In the days leading up to the Open Cup final in Orlando, FL. I sat down with members from the USL Black Player’s Alliance who play for the Sacramento Republic to have a candid conversation about their journey, their motivations, and to reflect on their historic run that has them one win away from lifting The Dewar Cup.
EL: First thing I want to do is have everyone introduce themselves, so give us your name, position, where you’re from, and what country you represent if you play for a national team.
Maalique Foster: I’m Maalique Foster. I’m from Jamaica. My position is Winger/Striker and I represent Jamaica.
Zeiko Lewis: I guess i’ll go next, Zeiko Lewis from Bermuda representing Bermuda. And my positions are Winger, Midfield.
Luther Archimède: My name is Luther Archimède, I’m from Guadeloupe and I represent Guadeloupe, I play striker.
Feretty Sousa: My name’s Panzani Ferrety Sousa, Congolese, from Kinshasa, right back, fullback.
EL: All right. Last one, but not least.
Duke Lacroix: Duke Lacroix, left back from New Jersey. Represent the U.S. and Haiti, can play for Haiti, but they haven’t hit me back. So…
EL: What has everybody’s journey been like to get to this point?
Duke: I played growing up in the states through the American youth system, like academy club soccer. I played college, did four years at school. That was kind of like the traditional trajectory through there. And, you know, professional was always a goal.
So after college wrapped up, Indy 11 was my first professional team when they were in the NASL. So once that league folded, I was able to go to the USL in orange county. I’ve kind of been a USL journeyman ever since. So just been grinding away, getting contracts and finding new teams to play with, I started off as a striker actually.
And then slowly moved towards left back after some injuries. So yeah, currently here in Sacramento playing left back.
Maalique: Well, I started off as a kid in Jamaica playing elementary soccer. I was back and forth about whether I wanted to play soccer or do track and field. I decided to focus on soccer full-time.
I started to get private training and after high school, I migrated to Florida. It was tough for me to see a way into the professional world, so I ended up going back to Jamaica to play professionally there.
While playing in Jamaica, I won a championship at the highest level of football in the country. After that I played in the Concacaf (Champions League) and earned my first overseas contract in Costa Rica. I began to get contracts consistently and earned a Jamaican national team call-up. And it was a struggle to get there, but the hard work paid off.
Zeiko: I grew up playing in Bermuda; from a young age, my parents told me as soon as I could walk I been kicking things so they got me a ball. That’s how I really got into the game.
I had eight years of schooling in America. I did four years of high school at a boarding school called Berkshire. Then I went to Boston college for four years, graduated. My first professional team was New York Red Bulls. I moved to Iceland and played there for a year, then came back to the USA where i’ve been ever since.
When I came back, I played for Charleston, now here in Sacramento. In terms of my national team experience, I’ve been with the (Bermuda) national team since I was 16, 17, and I’ve been back and forth with the team throughout my entire journey.
Luther: So yeah, I grew up in Guadeloupe, and I started playing around four. I was in the youth national team and sometimes we would travel to France or play in tournaments against other Caribbean countries. I moved in France around the age of 14 to try to find a professional academy.
I was in a small club for two years then at 16 or 17 I joined a professional academy. I played my first professional game with them against Lille, but I didn’t get a professional contract. I was looking for a new challenge and wanted something new.
I didn’t really wanna stay in Europe, so I went to Syracuse university for one year and a half. I got drafted to Red Bulls last year but didn’t get a MLS contract. So I came here to Sacramento to start something new.
Feretty: I came from Congo, Grew up in France and played out there until about the age of eight or nine. We moved to North Carolina, where I played for Castle. That’s where I did most of my youth programs after high school, I went back to France.
Got my first professional contract and played two years out there, then came back to the U.S. I joined the PDL team with the U-23 Rail Hawks. That’s when I started my professional career in the U.S. I played in the same league as Duke, the NASL.
I played for Atlanta Silverbacks for four years before moving to the USL where I played with Wilmington, Hammerheads. After Wilmington, I went to Las Vegas Lights then ended up going down to USL League 1 where we ended up winning a championship out there, then I came here to Sacramento to try to do the same thing.
EL: How has the Black Player’s Alliance helped you get to where you are today?
Luther Archimede: It’s like a community. We stick together, push one another to get better. Thanks to my Caribbean friends, they’re the reason why I’m here today because we always had each other’s back and always pushed each other to give our best and never give up.
I would say, it’s a normal attraction to stay around your community. That really made me a better player and made me stronger. So I would say thanks to that, it’s why I am where I am today.
Duke Lacroix: Yeah, I would kind of add to that and echo the same thing that Luther said. Just the idea, that we’re from a lot of different places, internationally. This is a very diverse group, but our struggles are similar as black athletes in this country.
So just having an organization and a group to bond over that, to connect with like-minded individuals within other teams, and have someone who has this shared empathy and struggle and understanding of what we go through.
I’ve met a lot of players from different teams, that I never really knew personally, but, you know, through the group, through meeting them, was able to connect in ways to improve my game. So that’s been, been very beneficial.
EL: What’s your motivation, what’s your why? what’s your driving force?
Zeiko Lewis: I guess for me, and i’m sure it’s similar for a lot of people, especially in this group, it’s obviously family and friends and stuff. They’ve been there since the beginning and helped me grow, not only as a player, but as a person. Also, for I’m sure a lot of these guys it’s our countries as well. For example, when I go back home, I can always help and talk to the youth in particular to show them that it’s not just England and that’s that, you know?
For a lot of kids in Bermuda it’s, go to England and you make it big. We’ve had big stars like Clyde Bass, Shaun Goater, Nahki Wells is doing it right now, but a lot of people see that and just think, oh, that’s my only path.
So now that i’ve come into my own, I’ve gone a completely different path going through the school system and everything else, now i’m in America playing professionally, they see all the things that’s came out of my life. It gives my whole country belief and strength and allows them to know that it’s not just go to England, sacrifice either football or school thing.
You can do both here. There’s always another path that you could go on rather than just the traditional “England” one.
Maalique Foster: Mine is my family obviously, and I have some friends that really push me a certain way, but my main thing is my past. All my struggles and pain and suffering that really put me on my path to go far. Every time I’m feeling down in my playing time, I just sit and reflect on my past.
That really gives me a big push and a really motivated vibe. Then on the other side of that you never know who you’re motivating or you never know who you’re pushing. So I always try to let people see my story, you know, and see that we can do it. It’s nothing hard, It’s just hard work.
What you put in is what you get out, so if you put in nothing, you get out nothing. I always try to like encourage younger ones in Jamaica, you’re never gonna go nowhere by just sitting and waiting on something to happen. God said help yourself and he will help you, so you have to do something.
Feretty Sousa: Just to touch on that, I think that’s probably my push as well, you know? If i wasn’t playing soccer, I probably wouldn’t be where i’m at today. Of course, I want to give back to my family, but this has been my dream since I was younger and it’s really opened up gateways for me.
I came here (to this country) illegally. To play to this long, I’m 31 now, I think soccer has been a very beneficial place for me, you know? It’s kept my bills paid, it’s allowed me to travel the world, it helped me get to where I’m at today.
The motivation for my younger family, like my cousins and everybody else that’s been watching my journey, that’s my big push too. Showing everybody else where I grew up that there’s a different path. We don’t always have to play basketball football to make it, you know, there’s different gateways and different pathways for us to be successful.
EL: Going through this U.S. Open Cup tournament, what have been some of the highlights? or some of the struggles?
Duke Lacroix: Highlight has to be Maalique putting Kansas City to sleep. The panenka PK for sure is a highlight, and then he did a back flip on him. So for me that was a big one. And actually you know, it’s funny looking back they say some things about being giant killers and playing the MLS team and going down to Orlando you know, one of the toughest games that we made it through was the Central Valley game against Fresno.
I don’t know if you all remember, but we won that game in like the last seconds in stoppage time. We won that game real late on a PK. I think Luther got taken down, or they took down Matt LaGrassa, I forget who was taken down in the box, but you know that moment right there was pivotal, and it was really early in the open cup.
I think that moment, the importance of it, against a lower division team and us finding a way to win that match, was kind of a testament to the character of this group.
Feretty Sousa: Yeah. I think that last game in the PKs was very pivotal for us because for example, Luther came in like a minute in (to stoppage time) and then he stepped up to take a PK. That was big on his part right there. I think it is very difficult to be sitting on the bench the whole time and then they call you in to go step up.
So I think a lot of people kind of put their stamp on it in different ways. Then when Maalique pulled out the chip, I’m just like, man, what’s going on with you, man lol. But you know, I guess that’s the way you build your legacy right there. So kudos to that.
EL: What does it mean, as a USL squad, to be one win away from playing in Concacaf Champion’s League next year?
Zeiko Lewis: I mean, it’s obviously an honor and something that we all dream of, but I think for us, we’re all just focused on this Orlando game, making sure we give our all to that game and making sure we do whatever we can to get to that point.
Feretty Sousa: Yeah, coach, coach taught you well huh? worry about the games first lol.
Zeiko Lewis: Yeah. You know over time it comes with the experience, you know? lol
Duke Lacroix: Yeah. And the only thing I’ll add to that speaking to the present is just being grateful for these opportunities. Like I know, Sos you won a championship, I’m not sure about the rest of the guys in the group specifically, but we’ve been playing for a while now and I’m not sure how many opportunities we get like this.
I can only think back to the two other times where I was even in a championship game in my professional career. So, you know, these opportunities are few and far between, and I’m grateful that we have the opportunity to be in a game like this. We’re gonna try to make the most, first and foremost.
EL: How does it feel to represent our community, whether it be the black community or like on a granular level, the Black Player’s Alliance community on a national stage?
Zeiko: I think it goes back to all the stuff that we said before. Like our motivation, not only are we playing for ourselves, but everybody else who has been through similar struggles, who want to come down this path, it shows them that you guys could make it too. This could have been anybody else in my position, you know?
So at the end of the day, you guys aren’t left out, you guys aren’t alone, we’re not just playing for ourselves, but plenty other people to come after us; Even those before us who gave us this opportunity.
Maalique: I’m just grateful that I can bring light to some guys’ darkest time, you know? Because as I said before, sometimes you don’t know who is watching you or who you’re motivating.
Zieko: Yeah. Even if they’re not gonna be in the sport, we definitely can motivate somebody else to push and be better in their own field of expertise.
Luther: Ambition, you know, when you see that so many black people can be successful, like the youth say, why not me? Back home, I know because I’ve been doing what I’ve been doing, like a lot of my cousins and small kids now want to do the same thing. They want to create their own legacy.
They want to create their name and they know that it’s possible, they know that they don’t have a limit because they see you doing it. It’s big for them and it’s big for us because we are role models to them. It’s motivation to us to always do our best, to motivate them and inspire them to always reach for the stars.
EL: To wrap things up, as members of the Black Player’s Alliance, what are some ways you guys are wanting to leverage the platform of this moment to inspire the youth in the Sacramento community?
Duke: Yeah, I think it boils down to some of the initiatives that the BPA does have. I was talking with Sos, Zeiko and Luther briefly about some clinics we’re trying to get going, some grassroots stuff we’re trying to get going. Besides that point, Sos does some private lessons and parents, kids and fans, they all want to support us in whatever way possible.
Fortunately in Sacramento we have a great fanbase, a great community that wants to support us in whatever way they can. Some of the initiatives with the BPA are directly in line with that. Like you mentioned, this is a big platform, a big stage to be in the finals, it just amplifies the messages of the group even more.
This moment gives us a broader base platform to stem from, and we’re fortunate that the Sacramento community is already behind the team.
I think playing in a Championship game creates the platform needed to bolsters the initiatives that the BPA is already fostering.
Catch Duke, Maalique, Luther, Zeiko and Ferrety tonight in the Open Cup Final against Orlando City SC at 8:00pm est on ESPN+
