Damima Bakayoko

CLIENT

Damima Bakayoko is a native of the Ivory Coast who moved to the United States 6 years ago at the age of 14.  She had no intention of playing sports in America but discovered an innate talent for one of the most popular sports for young women in New York City -- soccer.  Her first season of organized soccer was at Julia Richmond Educational Complex in Manhattan.  While at JREC, she led her team in goals scored with 20 and looked like she had been playing since she knew how to walk.  At the same time, Co-Founder of E3Sports, Andrew FitzGerald was looking to put together a soccer team as a coach for Manhattan Soccer Club.  Andrew did some research on the internet and discovered  that Damima Bakayoko was attending high school in a local neighborhood where he lived on the upper east side.  The rest as they say is history as Damima became one of the most prolific goal scorers he has coached in the city.

OBJECTIVE

Through her hard work and endless hours spent training and playing with E3Sports and Manhattan Soccer Club,   Bakayoko had a unique opportunity to possibly earn a college scholarship because of her athletic prowess on the field.  Workign with Coach Fitz, Damima decided that she wanted to be the first person in her family to attend college.

RESULT

Ms. Damima Bakayoko earned a 4 year college scholarship to play soccer at Mercy College.  She will major in business administration and plans to earn her PhD in finance.  Currently, she is in her first season at Mercy where she has helped the team to a 1-1-1 record.