Pape Gassama came to the United States in August 2013 to attend Montverde Academy in Florida. Two years later, Gassama, 18 years old, leaves the school with a bright future ahead of him on and off the soccer field. 

Gassama, originally from Senegal, signed a three-year professional contract with US Creteil-Lusitanos of Ligue 2 in France last week. Creteil, which is based in the Southeast suburb of Paris, finished 14th in Ligue 2 last season. 

His journey to this stage of his career began a long time ago, but his path through the U.S. was a recent development, which spurred him onto the professional level. 

“He was made aware of Montverde Academy through another Sengalese student who attended Montverde Academy in 2012, Oumar Diakhite, who was with us for one year and signed a professional contract with SC Olhanense in Portugal after graduating from Montverde Academy,” Mike Potempa, the Director of the Soccer Institute at Montverde Academy (SIMA) told TopDrawerSoccer. 

Following his time with the academy in Florida, there was interest in trying to sign Gassama from a number of clubs across the world. He spent some time training with those different teams through out this year. 

“Gassama trained with Philadelphia Union this past spring and has also trained with FC Midtylland in Denmark, Eintracht Braunschweig in Germany, and FC Slovak in Slovakia,” Potempa said. 

Montverde provided the platform for him to step into the spotlight, but the school also gave him the necessary tools to grow as a player to reach the professional level immediately after leaving the school.  

“When Gassama arrived, he was technically gifted and physically quite strong,” Potempa said. “However, over the course of his two years with us, he improved his tactical understanding of the game, his distribution over distance, his defensive qualities as a holding midfield player, and his physical attributes with regard to mobility.”

Away from the soccer field, the teenager also grew as a person during his two years in Florida. 

“He improved his attitude, mentality, and work ethic, and also adapted to the culture of the United States, gained fluency in the England language, and was able to successful adapt to life outside of his environment in Senegal, which has afforded him a professional opportunity in France,” Potempa said. “The two years he spent with us here at Montverde Academy in the SIMA program going to school and training will prove to be invaluable to the overall success story for Gassama as a person, student, and athlete.” 

The foundation was established with SIMA for Gassama to use his experience in the States to help guide him moving forward. SIMA has been an assembly line recently for helping talented players reach the next step in their careers. The graduating class of 2015 is sending 15 players off to college programs including nine to Division I programs. 

Gassama and the rest of the graduates continue to show that SIMA’s environment is one of the best places to grow as a player in the U.S. 

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