Jamal Lowe, from Kindergarten Teacher to Premier League Player
- SportBible
VIVA – Football become a popular sport, and many boys love football or even want to be a player in football. There is an interesting story from Jamal Lowe, a former kindergarten teacher. He never thought that his dream to become a player in the Premier League, highest caste competition would come true.
“At that point, I thought I would never play football again. I do not believe it. I was devastated,” Jamal Lowe remarked as quoted from Sportbible.
When Jamal Lowe was 21 years old, he was not a professional player and only played in the Southern National League, Hemel Hempstead. At the end of October 2015, he joined his teammates and was included in the 16-man squad against Gosport Borough.
But manager Dean Brennan did not notice the name of Jamal Lowe in the 11 starting players before kick-off. At that time, he wanted to sit on the bench but was prohibited by one of the coaches.
"A coach pulled me to one side. And he said 'You weren't on the bench today,'" Lowe remembered.
Pemain AFC Bournemouth, Jamal Lowe
- SportBible
Lowe described the moment as an "all-time low" in his career. But instead of giving up and accepting defeat, Lowe got up and tried to keep trying to pursue his dream.
He chose to move and join a semi-professional club, Conference South. He was determined to do better and impress the talented scouts. If all goes according to plan, the League Two club will eventually come interested in buying him.
"But it was a lot harder than I thought. Opportunities didn't come as I predicted. I was just a little naive. I was paid but not much. It was cash on hand in a brown envelope, and not enough to fulfill the needs," Jamal Lowe said.
Then, Jamal Lowe was invited by one of his friends to work as a kindergarten teacher to fulfill his daily needs which were not enough.
"It's a must for me. I have to meet my needs. At first, I only taught two days a week. But as time went on, I was offered to become a full-time teacher. I was very excited." Jamal Lowe recounted.
“In the beginning, talking to the thirty children who might not want to listen to the teacher was quite scary. But when I get more experience in this job, it pays off.”
"It seemed my dream to play professionally was over. But then I went to Hampton & Richmond, which is a club in another league. It was seen as a step back but that's when I started enjoying football again." He added.
There, Lowe broke into the first-team regular he had longed for. He also paid the trust of manager Alan Dowson by scoring 29 goals in 48 games.
"It changed everything," Lowe said.
Since then, his career began to climb. In 2017, he joined League One club Portsmouth. After two years, he played for the Championship club Wigan Athletic in 2019. Then in 2020, he joined Swansea City.
When he moved to AFC Bournemouth, it was the pinnacle of his early career. Here, he was promoted to play in the Premier League this season.
After helping Bournemouth to the Premier League with several goals scored, the 28-year-old made his debut as a substitute against Manchester City in August 2022.
"I remember looking around and seeing De Bruyne and Haaland on the pitch. It's still unreal to me. Sometimes, I just feel like I'm a spectator, a child watching all these star players. But I have to understand that this is where I am now. I have to be able to compete with these guys," Jamal Lowe explained.
Currently, Lowe earns £ 670,000 or around Rp 11,680 billion per year.
A month later, Lowe lined up with Lionel Messi while playing for the Jamaica National Team in an international friendly against the Argentine National Team. Lowe's story is like a fairy tale where he finally achieves his dream after a long hopeless.
