It’s another hot, muggy day early in the fall semester at Florida Southern College as Foster Appiah strolls across campus, his trademark smile on his face as he greets people walking past him. A senior on the men’s soccer team, he’s headed to my office in athletic communications for no particular reason other than to chat and see how I’m doing.
It’s become a near-daily occurrence. He’ll pop in to let me know how practice is going, updates me on his classes, and asks what I’m working on. As he sits across the desk from me, I’m struck by two things about Foster, his constant positivity and the smile that always seems to be on his face.
But if you know anything about Foster’s story, you also know that there’s no way he should be sitting in my office. There’s no way he should be at Florida Southern playing college soccer, and no way he should be succeeding in life. The smile, the positive attitude, it all comes despite the fact that Foster came from nothing, is battling the odds, and is winning.
THE BOY WITH NO ONE
Despite no longer being on the United Nations’ list of Least Developed Countries, or LDC’s as they’re commonly referred to, Ghana isn’t an easy place to grow up. Although it has made major progress in the last decade in terms of economic growth, many parts of the West African nation still lack electricity, water supplies, hospitals, basic sanitation, and adequate education.
The odds have been stacked against Foster, as they are for most children in West Africa, from an early age. Born to a single mother in Kumasi, a large city in southern Ghana, the difficulties he faced as a child weren’t uncommon among the majority of Ghanaians. But incredible tragedy would strike Foster at age 14 when his mother died after battling a long illness.
“It was hard as a child, my mother was jobless a lot of the time, and when she died I had no one, had nothing,” he says, staring off into the distance. “I basically raised myself. There was no one else, my extended family wasn’t there to support me.”
At that point, Foster knew he had to rely on himself. He moved into a vacant, small, one-bedroom house in. He was more than an hour away from any family, with no mode of transportation. He didn’t even have clothing to wear every day
“I had one set of clothes,” he explains. “One shirt, one pair of pants. If I had to wash my clothes, I couldn’t leave the house until they were dry. I would literally have to sit naked in my room until my clothes dried under a fan.”
All alone, the boy with no one.
“I had to cook, clean, and do everything by myself,” he says, his eyes full of a mixture of sadness and determination as he recounts the story. “I just kept telling myself ‘One day, Foster, this will change’, and I believed it.”
To make money, he would wash cars, clean houses, and iron clothes for other people. But Foster saw it as more than just a way to survive.
“I knew that by serving other people, it would be a way to gain their trust and their favor,” he remarks. “If people see you working hard in the difficult times, they’ll ask about you. They’ll want to know why you are helping others even when life is hard.”
Little did he know, someone would notice, and Foster’s life would never be the same.
MEETING MR. FRANCIS
“Mr. Francis,” he calls the man whose full name is Francis Osei Bonsu, “that man changed my life. God bless that man, I wouldn’t be here today without him.”
Perhaps it was divine intervention or a stroke of good luck, but Foster’s life would head in an entirely different direction after meeting Mr. Francis after an alumni soccer game at Prempeh College.
Prempeh, a public secondary school in Kumasi, was founded in 1949 after the British Colonial Government invited the Presbyterian and Methodist Churches to help set up schools to serve the northern sector of Ghana.
Although considered a public school, most of the nearly 2,500 students at Prempeh College stay on campus, a cost that an orphaned teenager could never afford. Tuition isn’t free either; it’s nothing like the public school system in the United States.
It was there, at Prempeh, that Foster would wash the cars of those who played in the alumni soccer games on Saturdays. He’d also lace up their cleats and clean them after games, and that’s when Mr. Francis took notice.
“He was there every week when I would go play,” Mr. Francis said. “What I immediately noticed was that Foster would stay after our games to clean up trash without being asked. He would wash people’s cars while they played, take care of their equipment before and after the game – all without being asked, and all without asking anything in return.”
In need of work, Foster began working for Mr. Francis and his wife, cleaning their house, cooking, and doing other tasks around their home. He also worked for Mr. Francis as an errand boy at Geoplast Ghana, a construction company that specializes in large-scale remodels and new home construction.
A 1997 graduate of Prempeh, Mr. Francis had become highly successful in the construction business in Ghana and, after hearing more about Foster’s plight through an alumni message board, decided he would foot the bill for Foster’s education at Prempeh.
“I saw something in Foster that is hard to describe, but something positive, something unique,” he said. “When the opportunity came to help out this young man who had a servant’s heart, I knew it was the right thing to do.”
Life-altering. The only way to describe what happened to Foster the day that Mr. Francis decided to help him succeed. From that day on, nothing would be the same.
THE NEXT STEP
The fields at Prempeh were where the next chapter of Foster’s life would open up, and take yet another unexpected turn. It was there, under the hot Ghanaian sun that a man would sit in the stands and watch an orphaned teen perfect his craft.
Isaac Owusu Ansah was the man watching, taking note of the abilities of a strong center back with a passion for the game and a mission to make his life better. Involved in the soccer world for more than a decade as the CEO of Soccer and Education Foundation – Ghana, Isaac was looking for soccer players with the skills to play collegiately in America.
It’s Isaac’s mission in life to help young people in Ghana better themselves by using their soccer skills to earn scholarships to study abroad. He’s helped several young men from Ghana find their way to the United States to play soccer and attend college at a number of different institutions.
“His energy, his skills, his potential – that all led me to believe that Foster had a future in college soccer in the United States,” Isaac said. “I knew that, given the chance, he could succeed both on the pitch and in life.”
So, he approached the budding star in an attempt to convince him to play soccer in the United States. One problem though, and a big one at that. Foster had no way to pay for all the things needed to pursue that dream.
The cost of a visa and a plane ticket? Impossible to cover for a young man with nothing. Where was he going to get the money to make his dream a reality? The answer came to Foster in the form of the man who had changed his life not long ago – Mr. Francis.
“Without Mr. Francis, none of this would have become reality,” Isaac remarked. “Foster had the skills to play soccer at the college level, but he didn’t have the resources to make it happen. Mr. Francis did, and he came through for Foster when no one else could.”
The process wasn’t simple, of course, nothing in Foster’s life had ever come easy. But after six months of waiting for a visa, initially being told no due to a number of reasons, the dream came through. Foster Foster was on his way to the United States. It was there, in Mobile, Ala., that he would find the love of a family.
FINDING A FAMILY
Alabama isn’t exactly the first place you’d expect a kid from Ghana to wind up, but it’s where Foster Foster found himself after earning a spot on the men’s soccer team at the University of Mobile.
Although used to being alone throughout his life, Foster had never navigated a new country on his own. Luckily for him, he wouldn’t be alone long.
“I call him my son,” says Michelle Cranton. “Before I met Foster, I’d tell people that I have six kids. Now, I tell them I’ve got seven. He’s a part of our family.”
Cameron Cranton, one of Michelle and Chris Cranton’s six children, was also on the men’s soccer team at Mobile and invited Foster to his family’s home for dinner. It was there that Foster would find his new family.
“You couldn’t help but love him right away,” Michelle said. “He’s got an infectious personality and this huge smile. I remember the first time he came for dinner, he offered to help clean up afterward. That’s when I knew there was something different about Foster.”
Things took off from there. Foster would spend holidays and school breaks with the Crantons. He’d clean the house, cook food, and became a mainstay with the family.
His first birthday cake? It came from Michelle Cranton. His first peanut butter and jelly sandwich? Also from Michelle Cranton. His first real Christmas with decorations and gifts? You guessed it, with the Cranton family.
“I call her mom for a reason,” Foster says when speaking of Michelle. “Because that is my family. My mother, my father, my brothers and sisters. They have done so much for me.”
Foster fit in right away with Bethany, Caden, Caleb, Cameron, Emily, and Ella. So much so that he still goes to Mobile during breaks at Florida Southern to spend time with his American family.
“Foster is one of the most kind, giving, caring people I’ve ever met,” Michelle said. “He’s offered to help so much around the house that I often found myself telling him ‘no’, just so that he could go enjoy himself.”
After going to Africa on a series of mission trips, Michelle developed a love for the people of Africa, specifically children. But she hasn’t been able to go back in recent years due to other commitments, and that weighed heavy on her heart.
“I’ve had a heart for the children of Africa for a long time,” she says. “But it had been a while since I had been able to go, and that’s when God sent Foster to us. I’m a mother, it’s what I do. I care for my children, and God brought us another child in Foster. He’s been such a blessing to us.”
MOVING FORWARD
After spending one season at the University of Mobile, Foster was ready to step up his game. He started at center back for the Rams in 14 of 18 games as a freshman, helping lead the NAIA school to an 11-7 record with four wins over nationally-ranked teams and an upset of NCAA Division II member West Florida.
“I knew I could play at a high level, and I wanted to challenge myself,” he said. “That’s when I began the process of looking to transfer to another level of play.”
That’s when he got in touch with Florida Southern head coach Jason Carlson, who had just accepted the job with the Moccasins in the spring of 2017. Carlson was looking for a center back and got a call from Mobile head coach Daniel Whelan, who knew the Mocs’ head coach prior to him coming to FSC.
“It was late in the recruiting process for us, and one position we really needed was a center back,” Carlson said. “Coach Whelan and several other coaches I know spoke very highly of Foster, and we decided to take a look at him.”
For Carlson, it was talking to Foster on the phone that sealed the deal.
“We knew his athleticism and his skills were very good, but that phone call really sealed it for us,” Carlson said. “It’s hard not to smile when you talk to Foster, he’s just got that infectious personality.”
Not only was Foster a personality fit, but he’d been successful that summer playing for the Charlotte Eagles of USL2, where he helped lead his team to a National Championship.
“He checked off a lot of the boxes that we wanted,” Carlson said. “Good athleticism, good work ethic, he’d been successful in the summer in Charlotte. He’s a piece we really needed and wanted moving forward.”
The move proved to be successful, as Foster has gone on to become one of the stalwarts of a solid backline for the Moccasins. Through nine matches this season, Foster has played and started all 35 contests in which he has played during his time with the Mocs.
He’s scored once, a beauty of a goal for the game-winner at Tampa last year, and earned all-South Region and all-SSC accolades as a junior. He’s helped the Moccasins to 21 wins over the past two-plus seasons, six more than in the three years before his arrival.
Foster has also helped solidify a Moccasin defensive effort that has logged 13 shutouts in the past three seasons.
In 2018 the Mocs picked up wins over pair of nationally-ranked opponents in No. 15 Lynn and No. 14 Rollins and rose as high as No. 8 nationally in the United Soccer Coaches Top 25. He also won another national championship in USL2 this past summer with the Flint City Bucks.
But despite the accolades, the wins, the recognition, Foster remains humble. Why? Because he knows there’s more to life than soccer.
“Soccer is fun, but it’s not the most important thing,” he says. “God has something in store for me after soccer that He has been preparing me for through all of this. I have been so blessed by the amazing people in my life.”
What’s the secret to his success? It’s simple, he says.
“Trust God, stay humble, and be respectful. Trust the process,” he says with a smile.
The boy with no one. Now the young man with more than he ever dreamed. That’s the story of Foster Appiah.