting at their desks. He had to go find them. He remembers stepping on and over the bodies of the people from his village as his tiny frame pushed against the current of the fleeing masses. But that’s all he remembers. The rest is a blur. He says he somehow found his brothers and they must have made it home together. But home didn’t stay home for long—forced to flee, Kei bounced around West Africa before finally landing in California.

Eventually, Kei’s journey—and his skill on the pitch—brought him back home, where he wore the colors of his country and stood on the crab grass field in front of thousands of his countrymen as the strains of his national anthem played. Kei is a hero to the Leone Stars supporters who will chant his name tomorrow. This country loves its football, after all. But Kei is more than that. His story, remarkable as it is, is echoed by everyone in this country. Each of those supporters has their own story of pain and loss. Somehow, they all survived together. Somehow, they managed to keep their hope alive. And now, somehow, they’re all managing to heal together. Wearing the jersey or not, Kei is a symbol for Sierra Leone and the country’s resilience. When a guy like him makes it, it’s a victory for the entire country.

Damn, we want him to score tomorrow.

Much love,

The Brownstones Crew