Vedad Ibesivic

On my club soccer team in Des Moines, Iowa, I play with a kid named Elvir Ibisevic. He's a sophomore at Johnston High School in Des Moines, and it's no surprise that he is amazing at soccer. His cousin, Vedad Ibisevic, is a professional soccer player in Germany, where he plays for the Bundesliga team VFB Stuttgart. His background story is amazing and teaches us all that we shouldn't take things for granted, because there are many people that start from nothing, and still make it to farther places than many of us.

Vedad started out his life in Bosnia and Herzegovina, during the time of the Bosnian War. At the age of five he was made to flee his hometown and country because of the mass genocide that was occurring. He traveled around with his family, but one thing remained constant where ever he went; he always found soccer as a way to distract himself from the pain. His family went to Switzerland, where he joined a small pro team there. When he was 15 his family decided to head to the United States. They settled in St. Louis, which is a major hub of Bosnian refugees. He played high school soccer in St. Louis, before he went to play college at the University of St. Louis. He attended college with hardly any english speaking ability, but still managed to make a year at the university work. After a year he was named the Rookie of the Year for the NCAA, and that was when his career took off. He was spotted by a Bosnian scout for the club Paris St. Germaine in France, and signed a contract with them at the age of 19. From there he was loaned out to a French second division team and then joined Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga. At the age of 23 he had the season of his life, scoring 18 goals with 7 assists in only 17 games. Then tragedy struck and he tore his ACL that winter in a training game during the season break. He returned the next season, but never got the amazing form back. He then transferred to VFB Stuttgart where he currently continues to play at the age of 29. His story is amazing, coming out of Bosnia as a war refugee, and having the strength and determination to become what he always what he wanted to be.

Everyone can learn something from this amazing story of perseverance and hard work. It also shows how much we take for granted in our middle class lifestyle that we live these days. It really makes you realize that even though we think we have struggles in our lives, whether it be dealing with a girlfriend, or plagiarizing blogs when you really should have written them in the first place, we never have truly experienced hardship of the like that Vedad Ibisevic has.