When Jermaine Mentoor from Strandfontein was selected to further his soccer career and studies in the United States of America (USA) in 2019 his parents held a family meeting to discuss all the factors, including the financial implications.
However, their sacrifices were rewarded this year when Jermaine was named All Region 16 Player of the Year and ranked number one in the All Regional Team, the first for a defender, at St. Charles Community College in Missouri.
“As parents, you want the best for your child/children and all we want people to know, it is not moonlight and roses sending your child overseas. When people talk about their children studying in other countries there is a lot to consider but it needs to be a family decision and one needs to stick to it and cannot blame one or the other when things are tough,” says Jomosne Mentoor, his proud father.
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At 17, Jermaine was recruited by College Connect International, a USA-based agency that comes to Africa annually to conduct trials for different sporting codes.
“He left Cape Town in January 2019 at the age of 17 to attend a school called Putnam Science Academy in Putnam, Connecticut. He was then a learner at Muizenberg High School until Grade 10 and finished his Grades 11 and 12 in the States. He only received a partial scholarship to attend the school and we had to come up with the rest of the money. This was not easy as our currency is not worth a lot in comparison to the US dollar. But we as a family already made the decision that we’ll do whatever it takes to let him study and play soccer in the USA. After the first semester, he returned to Strandfontein homesick as it was the first time he was away from home for so long. He had to grow up quickly as we as parents weren’t around to do things for him. He had to do his laundry and it was a big adjustment. We communicated daily and had to encourage him to stick it out until the end of the term.
“For two years, he had to travel between the States and Cape Town for the summer holidays and graduated in 2020 with double honours but had to finish the last couple of months online due to the Covid-19 pandemic as all international students were sent to their respective countries. Whenever he travelled home we had to pay for airline tickets and believe me, it was not cheap,” says Mentoor.
While busy with his Grade 12 in the States, Jermaine decided he wanted to continue his studies and this surprised his parents as he never wanted to continue with his studies after high school.
“While in Grade 12 he had to apply to universities and colleges in the States and we assisted when he needed help. A junior college was interested and accepted him but due to Covid and travel restrictions, he could not attend the college as South Africa had travel restrictions in 2020. The travel restrictions came after we applied for his visa which was approved and all the preparations were made for him to travel. When the travel restrictions were lifted he had to apply to a different college again as the one he would have attended, fell through and we had to write off the money on this visa and other travelling arrangements. He was accepted at St Charles Community College in Missouri and had to leave in January 2021. We then had to apply for a new visa again as the first one was for a different college and we had to fork out more money for our son to continue his studies in the States,” says Mentoor.
Jermaine is currently studying business management and administration and is in his second year. In his first year, he achieved a 3.5 GPA (grade point average) and was not happy with the result and is currently on a 3.9 GPA (93%).
“He is doing very well academically in college and is currently ranked number one. He is a right centre back and can also play right back, right wing back and right wing. We are so proud of our son, we cannot contain it and have to share it with whoever wants to listen. He was crying when he heard he was the player of the year and we were not there to share it with him in person. Our sacrifices and the money invested in him were not in vain. Jermaine celebrated his 21st birthday in the States without his family,” says Mentoor.
