Posted by Heath Harshman

By Heath Harshman- WFD Fan Correspondent

Stories of people and athletes coming from sub-standard conditions and rising to fame are plentiful. Movies and books are coming out often with heartwarming stories of perseverance and dedication that most people cannot fathom. It is often rare that a story with these factors fall through the cracks, but the story of Kansas City Wizards forward Kei Kamara seems to have done just that.

Growing up in civil war stricken Sierra Leone in Western Africa, six-year old Kei would soon come to know the sound of bullets, explosions, fear and death. Something many of those playing against Kamara in the MLS every week will likely never experience. After years of this exposure Kamara eventually grew to know the sounds and sights associated with a civil war.

"It got to a point where gunshots were like music, something you were used to," he said. "We'd hear pop! pop! pop! and say what kind of gun it was, then the next minute there'd be maybe a big explosion and like, oh, that's maybe a war tank" said Kamara in a July 2nd story on thesoccerroom.com.

It would be another eight years until the now teenage Kamara would attempt to flee the country. In a trip that took about two years and took him many places, Kamara would finally make it to the United States. After settling he landed on the Cal State-Dominguez Hills soccer team where he would finish his senior season as a third-team All-American.

The now 26 year-old is having the best season of his career and is the leading scorer for Kansas City with eight goals in 21 appearances. The former member of the Columbus Crew, San Jose Earthquakes and Houston Dynamo seems to have finally found a solid home, something relatively unknown to Kamara up until this point, in KC after being traded to the Wizards at the end of last season. He was originally drafted by the Crew as the ninth pick in the 2006 MLS Superdraft.

The athletic 6'3" Kamara showed that he was capable of putting the ball in the net with the Dynamo last season, scoring five goals in 20 starts, but seems to have found another gear in 2010. Kamara has not only achieved personal highs in goals (8) this season, with eight games still remaining, he has also recorded highs in assists (3), shots (48) and shots on goal (25). In his last four games Kamara has two goals and three assists, making him a part of five of the last eight Wizard goals. He missed the Wizards last game, a 1-1 draw away to Philadelphia, as he joined the Sierra Leone national team in preparation for the Africa Cup of Nations qualifier. In addition to Kamara's honors he has also appeared on the World Football Daily show in the past, and with a guest list like WFD's, that's no small order.

Starting at the Home Depot Center on Sunday away to Chivas USA, the Wizards play three games in six days and Kamara's play will be an important factor in whether or not Kansas City can make a legitimate race for one of the final MLS playoff spots. A few wins strung together with a little help from other teams in the playoff hunt like Seattle and Toronto could put KC in a very strong spot to hold the key to their postseason destiny. It is looking as though leaning on Kamara may not be such a bad idea for KC.


In addition to being a weekly blogger for WFD, I write for the Washington State University student newspaper, The Daily Evergreen, where I have a weekly sports column. I am also the Washington State University men's basketball beat writer for Jim Basnight's college hoops blog on mynorthwest.com. You can find past pieces and follow my work not only for WFD but for The Daily Evergreen and mynorthwest.com by following me on twitter @heathharshman.