Castleton freshman Jacques Alfani has quickly become a breakout star for the men’s soccer team – but his road to VTSU Castleton is arguably more interesting than his soccer prowess.

Alfani was born in a refugee camp in Tanzania, where he lived for 11 years.

It is his dream to go back to Tanzania, and he got his passport last year. Last year he and his older brother gained their official U.S. citizenship and hopefully this summer he will be able to go back, he said.

“When I was there, the only activities I was doing were soccer and school,” Alfani said.

He and his family arrived in the United States in July of 2018. They landed in Burlington, where they met up with his mom’s sister, who was already in Vermont. After living in Burlington for about three months, they got a house in Colchester.

Alfani started in 7th grade, and his younger brother started in 6th. His older brother, Adolphe, started in sophomore year.

It was tough being in a new country with a different language and food.

“Everything was different,” said Alfani.

It was sometimes tough asking for something he needed because google translate was no help, Alfani said.

During his freshman year of high school, he made the junior varsity soccer team. He played, but he described it as a “tough challenge.”

Soccer in America is different from the way he played in Africa.

“It was confusing,” said Alfani.

His sophomore year, he made varsity, but he didn’t get the chance to play with Adolphe. His younger brother was a freshman that year, but he got injured in the first game.

It was this season that one of Alfani’s soccer teammates convinced him to join track.

“I didn’t know what track was. I had never done it in my life,” he said

He and his younger brother began running track, and they were pretty good at it.

Alfani said that his brother is faster than him in sprints, but he is faster in distance.

In his junior season of soccer, Alfani scored seven goals and had 10 assists. His team made it to the final but sadly lost 2-1.

“We take the pain,” he said.

Senior year of soccer, the team lost in the semis after the game went to penalty kicks.

In his senior year of track, Alfani was 1.18 seconds away from beating the school record for the 400m. He was offered spots to run track in college, but he wanted to focus on school and soccer.

This season at Castleton is the first time Jacques and Adolphe are playing on a team together. It is what Alfani is most excited about, along with getting to know all the people and winning.

“He’s an offensive threat and you can’t have too few of those. His best soccer is ahead of him and I’m anxious to see how high of a ceiling he has in his four years on campus,” said Castleton men’s soccer head coach, John O’Connor.

When asked what it’s like playing with Adolphe for the first time, Alfani said, “I can’t imagine it, we grew up together playing on the same team … I hope good things are going to come soon.”

Alfani said that his goal this season is to get into the playoffs after not last season.

“I’ll do my best, because my brother’s here for only one more year. It’s one of the reasons I came here, to play with him,” he said.

On the topic of Jacques and Adolphe playing together, O’Connor said, “It is exciting for us now as they are both very good players who connect well on the field.”

“Jacques’ goal at Fitchburg was on an assist from Adolphe, so I think that is pretty cool,” he said.

O’Connor continued to speak highly of the brother duo.

“They have different personalities, but they certainly both value their time at Castleton and the education they are getting. I think Adolphe has done very well here and feels at home, so it seemed natural to have his brother follow in his footsteps. Getting a third Alfani next year would be awesome too,” he said.