Kingsborough Community College in Manhattan Beach. Photo courtesy of Kingsborough Community College
MANHATTAN BEACH — It was a 2,211-mile journey. And if you’re wondering, that’s the distance from Trinidad and Tobago to Brooklyn. More specifically, Manhattan Beach. Make it Oriental Boulevard – the home of Kingsborough Community College.
That’s the trek DeVon Charles made — he did for the love of a sport. Soccer.
“My father was already in the United States,” Charles, who just finished his fourth and most successful season as soccer coach for The Wave, told the Brooklyn Eagle. “I wanted to play soccer here in the United States.”
So, after completing his four years of secondary school at Fatima College, well, Charles took his cleats and ended up at Kingsborough. As a player, he was a City University of New York Athletic Conference all-star.
“Soccer has always been my love,” he said. “I played in the Caribbean and Granda.”
His knowledge of the game has translated from player to teacher and coach. The men’s soccer team at Kingsborough ended their season with 10 wins, six losses and a tie. They were CUNYAC runners-up and a semifinalist in Region XV.
“We lost to Nassau CC in the region semis,” Charles said. “But we’ll be back.”
That’s his promise – and you just have to believe him.
The young Wave were able to double their win total from the 2022 season that saw them missing out on the CUNYAC Championship game by the narrowest of margins.
The success came easy for The Wave – and Charles.
“We became more than a team,” he said, “we actually became a family. We made sacrifices.
“To succeed in becoming a student-athlete,” he continued, “sacrifices have to be made for one another.”
And Charles said he wasn’t at all surprised by his team’s success.
“Success,” he said, “that was our main goal, to get the to the CUNYAC championships. And our hard work paid off.”
Keithlend Cesar, a sophomore from…
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