From Senegal to the Gridiron

From Senegal to the Gridiron, CCS Royal Bai Jobe

BY: Steve Marshall

In a year full of the unusual and unconventional, 15-year-old Bai Jobe’s story maybe one of the most extraordinary.

Norman residents, Drs. James and Sue Bond have welcomed exchange students from Argentina and France in recent years. In 2018, they were contacted about a potential exchange student that loved basketball and wanted to interact with a family that shared his passion for the sport. Because the Bond family believed strongly in the value of the exchange student program and had a passion for basketball, they agreed to serve as a host family and Bai Jobe (6’4”, 205 lb) soon arrived ready to learn about America and hit the courts.

Almost from the beginning, Jobe became a member of the Bond family. He worked to become more proficient in English, enjoyed school, grew to like American food especially French fries and potato chips and practiced basketball as much as possible. Because of his size and athletic prowess, he was often asked if he was interested in playing football.

“At first, my classmates kept calling me a big teddy bear and I was offended,” he said. “I asked my family why they called me a bear because I was not a bear, but a lion, the CCS mascot.”

American football was a completely new phenomenon to Jobe and seemed a rather crazy game that bore little resemblance to his brand of football (soccer) so he shrugged, insisted he was a CCS lion and continued to focus on basketball.

A month after Jobe came to live with the Bond family, his mother passed away unexpectedly in Senegal. Since his situation in Senegal changed dramatically, there were fewer options for him to return to so the decision was made for him to stay with the Bond family indefinitely.

As an orthopedic surgeon, specializing in sports medicine, Dr. James Bond is frequently on the sidelines providing medical coverage during football games. Jobe often accompanied him to games, enjoyed the atmosphere and after some encouragement from his friends on the football team, he began to wonder if he might actually want to play football.

After a call from his family, the CCS coaching staff agreed to have Jobe come out and practice with the team. The initial idea was to have him practice a lot and just learn the game this season. During his first practice, Coach Prestidge was asked a question he had never been asked in 48 years of coaching.

“We were working hard on teaching Bai a route and finally asked him to just run six yards and stop. Bai nonchalantly said, ‘Ok, but what is a yard?’” Prestidge remembered.

He had to ask for clarification as Senegal uses the metric system. Fortunately, the CCS turf field has every yard marked.

“At first I would get very frustrated because I didn’t understand the game at all and it was hard,” Jobe said. “Sometimes we would use Google translate to try to help. My coaches were encouraging, but there were a few times I even thought about quitting. My family supported me and told me if I started something, I must finish it and now I’m very glad I did!”

Jobe soon exceeded all expectations on the gridiron and began to understand the game especially on defense. He kept one piece of simple straightforward advice from his coaches in mind at all times. See the ball and go get it!

Because of his size, determination and athleticism, this mantra helped him achieve success on the field in a very short amount of time.

Six weeks after playing football for the first time, Jobe had a breakout game where he recorded nine tackles, three for a loss, to go along with two touchdowns, one on a fumble recovery and the other an interception he returned for a touchdown to help the CCS Royals win over Bethel 27-7. For this performance, the staff of the Oklahoman named him Player of the Week.

“We couldn’t wait to hug Bai at the end of that game,” shared Sue Bond. “We were all so proud of him!”

The future is undoubtedly bright for Bai Jobe. He has adapted to life in a new country, mastered a new language, learned a complicated new sport and continued to play basketball as much as possible. As a sophomore, he has several years to decide if his ultimate goal is to pursue a college athletic career on a football field or a basketball court. But what is certain is that he will have the full support of his American family behind him whatever he decides. –BSM