By Jordan Kendall
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
More international student athletes are coming to compete in America. The number of average FBS football players has doubled in the last three years, while men’s soccer and track are becoming more diverse than ever. Three of these athletes, Joe Amoah, Shimano Dendoe, and Albert Kang are competing right here in Baltimore.
Amoah is a senior sprinter for Coppin State, and has set multiple school and personal records while with the Eagles. Hailing from Greater Accra, Ghana, Amoah has a chance to represent both his country and school on a unique stage.
In 2019, Amoah became the first Ghanaian athlete in any sport to qualify for the Olympics with a personal best time of 20.20 seconds in the 200m dash. It was the fastest time for a Ghanaian athlete in the event in 20 years. Despite his performance, he placed second in the event at the MEAC outdoor track championship.
He will find out in four months if he has been selected to compete in the Olympics, and if he is it would fulfill a lifelong dream that he plans to take advantage of.
“It’s always been my dream ever since I started taking track serious,” Amoah said. “All I’m trying to do is stay healthy and compete and move forward. And I think it’s gonna be a blessing, definitely a dream come true.”
Dendoe won’t be in the Olympics anytime soon, but he’s also had some notable achievements. A senior defensive end for Morgan State, he transferred from the College of the Siskiyous in California. Originally from Amsterdam in The Netherlands, Dendoe played in ten games for the Bears last season.
While at Siskiyous he helped the Eagles earn their first playoff berth in program history. This was an accomplishment Dendoe takes pride in being a part of.
“It meant a lot, that class it was good,” Dendoe said. “Going to playoffs was a life experience.”
Unlike Amoah and Dendoe, Kang does not have the collegiate achievements. However, he also has some notable accomplishments.
Kang is a sophomore midfielder for the Loyola University Greyhounds. A native of Maple Ridge, British Columbia, he started in two games for Loyola his freshman season and played in 19 games for the Greyhounds. Before Loyola, Kang was a member of the Vancouver Whitecaps FC academy. Kang started 15 USSDA games with the academy including their three playoff games.
He also has experience playing in England and Italy which according to Kang was a unique experience.
“That was really cool, obviously soccer there’s a lot better,” Kang said. “It was good to see how it was there. Motivation to push me to become better and get a taste of what’s it’s like. Also showed me it wasn’t too far it’s achievable. It’s obviously a level up but the gap wasn’t that huge.”
All three of these student-athletes compete in the Baltimore area, but their differences in their backgrounds help to individualize them.
Amoah didn’t take track seriously at first but realizing the expectations as an Eagle have changed his way of thinking.
“I didn’t take track that serious,” Amoah said. “Over here you know you’re on scholarship, so you have to give track the same attention as academics.”
The Baltimore area is known for having high areas of crime rate, but for Amoah, this wasn’t an eye-opening experience. He said that like Baltimore, there are areas in Ghana with high crime rates, so he was used to it when he arrived.
“When I came here, I used to check my school email every week, every week I saw crime scenes,” Amoah said. “I’m kinda used to it. You learn how to live in a space where you find yourself and do what we need to do.”
While American football is the most popular sport in the U.S., the other football reigns supreme in The Netherlands.
“In The Netherlands, football is soccer,” Dendoe said. “Everyone plays soccer, you go running around with a round ball. American football is small compared to the US. We have maybe 1,000 people interested and actively into football.”
Dendoe discovered football through a friend and wanted to see if he could compete with the best of the best.
“Everyone back in Europe looking forward to playing American football in the states,” Dendoe said. “This is like where all the big guys are, people you see on TV, on YouTube, on social media. I wanted to see if I could keep up with American guys.”
Kang noted the ethnicity of Baltimore compared to Vancouver.
“Vancouver is pretty similar to America,” Kang said. “The biggest thing is the difference in ethnicity, Baltimore has a large black community while in Vancouver it’s a large Asian community. It wasn’t as huge a difference because Canada and the US are so similar.”
Similar to Kang, Dendoe noticed the difference in dialect between Baltimore and Amsterdam.
“So far, the biggest difference is the people,” Dendoe said. “One thing I’ve noticed is people are from everywhere, Philly, Boston, Florida, Georgia. Before I came to the states, I figured everyone speaks English but lots of different accents I had to get used to. You can talk to someone from Baltimore compared to Florida and it sounds completely different.”
While these athletes are competing for American universities, they each hold a special place in their heart for their native countries.
“To be able to wear national colors, represent home country is something big,” Amoah said. “Everyone is watching you back home, these are the guys you put on your shoulders. It’s a big thing to wear national colors and represent on big stage. Same for my school, every time I put on school jersey, gotta represent, gotta leave it all on the track.”
This is also the case for Kang, who takes pride in his Canadian roots.
“It’s an honor, obviously I want to represent Canadian soccer as well as I can,” Kang said.