Omar Sowe, a Harrison grad, signed a multi-year contract with the New York Red Bulls.
(Reena Rose Sibayan | The Jersey Journal
Omar Sowe wasn’t able to see Red Bull Arena from the famed Harrison Courts as he pretended to be Cristiano Ronaldo, Bradley Wright-Phillips or whatever professional soccer star he felt like emulating that day.
Sowe could only hear the sounds from the stadium located less than a mile away. For the 18-year-old Harrison High School graduate, the dream of playing there as a professional are now firmly in sight.
On August 16, Sowe signed a multi-year contract with New York Red Bulls to play with Red Bulls II the parent club’s top affiliate. Sowe, who became the first Harrison graduate to sign a professional deal in more than four decades, has played in one game with Red Bulls II thus far.
“I was very, very happy. My family was happy and that was the most important thing for me,” said Sowe. “Making that decision was a big step in my career and I feel like it’s just the beginning.
“I want to play for the Red Bulls. That’s where I want to start my professional career.”
Red Bull Arena opened up in Harrison in March of 2010 when Sowe was 9-years-old, just a few months after his family moved from Gambia. His father, Alhagi, was looking for a town where we could commute to work in New York City and also had a soccer culture that could help his children become acclimated to their new home.
Once Omar and his brothers Modou and Mustapha discovered the courts, their transition became a much easier one.
“By the second day here, I found the courts and I used to go over there every day,” Sowe said. “I think that’s how people know me and my family because of soccer. We would go to school, come home and just go to the courts. That’s where everyone knew where to find us.”
It was also where Mustapha and Modou would have to get Omar if they wanted to eat dinner. If not for the edict at home from their mother Amy, Omar might have stayed at the courts until they were locked up late at night.
“We’d all go together, but they’d leave and I’d stay and she used to tell them to tell me that no one would eat, unless I came home,” Omar said. “I’d be there all day, they’d go home and she would be mad.”
“Omar’s been such a big part of this place and his family has been such a big part of this town,” Harrison coach Mike Rusek said. “It’s been amazing how this family took to our town.”
Omar and younger brother Mustapha served as Harrison’s ball boys as the Blue Tide won back-to-back sectional titles and older brother Modou was named The Star-Ledger’s Boys Soccer Statewide Player of the Year.
Whereas Modou, who briefly played for the Red Bulls’ Academy team following high school, was a star center back, Omar made his presence felt up top.
As a junior, he set single-season records in goals (37) and assists (31). Then, as a senior, he added 35 goals and 21 assists as he became the school’s all-time scoring leader.
“We’ve had some exciting players and Omar is the best of all of them. It’s going to be hard to match (what he did),” said Rusek. “Omar has a very rare blend of power and finesse. We’ve had guys that had amazing skill. We’ve had guys that had amazing strength or speed, but it was all combined with Omar.”
Despite not playing for a high profile club team, Sowe was added by the Red Bulls to their U-18 Academy team following the high school season in November. After recording nine goals in 15 games with the U-18 Academy team, he was then added to the U-23 team this summer, appearing in five games.
His play led to several Division 1 offers, but he had his sights set on playing professionally.
Sowe credits his rapid ascent to the words his father told him and his two brothers.
“I feel like my dad always taught us that if we work hard for it, there’s always going to be that chance of getting what you want and what you deserve,” Omar said. “I felt like if I kept working hard and doing my thing, it would show.”
Growing up, Sowe and his family were able to attend a handful of Red Bulls games each season. He also got to play a few games on the Red Bull Arena pitch while at Harrison High School.
The idea that it could soon be his full-time home in the future is one that Sowe still hasn’t fully grasped.
It is however something his former coaches and so many other Harrison residents have hoped for since ground was broken on Red Bull Arena.
The stadium still isn’t visible for Sowe as he trains at the team’s facilities in Hanover or plays in the Red Bulls II’s games at Montclair State University. But now, the dream, he could only hear while playing soccer late into the night, is now in sight.
