Modou Lamin Jadama, the Gambian footballer and MLS player has died tragically. The news of Modou Jadama’s passing grieves us deeply. Modou was a club player from 2018 to 2019. We are praying for his family. The defender, who joined the Timbers in 2018, played in 42 games with Timbers2 and two with the senior squad, tallying five goals. He contributed to T2’s 2018 USL Playoffs appearance—the team’s first-ever playoff journey. Jadama played in Primera B de Chile for Coquimbo Unido and Tulsa Roughnecks FC before moving to Portland.
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Jadama, a Gambian native from Sierra Kunda, made his professional debut in the 2015 Copa Chile with the Chilean team Colo-Colo. During the course of his career, the defender also played for FC Tulsa, Hartford Athletic, and Atlanta United 2. The Gambia, one of the smallest nations in Africa with a population of under two million, was where he was born on March 17, 1994. He couldn’t say that he had many vivid memories of his early years there before moving to the United States, but he said with clarity that he played soccer every day. He would go out to play pickup games with buddies, go home to eat, and then go right back outdoors and play.
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When he was nine years old, his family relocated to Atlanta, and he soon discovered that American soccer was far more organized. He was unable to simply walk outdoors and join a pickup game wherever. He wasn’t used to seeing so much concrete. We had nothing but dirt back home. This was not an easy place to find a field to play. His first few months in the United States were a challenging time of adjustment because he was truly left with no alternative but to wait to find a team to play for.
His cousin assisted in putting him in touch with the “Stars” club, which he was a member of at the time, when he turned ten. In addition to being his first experience playing organized soccer, he was frequently the child in the Gambia who wasn’t chosen when teams were picked for pickup, so it was a big deal for him when he tested out and made the squad. It was an amazing thrill to be selected for a team, especially since he was the youngest and many of the older kids were better than him. From then on, his passion for the game only deepened, and playing soccer remained his top priority.
There are so many interesting things to say about this incredible player, but we will only mention a few. Please do keep his family in your loving thoughts and prayers, and also remember to send them flowers to console them. His funeral plans and obituary will be announced by his family, subsequently.
