13322: Arthur posts Indianapolis Star article "Soccer helps Haitian teenager escape.." (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Tttnhm@aol.com


Soccer helps Haitian teenager escape the past

Player lives with bits of information about killings of his mother, 2
brothers.

By Jason L. Young
Indianapolis Star - http://www.indystar.com/article.php?npike01.html
October 01, 2002


Louie Leger's young body gives no hint of where it has been or what he has
seen. His soft voice echoes not from the horrors his family has been dealt,
but of the goodness they have had.

That is how his father wants it.

Leger was 6 when he, his father and one of his brothers fled Haiti 11 years
ago to avoid the political turmoil that rocked the tiny island country.

Leger's mother and two of his brothers were killed for supporting a
pro-democratic government.

He does not know much more than that and, for now, his father, Andre, plans
to keep it that way.

"Some day I want my son to know everything," he said in a mixture of English,
French and Creole and translated by Louie. "It's enough (for now). I'll tell
him everything when he's 18."

Leger will turn 18 on Nov. 4.

But does he want to know everything?

"I guess, in a way, I do," said the soft-spoken teenager. "I mean, I want to
know some things. I don't want to be completely clueless."

For now, his most pressing purpose is to enjoy his senior year and his final
season on the Pike High School soccer team.

He has six goals and five assists from his center midfield position.

Leger gives the appearance of a typical American teenager. Only a slight hint
of an accent gives any indication that he was not raised in Indianapolis.

About his family's past, "I've picked up a few things," he said.

While at a church service in Haiti, his mother and father were attacked by
gunmen.

His father suffered a hernia during a beating for supporting a pro-democratic
government. His family spent two weeks in a refugee camp in Florida.

The experience he and his family went through is almost as foreign to Leger
as it would be to any other student at Pike.

"He's never used that as an excuse or a crutch," said Pike coach Rob Jordan.
"He has never asked for it to be an assistance to him. He works hard."

Leger said that he has been playing soccer since he could walk, growing more
serious about the sport after arriving in Indianapolis through a missionary
program at North United Methodist Church.

He also is a member of the Indy Inferno Soccer Club.

Soccer lets him blend in, even when he is a standout on the field. He has
assisted on nearly 25 percent of his team's goals this season.

It's his father's game, too. Andre Leger laughs when he thinks about his
playing days.

At 74, those days are far behind him, but the wall covered in pictures of his
sons playing soccer at Pike and with their club teams shows his dedication to
both his boys and the sport.

Louie Leger's future is unclear. He would like to play soccer in college, and
Jordan said he probably is good enough to play for a mid-major program.

Leger also would like to return to Haiti, where he still has a brother and
sister, to learn about his home country and his family's ordeal.

"My dad wants me to go back, but I haven't been back yet," Leger said. "I
think I'd like to, just to see. I don't remember much of it. I'd like to go
back."