Bilal Kamal, although he may be a newcomer to UNH, he is no stranger to playing high level soccer. Born in Ethiopia and raised in London, England, Kamal has spent almost his whole life with a soccer ball at his feet.
"My dad told me this story once; he had a bunch of friends around, and I was saying to him, "Let's play, let's play!" He then eventually got up and started to play with me, and then I put the ball through his legs; in soccer that's quite a humiliating skill to do, and then everyone started laughing. That's one of my earliest memories playing soccer." Kamal was born in Ethiopia and raised in London
With a passion and talent for soccer starting at such a young age, Kamal went on to play on highest level teams, such as the England U-15 team and the Norwich City U-18, and U-23 professional development team with the most technical players in the world. Kamal played for England Under-15 Team
"There's a lot of top players that I was playing against in England, some that are now playing at the top level, like the Premier League, I think that shows where and how far I've come." Kamal was a member of Norwich City U-18
It only made sense then, that the next step in college soccer for Kamal was play on one of the highest-level teams in the country, both in its culture and skills: the UNH men's soccer team. Kamal was initially drawn to the energy of the UNH team when he was looking at colleges in the US.
"It was the culture, Coach Hubbard told me what he wanted for this top profile program and where he wanted it to go in the future, and what he's done well in the past. I did speak to other schools, but I didn't really get the same energy and desire."
He also looked at past records and scores of different schools, and with an America East Championship under its belt from last year, and bids to the NCAA Tournament, UNH seemed to be the obvious choice.
Kamal's family, was also a positive influence in achieving the success seen by him on and off the field, and enabled him to get to where he is today. Kamal and his family
"Off the pitch, I would say my family, everyone, they're always pushing me to do what I want to, they allowed me to travel to Norwich to live there a couple years. Without them, helping me to chase my dreams, I don't think that I would be here."
Going into his first season as a Wildcat, Kamal was confident that he could make a positive impact on the team.
"My mindset was just to help the team as much as possible. I knew that coming from a strong background, I could help and be a strong part of the team. I got that sense as well from coach Hubbard as he knew that I would play a significant role on this team. I just wanted to try and aim high straight away, and we're doing that right now."
Kamal has had an outstanding rookie season with two goals and five assists for nine points as he earned a selection to the America East All-Rookie Team.
As a consistent contributor to the team, Kamal was not surprised that UNH was ranked, and rising, as high as they were.
"For me, I'm not surprised because I see it in our training, everyone shifting, the desire to go forward, to be the best and to better ourselves from the last season, which we've already done that, seeing that we've had the best start in program history. Creating history, that's what we look to do, and we just have to keep moving forward in our moment."
The family bond that exists between teammates on UNH men's soccer is also one of the major factors contributing to the success seen by the team this year according to Kamal. Kamal celebrating with Fabian Lutz
"We're a family, a whole group, and even the players on the bench who don't start sometimes, they're also involved in the group, the group hugs, the chants we do before the game, and in the locker room everyone just comes together and gives their opinions; it just feels like a family, that's the main thing I've noticed. That's why whenever we play, we always have that belief in each other, and then the family bond comes through. I like to make a prayer before every game; pray for the team, myself, for protection, and for success."
With his team-first mindset, technical skill on the field, and belief that the UNH men's soccer team is capable of creating history in college soccer, the America East All-Rookie team award winner is likely to only get better from here; and contributing more and more in the upcoming years of his career.
UNH (14-1-3, 5-1-1 America East) will host Fairleigh Dickinson (7-8-4, 3-4-2 Northeast Conference) on Thursday, Nov. 21 at 6:00 p.m., at Wildcat Stadium in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament. The winner will travel to Blacksburg, Va., to take on No. 10 seed Virginia Tech (9-5-3, 2-4-2 ACC) on Sunday, Nov. 24.
Tickets are available now and can be purchased here, at the Whittemore Center box office or by calling 603-862-4000. Tickets are $8 for adults, $5 for youth 14 and $2 for non-UNH students. Tickets are free for UNH students.
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