As the Boston University men’s soccer team advances through its 2014 season, the Terriers will be looking to add a more potent offensive attack to couple with a defense that has only allowed three goals over their first six games. One of the leaders of that offense is senior forward Dominique Badji.
With one goal and two assists over six matches this season, the Dakar, Senegal native has been a catalyst for the BU front line, constantly creating chances on net for the Terriers and problems for opposing defenses. But there’s a lot more to this man than the aggression he leaves on the field.
1. How’s your semester going so far?
“Doing well, not bad.”
2. What’s your major?
“International Relations.”
3. How is it balancing soccer and classes?
“At this point, it’s pretty easy because I’ve been through it. I’m a senior now. Freshman year, it takes time getting used to it, but the systems are built that if we need help in any aspect of life, they can help us out.”
4. Do you have any favorite classes this semester?
“I’m actually taking a Wolof class. It’s a language class, since I’ve tested out of my French requirement. It’s actually the language we speak back where I’m from in Senegal. I didn’t know BU offered it. I can speak it fluently, but I can’t write it, so I decided to take it.”
5. Do you have any pregame routines?
“Yeah, I listen to a lot of hip-hop. We have the stereo in [the locker room] that we play. We have like a pregame playlist that we listen to. I think that helps us as a team.”
6. Are you superstitious on the field?
“Yes, I always enter the field with my right foot. That’s about it.”
7. What are some of your goals for your senior season?
“I just want to have a good season. I want to lift silverware. I want to lift something. Because my past three years have been pretty disappointing — almost getting there, but not quite getting there. I just finally want to get my hands on something.”
8. Any personal goals?
“Score. I need to score a lot more goals. Just help the team win though, whatever they need me to do — assist goals, work hard, work on defense, anything.”
9. You came to the United States in high school. What was that transition like?
“It was crazy. Coming to the United States was crazy because the culture is so different over here. Getting used to school — and on top of that it was a boarding school that was very strict — that kind of threw me back, but I got the hang of it. I think that prepared me really well for college. With time management my freshman year, I did well, because boarding school was so precise.”
10. Was it a big jump coming to BU or to Boston?
“Yes, my high school was a closed campus, everyone boarded on campus and it was a small campus, much smaller. Coming to Boston where everything is open-ended, that kind of set me back.“
11. How is the soccer culture different here in the United States than it is in Senegal?
“In Senegal, everybody loves soccer. Everybody breathes soccer. Everywhere you go, there’s a pickup game going on, whereas here you don’t see that as much. People don’t come out to watch soccer games as frequently as people do in Senegal. It’s really life in Senegal, because you don’t need much to play soccer. You make makeshift goals, and you can make a ball out of pretty much anything really.”
12. Do you follow professional soccer?
“I do.”
13. What’s your team?
“Arsenal. I’m a big Arsenal fan.”
14. Who is your favorite player?
“I’m a big fan of Thierry Henry. He’s playing with the [New York] Red Bulls right now.”
15. What’s your favorite BU soccer memory?
“I had a game-winner my sophomore year against Stony Brook [University]. This was the year that we were leaving the America East [conference]. It was a game-winner, I think it might have been in overtime, and it was just an unbelievable feeling.”
16. What’s your favorite part of Boston that’s not on campus?
“I’m frequently around Newbury, but it’s not necessarily my favorite part. I think the North End. Not necessarily going to the restaurants, but just seeing everything, like the way the buildings are, the architecture, it’s just so nice. It’s nice to get out in the city.”
17. Going back to the pros, did you have any players growing up that you looked up to or that you tried to emulate?
“I looked up to a lot of the Senegalese players. I remember specifically the 2002 World Cup when we got to the quarterfinals, the likes of El Hadji Diouf, Henri Camara. Those guys are idols. They’re like legends in Senegal, and every kid wants to really be them.”
18. Did anyone stand out in particular?
“As a kid? El Hadji Diouf. He’s a bad boy. He had a bad boy reputation, but everyone wanted to be him.”
19. What are some of your hobbies outside of soccer?
“I play a lot of video games. I’m a big basketball fan. I used to play basketball back in high school, so I play a lot of 2K and NBA Live. I’m big [on] fishing, not around here, but back in Virginia. I love fishing. It’s so relaxing.”
20. What’s your best fishing story?
“It was one of the first times I was fishing, out in North Carolina. I had a pretty big fish. So I caught it and got it out of the water, and before we were able to take a picture, it jumped back in — right back in. The hook must’ve gone right through its mouth and it went right back in.”
