Ibrahim Rostom, 11

Working with the Egyptian national team was the biggest thing that ever happened in my life. Any time someone gets to represent their country whether it’s in sports or anything else, it’s always a pleasure. Being able to represent my country, especially in a sport that’s loved by the people, is an honor and a privilege. I learned a lot there, met a lot of people, especially because I was there a lot growing up, but I never had a chance to interact with kids my age until now. Interacting with kids my age that I had never met was amazing. The experience itself, the professionalism, the amazing hotel, having an amazing coaching staff, and all of it was just an amazing learning experience. The main thing my parents and coach told me is to “take everything in and learn as much as you can.” Being able to play with such top players motivates me and always pushes me to do whatever I can. You need to show you’re special. There is a page on instagram called Egyptian Players Abroad, run by a scouting agent named Wael Turk. Wael is an amazing man. He finds Egyptian soccer players outside of Egypt. He heard about me around a year ago. I sent him clips of my soccer, and he was interested in how I play. Soon after, he invited me out to play with the team, and that’s how I got recognized. It’s 4 a.m. , and my dad comes into my room and says ¨Check your email.¨ He says it again, ¨Check your email right now.” So I see an email requesting my soccer club[in America] to release me to go play for the Egyptian club. And at first it didn’t hit. I was like dead. Then it hit. I’ve been called up to play for the national team [youth training] and I need to be in Egypt in two days. Once it finally hit, I got up and praised God. “Thank god this is so great.” The People I met [in Egypt] will forever be lifelong friends. One thing I realized is there’s a lot of kids from abroad from Italy and Spain, and I feel like all of us speaking Arabic connected us greatly even though we live in different countries. I think the thing I learned there was organization. Everything was so organized. The color you wear, the shirt you wear to eat, to the time you eat, to going to the gym at 4 a.m. All of that was so important. It taught me that all of that matters so much. Professionalism is also a major thing. The way you carry yourself, the way you talk, and the way you interact with others. These kids are thinking of as “oh, he’s coming from America, he’s different.” They all know each other, so the way you carry yourself is the way you introduce yourself. Being on time is all that really really counts. There is a player named Muhammad Salah, he is one of the best players in the world. One thing he says a lot is that people who live outside of Egypt are technically ambassadors of their home country. You are representing your country, I was trying to represent Egyptians who live in America. I want to prove to everyone that whether you´re Egyptian or not, regardless of that if you want to do something for your country or be successful, never forget where you came from. Never forget the people who got you there. I was there[Egypt] representing the people of my country who live here[America]. My advice is never give up on your dreams and anything is possible if you put your mind to it, and I really mean that.