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The beat of a different drum

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Walking through the home of Femi and Akin Adediji, one will find carved wooden masks, African paintings and musical devices called talking drums.

The two brothers sometimes dress up in their native costumes for parties and have only been to the home of their roots, Nigeria, once.

“We have relatives there and we mostly hear stories from our father,” said Akin, a sophomore on the Vista Ridge soccer team. “But it's always different when you go to a place like that for the first time.”

Femi and Akin are two cogs in the Vista Ridge boys' soccer team, which is also going somewhere for the first time - the state tournament.

Vista Ridge will play El Paso Del Valle in a Class 4A State Semifinal at 6 p.m. tonight at the Round Rock ISD Stadium. The winner will play in the state championship on Saturday at 6 p.m.

Femi is a senior midfielder who was also the kicker on the football team. He said he will attend Tri-State University in Angola, Ind., next year to play soccer. He plans to major in civil engineering.

Akin has never played anything but soccer, and said he eventually wants to play soccer at Clemson University in South Carolina. He also said he plans to try out for the varsity football team this fall.

The brothers were born in California. Their father, Benson, moved to America from Lagos, Nigeria, in the 1970's, Femi said. Benson attended college in Detroit and eventually married. The couple lived in California and Houston before finally settling in Cedar Park 10 years ago.

Femi and Akin spent three weeks in Lagos with their family. Femi said the most interesting thing he saw was the marketplace in town.

“I've never seen anything like it in my life,” Femi said.

Akin commented on an important worldwide issue.

“The poverty wasn't as bad where we were as what you see on TV,” Akin said. “But Lagos is a nice place. It's the capital of Nigeria.”

Femi, who said that his family in Nigeria is unaware of the soccer team's success, has built a reputation as a jokester off the field but as a fierce competitor on the field. He's also one of the team's captains.

“He's always smiling and cracking a joke,” said Jaime Mimbela, a junior midfielder. “He likes to make people laugh. But on the field he's serious and we listen to him.”

Akin said it's different with his brother this year than last year.

“Now I go home every night and the captain of our team is always there,” Akin said.

The two brothers said winning a state championship together would be special and would be the perfect way to end their organized soccer careers.

“Winning it together would be a great way to put our mark on the history of Vista Ridge,” Femi said. “This is the most fun we've ever had.”

E-mail editor@hillcountrynews.com

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