Despite dark past in Rwanda, student makes light through football, education

Jean-Luc Nshimiyimana left the war-stricken Rwanda when he was 8.

No offense to Don Cheadle, but forget everything you saw in the 2004 movie Hotel Rwanda. University of Texas at Arlington senior Jean-Luc Nshimiyimana is the epitome of what Hotel Rwanda is really about.

Nshimiyimana was born in Rwanda. His father worked for the government in Rwanda. In 1997, his father was assassinated. 

 Nshimiyimana said the movie's representation of the war is weak.

“Back in 1992-93, before the war, it was a beautiful country,” he said. “We had plantations, good agriculture. Back in that time it was peaceful and everything was so nice. And then the war came. It’s nothing like the movie.”

Nshimiyimana said the war was between Tutsi and the Hutu tribes.

Amidst the war and the assassination of his father, Nshimiyimana played soccer as a pastime and a way to ignore the chaos around him. He started playing when he was 7. He played for his first soccer club in the eighth grade.

Nshimiyimana and his family moved to America Sept. 20, 2005. He played soccer till the end of his sophomore year.

He never knew what American football was till he started attending the home games at Abilene Christian high school. He thought the games were comical, how players hardly used their feet even though it’s called football.

“I saw how it was very animated,” he said. “The physique and the hitting and everything, I was like ‘OK, I got to try this for myself one day.’” 

Nshimiyimana tried out for the team during the off season. He said the workouts were like being in a militia. He made the team as a wide receiver.

“I sat down for almost a week, wishing I never joined the team,” he said. “For the first practice of the off season, I didn’t go to school for the next three days. I was so sore; I couldn’t feel any part of my body.”

While Nshimiyimana was getting adjusted to the American sport, his mother almost took him out it.

“She didn’t like it,” he said. “When she went to the first game, she actually tried to pull me off the team the same day she went to the first game. But after a while, she got used to it.”

For the short time that Nshimiyimana was playing football, he was getting letters from universities. The college he wanted to go to was the University of Texas at Austin. That dream never became a reality after he broke his ankle during a volleyball game his senior year.

“I jumped so I could spike the ball, and when I landed, I twisted my ankle and it cracked,” he said. That was the end of sports for me. I got letters from Alabama, Oklahoma but that was too far from home for me. I was looking forward to UT Austin.”

Nshimiyimana hasn’t visited Rwanda in 14 years. He and his family have planned a visit. He said the politics of his country are the main reasons of him not returning.

“I will go back once the system changes,” he said.

Nshimiyimana’s last football game was in 2007. And while he didn’t last long in the sport, the memories last forever.

“Playing receiver there was [phew]… it makes me feel like a king,” he said.

UTA coach goes pro, opportunity overseas

Candice Champion, middle, takes a few pictures with her teammates in Weatherford, Texas.  

She has a great smile and walks with a strut such that at first glance, many would think Candice Champion is a model.

Her name describes her well. During the summer, she’s a head coach for the University of Texas at Arlington’s Upward Bound basketball team. In her third year coaching, Champion’s team has won back-to-back championships in 2010 and 2011. When she’s not coaching, she plays pro women’s basketball overseas.

In 2009, Champion played for a team in Portugal and played for a Polish team in 2010. Champion’s experience overseas was a lifestyle adjustment, from seeing chickens cooked live to ordering sneakers from catalogs.

“The way of living was odd,” she said. “From milk in the fridge to milk on the shelf, a whole chicken processed to a furry chicken being cooked in front of you. I couldn’t buy shoes. I had to order all my stuff from Eastbay.”

Champion had a late start in basketball. Though she started playing in the seventh grade, she didn’t pursue basketball full time till the ninth grade at University High School in Waco, Texas. Champion’s first sports were track and volleyball. She said Lisa Leslie inspired her to play basketball. In her collegiate career, she played four years at UTA. In her senior year, she hired an agent. 

“[In the 9^th grade] I got huge,” she said. “So I took a risk and went to basketball. I played some AAU and got a full ride, and they told me I had a chance to play overseas.”

Being tall and African-American conveyed more attention than Champion expected. She said it was a culture shock for her and the people of Portugal.

“I’m tall and black and they look at you funny,” she said. “After a month they get used to you. My Portugal coach could speak some English so it was cool. But in Poland, I had a translator.”

After her first tour in Portugal, she was sent to a team in Poland. Champion’s experience with the Polish team was a low point. The relationship with her teammates in and out the locker room was dreadful.

“They loved me in Portugal, but Poland I felt displeased, depressed, mentally down,” she said. “Whenever we lost, I was blamed and it was always my fault. The girls would call me a ball hog. I’d have to score over 25 [Points] a game just to have a chance for us to win.”

Chad Jordan, who’s a second year shooting guard for the summer team, said coach Champion is easy to work with.

“There’s no pressure when I work with her,” he said. “It’s real calm. She’ll get on me, but it’s not like there’s any pressure on me.”

Fellow teammate Carl Watson said Champion has helped him expand his guard skills. He credits Champion for improving his court vision and foot work.

“She’s taught me to keep my head up [When taking the ball up the court] and keep good court vision,” he said. “She always pushes us to the next level.”

Champion is going back to Portugal in September. She said she enjoyed her first experience there and the money was good.

Champion plans to get her master’s in business. She wants to open a recreation center after her playing days are done.

“It’s going to be like a Boys & Girls type of rec center,” she said.