In the Western world we are told that ‘home’ is where we belong. It is a place where you feel safe and confident.

South Sudan’s Friday Zico believes that once you find your place, only then will you feel like you belong.

Zico was born in South Sudan but has no recollection of his parents leaving their home and heading to Uganda.

“I was only a few months old when we left but my parents told us how thousands and thousands crossed over the border during the civil war in Sudan.”

Home for the next ten years would be a refugee camp in Northern Uganda, a time that he says was a happy one.  

“When you are young you don’t see that things are wrong, you just see things and see it as the way it is.” He explained. “Growing up it was a very happy place, we just did normal childhood things such as playing in the street, and going to school. We were farmers so my Mum and Dad, and the rest of my brothers would grow crops.”

Football soon became an important part of Zico’s early life. “That was the only sport that we knew. It was the only thing that we could do. Even with the Civil War going on around us, and all that was going on around the camp we always managed to find time to play. It was all about having fun, without thinking about anything else. The older people they worried about everything else, and the War that was going on. We were young and didn’t really understand.” He said remembering the freedom of playing a game he loved every minute of his spare time.

At the age of ten his life was change dramatically. He and his family were to move again, this time across an ocean to Australia, a country the young Zico admits he knew nothing about let alone where it was on a map.  

“I cannot lie I didn’t know where Australia is, what is Australia? Where I came from we were very isolated from the rest of the world. We did know we were in Africa, and that there was somewhere called America because we had watched the films etcetera, but we didn’t know about anywhere else. Australia, we had no idea about.

At first I was nervous because I didn’t really know what to expect. We had heard things about the Western World that things were easier, it was much safer, that was the message my parents were giving us. If we can get out of here there will be a better life at the end of the tunnel.  If it was going to better I was like why not? When we did leave it was the first time for everything, the first time on a plane, the first time seeing massive buildings, the first time being in a different environment which didn’t look like where we had left.”  He remembered.

Moving can be both traumatic and stressful. Moving somewhere you have never heard of that is so unfamiliar and where they speak a completely different language is unimaginable to many.

“Believe it or not through football I made my first friend. We just went to a park and there were a bunch of kids about the same age kicking a ball around, and we just joined in. We didn’t know how to speak English, but we joined in and they spoke the same football language, Friday explained with a laugh at the memory. “Things are a lot harder when you don’t speak English and you don’t know how things work around you. Everything is a shock, but football made everything easier for us, I think it made it a lot easier for us than it was for our parents.

“Football made it easier to make the transition. People were very welcoming when they saw that you loved the game as much as they loved the game. When you are a kid you just want to play. When you grow up and you play senior football its more serious, and everyone is more serious and then comes pressure. But when you are that age 10, 11, 12, 13 it’s all about playing and having fun, running around and making friends.”

Like many new arrivals in a new country Friday had found something that he enjoyed that had given him acceptance. Something where he could express himself without words, a place where he was happy.

Looking back on that time he said, “sport is a way of finding yourself. When people come here they either lose their identity or they find their place in society. Football or sport can help, because when you are dedicated to a sport everything changes, everything. Your lifestyle changes, the people you hang around with changes, and I think for people coming from different countries to Australia they really need that. I think that I am one of the lucky ones because I had the opportunity to get involved really early. I did not start playing structured football until I was twelve years old at Fremantle United Soccer club. It really helped me in general being a part of the club.”

Friday’s talent was soon spotted and he was invited to be a part of the National Training Centre program that was run by Football West. Sadly like many African boys with talent it was not the experience that it should have been, but he was not to be deterred and went on to achieve something his contemporaries would not, play international football.  

Out of the blue an opportunity came to put himself in the frame for a chance of representing the country he had left, which now had its Independence, South Sudan. Many would not have contemplated a return, but as Friday explained he was a very different man now when opportunity came knocking.

“I was very relaxed. Knowing what I knew before, South Sudan was one of the reasons why our lives turned out the way it did. One of the vocal members in our community, who really loves the game and loves bringing people into the South Sudan set up, is our Coach, Chol Kong. He was the one who raised the idea of me going over. I didn’t even want to do it. What if there is fighting happening? All these memories from way back came back to life again. I thought about it, I talked to my friends and then decided I am going to give it a go.” He reflected.  

“I think now looking back it was the best decision I ever made. Not a lot of young people get the opportunity to play in front of a big crowd of 20-30,000 people.  I was 20 years old when I made my debut. My first proper game for South Sudan was against Mali in the Africa Cup of Nations and there were over 30,000 people at the game. That was something I never thought I would do or experience! Two weeks before I was watching the team I was playing against on TV and all of a sudden I am turning up and playing against them. It was crazy. I never thought this was something that I would do. It was a dream come true. I always wanted to play the highest level I could, but I never thought it would come so soon.”

It is because he managed to fulfill his dream, and because he seized an opportunity that came his way, Friday Zico now wants to help others.  

“I really enjoy working with the young and especially the young South Sudanese here in Perth, in Melbourne or Brisbane, because I do get a lot of messages asking how did you do it, what did you do and what got you there.  I tell them I was lucky enough to be in an environment where I could make those things happen, and take those opportunities. I realize a lot of South Sudanese or Africans in general are also going through a transition period in their life where they are not doing the right things or maybe even doing the wrong things. I wanted to show that you could break the barrier. A lot of people give up when they find out that their friends are not really there for them. I want to change that habit and encourage them, and say it doesn’t matter where or how far away you live, you can achieve if you really focus and try your level best. So I have always liked encouraging and pushing others to better themselves, not just in football but in life in general.”  

As an Ambassador for PANSA he is very clear about what he wants to achieve, “I want to see more young African boys realize and achieve their dream. I want to see them succeed. I want someone to look up to them in the future and say oh he was down here and now he is up there, what did he do right what did he do wrong? Who helped him? I want to be in the middle of that; I want to see African boys succeed. I want to work with these boys and when they are 18 or 19 years old see them playing in the A-League, and then when you look back they will be inspiring the next generation. You want these young African boys to be inspired by someone who can set an example, and if can get that first group leading by example and the next group can see someone who has done it come back and help them, that is the only way I can see success happening.  That was why when the opportunity came I jumped on board. I know what to expect. I know what needs to be done realistically, and even if it doesn’t work out they will have learned life lessons along the way.”

Having been a part of the Australian Football system and then lost within it Zico is perfectly placed to see that within the Australian community there also needs to be education as he explained.   

“Education is needed at every level. A lot of African players are misunderstood and then they get lost in the system. I think sometimes people need to really look at them and ask what are they good at, what could be improved. A lot of that goes back to the background of the players. It is often not easy being a part of an African family where you parents are putting you under pressure to leave the game you love for an education, because the game is not going to get you anywhere because of the way the system works. It’s very rare that the players are really looked at. A lot of the players do not have the resources to get where they need to be. They can’t get to training, they can’t get to the games, they can’t afford the fees and their basic football education is lacking. They don’t have the extra resources needed to push them forward. They are just not there. Some of them are so skillful, so fast, so good and so talented, but it’s a lack of football education and football knowledge that is the reason why they don’t succeed. A lot of them then are labeled undisciplined, but it comes down to the background of the player, where did they come from, what happened to them, what is their situation at home? There is not a clear pathway for them. The system does not invest the time to understand them, and both the player and the game loses.” 

Friday Zico has represented South Sudan at senior international level; he has realized a dream that for many will be unattainable. Perth, Western Australia is now his home. A place where he feels safe and more importantly where he feels he belongs.

That journey did not happen overnight, there were challenges along the way. In his case football helped him through that journey to be where he is today. So what advice would he give to any young African starting off on a similar journey in a new country?

“Find your place.” He said. He paused before explaining exactly what he meant.  “Find the thing that you love and focus on it. Then the rest will fall into place. I think it is very important that young people need to find their place in society, whether that is in sport, the workforce or any other activity. At the end of the day if we do not find our place we will find that we are lost in oblivion. When you find that thing that you love you must give it 100%, there is no cheating that system, as cheating the system will get you nowhere.”