Meet Mulugheta Asihel: Up and coming College soccer star.

 College Athletics in the United States play a big role towards developing great citizens and possibly great athletes. As most of you know you don't have to look any further than most of the great collegiate athletes who have turned out to be professional athletes that have gone on to become the very best in their respective profession whatever it may be. It is with pleasure that I introduce to you a young man whom I have had the honor of following for the past couple of years as a student and a soccer player. 
A potential star this player has so much poise, skill and a can do attitude. He is a young man born to Eritrean parents and those who follow the Eritrean Sports Federation in North America annual sports festival may have seen him play in Dallas 2008, where the team he played for Alexandria won it's fourth title.

His name is Mulugheta Asihel and he graduated from Robert. E. Lee high school in Springfield, Virginia this past summer. Mulu as his friends know him was also on a select travel soccer team since his younger days where he excelled in every aspect of his game. His family especially his father has been very supportive in his Mulu's success and the result has been nothing but a great future for this young man. Spending lots of time traveling and also encouraging and investing in his child is something every parent should emulate. As an observer I have been watching Mulu play for a couple of years and can say that he has what it takes to be a great person but even more a great soccer player.                                                                                                                              
Mulu decided that it would be best to attend Junior college and get a great exposure before he transfers to a major four-year program. He was highly recruited by four-year schools but he decided to attend College of Southern Maryland where he has had an outstanding season as a midfielder/Forward player. College of Southern Maryland is in the Maryland Junior college Region twenty conference at the division one level. It also happens to be in the same division as my alma mater now known as Hagerstown Community College. Maryland Juco and especially region twenty has produced some of the top soccer and baseball players in the United States at every level including at the professional level. There is no doubt in my mind that Mulu has what it takes to be the best. He proved it last week when he was selected as one of the top players getting ALL STAR recognition alongside of his two team mates during the final of the region twenty conference championships, that I had the honor of witnessing. It brought me back to the good old days when my brother and I played in one of the toughest divisions. In our first year as a full fledged team, we had an incredible run of 13-3-1 losing to Charles community college currently know as College of Southern Maryland, where Mulugheta has been a star player.

After defeating Hagerstown in the semi finals CSM (College of Southern Maryland) had to play a power house in Junior college soccer. In a tough loss to CCBC Essex (Community college of Baltimore County) by the score of 2-1 Mulu scored the tying goal after Essex took the lead. Once Essex scored the second goal, Southern Maryland missed many opportunities where in one instance Mulu hit the goal post almost tying the game. It was not meant to be for the young team mostly composed of underclassmen. But if the scouts that were there saw one thing it is Mulu's chances of getting a scholarship somewhere at the NCAA division one level. This is a classic example of how allowing a young person to flourish and supporting them can make them great human beings and great athletes. I encourage Eritrean American families to give due attention to their kids who are the future generation. The number of Eritrean athletes who have done well include recent NY City marathon champion Meb Keflezghi, Zersenai Taddese, Thomas Kelati, Henok Goitom, Simon Bairu as well as many others. These Eritrean athletes are excellent examples of how sports and athletics can help build a strong foundation. Congratulations to Mulu Asihel for an outstanding season and we hope to see more of him as he pursues his education and soccer career at a higher institution of learning. We will be watching.

Picture above: The writer of this blog sitting second to the left as member of the historic Hagerstown Junior college soccer team that went 13-3-1 in it's first year as a team representing the school.






Michael Seium for,

Eri-International sports blog.

Eritrean Americans are Americans too.

Eritrean Americans are Americans Too.

After Native Americans and the real indigenous people were unfairly shoved aside in the beginning of what we now know as America, it was immigrants that founded the modern day United States of America. The America that prides itself as the most strong and advanced nation on earth. As part of a melting pot from all continents throughout the world, members of immigrant families have contributed their share in every sector of American society. They are from Europe Africa, Asia, South America, Oceania, and Latin America. The America founded by immigrants has also done its fair share of terrible things in order to protect its selfish interests. You see, it was in the 1950’s when the very same nation that New York City marathon Champion runner Meb Keflezghi waived his flag for, the United States of America, committed a major crime against the Eritrean people by forcefully annexing it to Ethiopia. The secretary of state at that time John Foster Dulles and the State department did not foresee that one day a young Eritrean born kid would represent the United States in the Olympics or that same person would be the first American to win the New York City Marathon. Let's go back to memory lane & recite the a quote from secretary Dulles in 1952,

 “From the point of view of justice, the opinions of the Eritrean people must receive consideration. Nevertheless, the strategic interests of the United States in the Red Sea Basin and considerations of security and world peace make it necessary that the country [Eritrea] be linked with our ally, Ethiopia.”

Only if more Americans knew what Eritreans had to endure during these troubled times, they would appreciate their lives more. So how did Eritreans respond back? They did not dwell on the negative but decided that they needed to do something in order to get their dignity back. They rose up and stood up to claim what was theirs. The thirty-year struggle against occupation and rampant racism molded them into a strong, hard working people, united amongst nine ethnic groups and two major religions. In the process which took more than four decades, Eritreans were also being forced to leave their homes in large numbers and join the mass migration to the Middle East, Europe and the United States from the African continent  like other immigrants before them.

Meb Keflezghi who made his way with his large family to southern California is a by product of this migration and like lots of Americans who came here to seek a better life, he went to high school in San Diego, college at UCLA where he won four NCAA titles and won a silver at the 2004 Olympics in Athens for the United States. He was well educated by the system that provided him refuge and taught him to be a good citizen. He was trained and built ready made to run in the toughest conditions right here in the USA. He took on the challenge with sheer determination, hard work and ethics. I can guarantee you that there are millions of other immigrants who had the same opportunity as he did but he happened to shine and he became a success story as a result of hardwork. His strong discipline as an individual and an excellent family value which is a huge part of the Eritrean culture & add to that some great coaching at UCLA to go along with it, Meb proved that anyone, can become the best at anything they set out to do.

                                            The writer of this blog with Eritrean American NYC Champion in 2006.

As an Eritrean American myself who has made my home here for more than 25 years, I am outraged by certain media coverage and responses about the Eritrean American runner who also happens to be a friend. Eritrean American immigrants are among the hard working population of America’s melting pot. They are well educated, they value respect for all human beings no matter where they come from, they are kind, and self reliant, all threats that they brought with them to their adopted homeland of the United States many years ago. Like millions of other immigrant Americans who have paid their dues, Eritrean Americans have been a great Diaspora that have been able to intermix their great culture and assimilate it to the lifestyle of America. They are law-abiding citizens for the most part, they are active in their communities. They in the true sense should be embraced by America as they are a classic example of the term "It takes a village to raise a child". They also happen to love sports and the writer of this blog can strongly vouch for that. Yo can even ask Meb Keflezghi.  

CNBC sports writer Darren Rovell probably wishes he did not write a racist article about the Eritrean-American champion athlete of the NY city marathon who has been demeaned and disrespected at the very least.  Rovell who claims to have run the NYC marathon failed to do his research before he pulled the trigger. CNBC's editorial managers also failed. Could it be by coincidence or purposely done to create controversy? It begs the question as to why racism is still so rampant in today’s America. As an Eritrean-American sports buff I would like to make a point and also tell the story of a great American athlete and of a racist America which we must always remind people about in order to eradicate this ugly disease.  It is the story of probably the best US athlete of the 20^th Century a sportsman of melting-pot heritage, child of part Native American, Irish and French parents. His name was Jim Thorpe and he was in the 1950’s named the best American athlete by sports writers for the first half of the 20^th Century. Thorpe was a multi athlete who excelled at everything he did. He won the Olympic gold in pentathlon and decathlon, and starred in football, baseball and basketball at the highest level of competition. By 1950, when diagnosed with cancer, and on March 28, 1953, Jim Thorpe died of complications from a heart attack. Only after his death was the racism and unfairness publicly recognized with which Jim Thorpe was treated. His sacrifice and ill treatment was never told while he was alive. He did not have a medium to speak up. Thank god to new media and technology articles like Rovell's and the many other racist statements that were written about Meb have been repulsed. My point in bringing Jim Thorpe into this story is because people like him are those who paved the way for other Americans to succeed and be the best they can be. The Thorpes and Jackie Robinsons and the thousands of immigrant and minority athletes are those who opened doors for some of the best athletes America has produced including Meb Keflezghi. They also opened the doors to other important positions for immigrants and children of immigrants. Look no further than the top executive of the United States of America. Meb can be put in the same category as he stands today as the top American runner. There is no doubt that he will even go down as the greatest long distance runner in American history when he is done. Racist columnists and sports writers must stop their arrogance and respect all athletes no matter what as long as they are RIGHTFULLY & LEGALY AMERICANS. Many years after the battle for civil rights and many years after so many people paid dearly we continue to witness stains of the dirty & ugly piece of Americana. Darren has apologized as a result of responses from outraged citizens of America from all walks of life. They were highly offended by what he said. He was forced to respond as follows,

All I was saying was that we should celebrate an American marathon champion who has completely been brought up through the American system. This is where, I must admit, my critics made their best point. It turns out, Keflezighi moved to the United States in time to develop at every level in America. So Meb is in fact an American trained athlete and an American citizen and he should be celebrated as the American winner of the NYC Marathon. That makes a difference and makes him different from the "ringer" I accused him of being. Meb didn't deserve that comparison and I apologize for that.

While I commend him for his apology, as a sports writer he should have done his homework. It would have been much easier to research rather than assume that another African with a weired name has just won the NYC Marathon for America. Let us not forget that, as Americans the stories that have shaped this nation into a superpower is not it’s arrogance, but it’s amazing stories of immigrants. Immigrant Americans built this nation and they will break it if not respected and treated with dignity and respect. So that we are aware, like Meb Keflezghi many immigrant Americans have played a big role in the well being of this nation and continue to do so today.

                                          The writer of the blog with Martina Navratilova an Immigrant American.
Just to name a few, Henry Kissinger, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Madeline Albright, Albert Einstein, Martina Navratilova whom I have had the pleasure of meeting. If we went further and even spoke about children of immigrants then I would not have enough space on this blog. So the point I am making, every American should celebrate Meb's victory as it is for America by an American runner who happens to be born in Eritrea.

FYI: Eritreans like other immigrants play major roles and contribute in building grass roots movements in many sports including football, running, Soccer, college woman’s and men’s basketball and more. Don’t be surprised if the next Eritrean American is an NBA or NFL star or one that will represent the US in an Olympic event. It’s bound to happen sooner than later. Sports writers and every American should embrace them and remember that it is the spirit of competition that binds humans together rather than where they came from. I want to say that I am an advocate of Eritrean American sports and will continue to enlighten people about their great achievements.

The writer of this blog is an Eritrean American sports journalist who has covered major events, including the US national soccer team, the NBA, NFL and major college sports as well as other American sports.

Mike Seium

Eri-international sports blog.

     

Kelati may be Waived but Eritreans are proud of him.

     Eri-International sports has learned that Thomas Kelati has been waived by the Los Angeles Lakers. In 5 pre-season games Kelati averaged 1.6 points and 1.2 rebounds. His longest playing time was 8 minutes and he did not play in two games. In his last game against Golden State Warriors Kelati scored 4 points in 6 minutes, indicating clearly that he can play a role on any NBA team if given a chance. His record in Spain was spectacular and Thomas has a bright future and has a great chance to make an NBA team. It should be recalled that at Washington State University, Thomas was an ALL PAC and played alongside of some current NBA players sometimes dominating the game, and so there is no doubt with a lot of support from fans and hard work Kelati will re-appear in the NBA.

     To all who may be dissapointed about Thomas being waived from the Lakers, don't be because it is not an easy task to make the NBA let alone the world champion Los Angeles Lakers. I have been following the NBA for a long time and have also seen some of Thomas' games in college as well as in Poland and Spain and I strongly believe that Thomas can make it on an NBA team. All Eritreans should be proud of his accomplishements and wish him success in whatever he sets out to do. Keep the chin up Thomas and as the great saying goes "Shoot for the moon and if you miss you will be among the stars" 


Good luck.


Mike Seium for Eri-international sports blog.

Kelati's chances of making the Lakers look very good.

Eri-International sports blog has learned that three of the 18 players from the Los Angeles Lakers squad for this year (2009-2010)have been waived making it possible for Thomas Kelati to remain on the Lakers throughout the season. The Los Angeles Lakers have waived Mickeal Gelabale, David Monds and Michael Fey cutting the team roster to 15 players. There is also news now that Jordan Farmer has become an un-restricted free agent and could be traded any time even though he has indicated that he wants to remain in Los Angeles.

The indication we are getting is Kelati may officially become a Laker. Meanwhile in a loss to the Golden State Warriors at the LA Forum in Inglewood where the Lakers used to make their home, Kelati scored 2 points in the loss and so far has been averaging 8 minutes of playing time. The NBA is not an easy league to play in and the competition for a position on any team is not easy. During any given season, less than 500 of the world's best players get an opportunity to see action with the league's 30 teams. Those special few who make the cut are athletically gifted and determined individuals in peak physical condition. Each NBA team consists of a roster of 15 players, 12 of whom are allowed to suit up for games. A team's 5 starting players and top substitutes must be able to perform at their highest level for between 30 and 40 minutes per game. While staying prepared to enter the game at a moment's notice, less talented NBA players get far fewer minutes of playing time, often hitting the court only at the end of lopsided contests.

NBA-caliber players are highly specialized. Each team needs a starting quintet made up of a point-guard with superb ball-handling skills, a shooting guard adept at hitting long-range jumpers, a pair of forwards who can score and rebound and a center who provides a powerful physical presence near the basket. Bench players typically fill specific roles such as providing stifling defense or rapid-fire scoring. Thomas Kelati may be just the player that the Lakers are looking for to provide defense and three point shots which he has proven to excel at based on his European tour of duty.

Another indication that Kelati may be official is the fact that the NBA has finally created a statistic page with his player profile making it easy for people to follow his contributions to the Lakers very easy. Click on the following link to see his stats for now which shows he is averaging 2 points per 8 minutes a game.

http://www.nba.com/playerfile/thomas_kelati/index.html?nav=page

Congrats to Thomas and we will be keeping an eye on him.

Mike Seium for Eri-international sports.

http://eri-internationalsports.blogspot.com/

Kelati sees some action with the Lakers.

The Los Angeles Lakers the defending world Champions started their 2009-2010 season by defeating the Golden State Warriors 118-101. The game played in Anaheim California was the first ever for Thomas Kelati. The Eritrean American in his 8 minutes of action scored 2 points, grabbed one defensive rebound as he debut in his first NBA game ever. The Lakers will take on the Warriors again at the LA Forum in Inglewood tomorrow starting at 7:00.

During an after practice interview this past Tuesday coach Phil Jackson had indicated that Kelati would be on rotation to play on the Lakers second unit practice squad. There are currently 18 players on the Lakers of which 15 will be retained at the end of the pre-season. Thomas certainly has a great chance to make the squad. He is a great outside shooter, and the Lakers could certainly use a great shooter. If there are Eritreans in the Los Angeles area try to go support while also enjoying a great evening with the family at an NBA game.

Thomas' stats are listed here below.

			FIELD GOALS				REBOUNDS
	POS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	+/-	OFF	DEF	TOT	AST	PF	ST	TO	BS	BA	PTS

T. Kelati

08:07

1-2

0-0

0-0

-11

0

1

1

0

1

0

1

0

0

2

Congratulations to Thomas on his first NBA game, hope there is a lot more to come.

Mike Seium

Eri-International sports blog.

A Big Step for Kelati! Being on the 2009 World Championship Team.

Eri-International sports blog has learned that Thomas Kelati has signed a "Make good" contract with the 2009 World Champions the Los Angeles Lakers. The Associated Press and KCBS-TV 2 the CBS affiliate in Los Angeles is reporting that Kelati who has made his way from Greece to the U.S has been added on the squad throughout the pre-season. The Lakers signed Thomas who is a free agent to a non-guaranteed contract where he is now on the squad of 18 players. Kelati who played at Washington State University and made the All-Pacific team during his senior year. Kelati, who played all four years at Washington State, finished his collegiate career ranked among all-time school leaders in 3-point field goal percentage (third-.427), 3-point field goals (second-232), assists (eighth-274), and steals (seventh-133).

He played in three countries in Europe while he also played with the Los Angeles Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers summer league teams. His last stint was with Spain's Unicaja where he was one of the top leading scorers. Kelati had signed a new contract with one of Europe's top teams from Greece Olympiacos when he was given the opportunity to come and join the Lakers. Kelati an Eritrean American has the making of a great NBA player and the entire community of Eritrean Americans as well as his fans throughout the world should be proud of his accomplishments. We wish Thomas good luck. Meanwhile here is a link to the Lakers schedule and we encourage all Eritreans and fans in general to go support him during his toughest challenge which is to make the regular season team. Most of his games are in California while a game so far has been confirmed in Las Vegas. ESPN and KCAL-TV will also be carrying the pre-season games. Hope to see Thomas in Action. He will Make it! Yes He can! Kikewin yu kemey zeykewin.

TV/Radio Broadcast Information SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Anheim, CA vs GSW PRE 7:00pm 8 9 Inglewood, CA vs GSW PRE 7:00pm 10 11 12 13 14 15 Las Vegas, NV vs SAC PRE 7:00pm 16 17 2 b Announced PRE 7:30pm 18 vs TBD PRE 7:30pm 19 20 Ontario, California vs GSW PRE 7:00pm 21 22 Aneheim, CA vs DEN PRE 7:00pm 23 San Diego, CA vs DEN PRE 7:30pm 24 25 26 27 TBA vs LAC 7:30pm 28 29 30 TBA vs DAL 7:30pm 31

Meanwhile Henok Goitom is on La Liga's (Spanish First Division) Almeria. He has been slightly injured and should be back soon. In other sports news Zeresenai will be competing in the Half marathon World championships where he is favored to win. We will have more sports news coming up soon. Until then all we can say is great work Thomas Kelati and the unique part about it is that he is a member of a world championship team that is slated to repeat again.

Congratulations from Eri-International Sports blog.

Mike Seium

http://eri-internationalsports.blogspot.com/

CECAFA under 17 tournament media coverage.

First and foremost, Congratulations to the Champions of the CECAFA under 17 tournament that just concluded in Sudan. Uganda by playing hard defeated a strong Eritrean team that surprised many and in the process got terrible media coverage. It is such a shame to follow some of the media outlets from most of the CECAFA countries and see articles and information that was not accurate. It is frustrating to see that what truly was happening on the ground was not being reported correctly. Could it be that there are many beginner sports journalists working in some of those media outlets or a simple act of terrible journalism purposely done to favor their own teams?

First and foremost the CECAFA website was not updated on a regular basis even after the second week when most of the games were completed. I mean what is the purpose of having a website for an event if information is not updated. It took fans and followers almost two days to find out scores of the games. I believe the event was promoted and got hyped so that it can get international coverage. If FIFA truly wants East and Central Africa to build strong squads it should also help with the growth process of media coverage.

Now to team Eritrea, which shocked most spectators when they advanced to the next round after tying both Burundi and Rwanda respectable teams. Eritrea went on to beat Zanzibar who were fairly strong and beat Sudan to advance to the finals against Uganda.

Uganda defeated under 17 world cup qualifier Malawi to advance to the finals. While I believe the Eritrean national team had an opportunity to win the title they fell slightly short to a strong Ugandan team. So you would think that the media coverage would favor an underdog team that no body expected to get to the finals. However, to our dismay the Eritrean team was not heard of or talked about until they got to the finals, even then it was a small coverage saying that Eritrea made it to the finals. Thank god for local Eritrean media we can get the whole scoop from our own media. Then as if some of those countries who lost their chance to win the event did not have enough they continue to smear the Eritrean team with lies.

One thing Eritrea is known for is being truthful about the age of it's players. In Norway in the late 90's some of the youth Eritrean players who surprised the likes of Ronaldinho of Brazil and the thousands of participants at the Norway Cup were subjugated to age investigation and came up with flying colors. In the end the two Eritrean teams made it to the finals and proved that Eritrea was and continues to be a soccer power despite all obstacles. So when you see an article from an armature writer who interviewed the Tanzanian youth Coordinator and then without facts posts the quote, you can then understand the envy others have towards the Eritrean national under 17 team squad, Here is the quote by The TFF head of Youth Competition, Msafiri Mgoyi from the newspaper known as "The Citizen",

Mgoyi said that some teams fielded married players with children and came with their families in the competition. "One of the Eritrean players came with his family and a child, we have photographed him, these showed how the competition is about, we strictly respected all of the competition," said Mgoyi.

While the CECAFA have taken appropriate action against the host team Sudan for using overage players, the Eritrean team has not been fined nor questioned, as a matter of fact they have been rewarded the second place prize and will continue to build the youth for the next level. Congratulations to coach Negash Teklit for doing an outstanding job good luck to the Red Sea boys in the future.

Mike Seium

eri-international sports blog