Kenji Mboma Dem's best days of college soccer are almost assuredly still ahead of him.

They may pale in comparison, however, to the experience he had following his second season in Omaha.

Mboma joined the Legends of Africa squad for its December match in Niamey, Niger. Organized by Niger president Mohamed Bazoum to celebrate the nation's 63 years of independence, the contest pitted the Africans against the former stars of the Niger national team at a filled General Seyni Kountche Stadium.

Only 19 at the time, Mboma was nearly half the age of the other participants in the match, which featured true legends of the sport, that was contested before a crowd estimated at more than 30,000.
"It was unbelievable. I just had stars in my eyes," Mboma said. "I was just watching the game, and they were just having fun out there. It was probably one of the most amazing games I've ever witnessed. Then it was my time to go in and join with them. It was just some kind of feeling I can't even describe."

Mboma accompanied his father, Cameroonian soccer legend Patrick Mboma, on the trip. The elder Mboma enjoyed a long professional career and led Cameroon to a gold medal at the 2000 Olympics.

Kenji Mboma, the fourth of five children, was born near the end of his father's career. His brothers are nine and seven years older, respectively. He started kicking the ball as he learned to walk, then followed his siblings into the backyard of his home in Paris to play. His mother tells him "goal" was his first word.

"I might have been born for it," Mboma said. "I grew up being surrounded by football."

He also grew up the son of a soccer star, which comes with expectations for as long as one stays in the sport. His brothers stopped playing competitively in their late teens. The youngest son is still going, saying their father never put pressure on them to play, only to do whatever they wanted to do in life.

"I chose to play, and it's my decision," he said. "It just naturally flowed. Any comments from the outside that compares me to him, I don't really care about it. I take it as motivation. I don't worry too much about having to do like him. He did what he did. I just work so I can do better. This is what I aim for."

Mboma intends to play professionally at some point. After growing up in France, he came to the United States at the age of 16 and played two years of soccer while finishing high school in Upstate New York.

"The main goal was for me to be able to pursue my soccer career and my academic career," he said. "Being able to go beyond high school to a collegiate career, and aim for a professional career, is something my parents really wanted me to pursue. It's something I like and consider very interesting because the American system would allow me to go pro, even if I don't finish my four years, but to also keep going afterwards and find something to do after a possible career. That is pretty much the plan."

Through two seasons in Omaha, Mboma remains on course. He's earned All-Summit League honors following both of his collegiate campaigns and will be a top returner for the Maveicks in the fall of 2022.

Mboma, who played for the Black Rock Football Club while attending the Northwood School in Lake Placid, N.Y., was concerned about his future not long ago. The pandemic coincided with his recruitment.

"When Covid hit, it put everything in standby," he said. "It became a stressful situation for me because I went back home, studied online and didn't play. We had events coming up that we couldn't play. I was searching, sending emails, trying to find something. … It became harder and harder as time went by."
 
 Fortunately, his coach and one of his school's counselors knew Omaha coach Bob Warming – a legend in the college soccer world who has amassed nearly 500 career wins – and connected the two of them.

"From there, it all went very quickly – a few text messages and a phone call with my father," Mboma said. "We talked and talked. He was sure about me, I was sure about him and made my way to Omaha."

Mboma had just recently finished up his second season with the Mavericks when he was awakened, due to the time difference, by a text message from his father. The elder Mboma needed a picture of Kenji's passport immediately so they could get a visa for the two of them to travel to Niger Republic for a game.

"I just sent a picture of my passport and went back to bed," Mboma said. "At first, I wasn't even sure I was hearing him well. It was kind of crazy. 'He's calling me for that?' When I woke up, I realized what he was telling me. … I went back home three days later and then flew out with him to Niger Republic."

Mboma never really asked his father about the event they were attending until they arrived. The only thing he was really certain of was that he was told to be sure he packed his cleats. He didn't know why.

The next thing he knew, at age 19, he was surrounded by the Legends of Africa on the playing field.

"The day of the game, they were talking about the starting lineup and what they were going to do," Mboma said. "And then they just took me in. The next thing I know I'm wearing a shirt with my last name on it, and I'm in the middle of all of them. I just went with it, and it went amazingly well."

Mboma estimated that the next youngest player in Le Gala de la République, the event's name, was nearly 40 years old. In the eyes of those in attendance, the Omaha star was just one of the legends.

"After playing, we went around the stadium and tons of kids came up and started taking pictures with me," he said. "It wasn't about me. It was more just sharing the moment with all of them. Whether I was playing or in the stands with all of them, I would've had the same stars in my eyes – shining bright."

Mboma, who has three years of collegiate eligibility remaining due to the NCAA's Covid rules, said participating in the grand event immediately sparked an eagerness to get back on the college pitch.

"Right after, I was like 'I want to touch the ball, I want to play, I want to play,'" he said. "I was just kind of in the middle of a dream [while in Niger]. Being in a stadium like that, and having all of those people cheering, was getting me fired up. I felt like, 'Yeah, this is my dream, and I'm 200 percent sure of this.'

"It was just magic. I live for this. And I would give anything to relive it again and again."