FOR THE LOVE OF SOCCER | BERNARD KAMUNGO

When we watch our favorite sports or athletes, each person comes with a backstory, dreams, aspirations, and inspirations that come together through their love of the game and what it means to them. We sat down with Bernard Kamungo who plays for FC Dallas as well as joined the USMNT team earlier this year. He talks with us about how his love for soccer which started in the refugee camps of Tanzania kept him on a positive path and continued when he came to the US as a child. Unbeknownst to him, his love for the game would result in him going pro and being able to live his dreams of going out on the pitch throughout the season. We also talk about the importance of proper tools for recovery when injured as well as what he does prior to and after his matches.

ATHLEISURE MAG: When did you fall in love with soccer and at what point did you realize that you wanted to play it?

BERNARD KAMUNGO: I started playing when I was very young, probably as soon as I started walking. Growing up in Tanzania where soccer is the main sport, that made it easy for me to fall in love with playing soccer.

AM: You grew up in a Tanzanian refugee camp and began playing there. Can you tell me about the early days of you playing the game?

BK: I was born in a refugee camp and playing soccer helped me avoid a lot of negative stuff going on in and around my life. My family could not afford a living. We could not afford food, clothes, etc. So, most of the time, my friends and I were playing soccer after school for fun. 1v1, 2v2, and so on, just to get away from the negativity. It was the only thing that brought joy into my life at the time.

PHOTO COURTESY | Bernard Kamungo

AM: When you turned 14, you came to the US and continued playing. What was it like coming here and playing this sport?

BK: It was a dream come true coming to the US. I had seen a lot of movies, videos, and pictures of how amazing the country was, and I always wanted to come to the U.S. The freedom, jobs, and the culture. It is amazing. Some of those things, we don’t have them back home. Soccer played a big part for me to adapt and connect with people in the U.S., besides my family. I had to get out of my comfort zone. It was great getting to use the real soccer ball and cleats to play soccer. I believed one day I would get to do that, and it felt great to be able to do so for the first time.

AM: At what point did you want to go pro?

BK: I hate saying this now that I’m a pro footballer, but honestly, at that time, I had never thought about going pro. It was not realistic for me, so I tried not to think about it. Even though I had a lot of people that believed in me and knew I could make it.

AM: You signed with FC Dallas in 2021, what did it mean to you to join this team?

BK: It was surreal. Especially for someone like me who had just come from a refugee camp with such limited dreams. Being able to achieve that in such a short amount of time was unbelievable.

AM: When you're in season, what's it like when you're training for your games? Tell me about what an average week looks like in terms of training, working out, etc.

BK: My weekly schedule is not that bad. We mostly practice Monday through Friday and play games on Saturday, with an off day on Sunday.

Our practice time changes depending on the month we are in, and we adjust based on the weather. Right now, our report time is 8:00 a.m. I wake up at 6:50 a.m., pray, shower, meditate, have some tea, and head to the stadium for breakfast. I get to the stadium around 7:50 a.m. After breakfast, I go to the gym to foam roll, stretch, and for mobility training before I am ready for practice starting at 9:00 or 9:30 am. Depending on how long meetings take after practice and training, I take an ice bath and get a massage, if I’m sore or tired. I am always looking out for my body and overall well-being, so whether that means settling in for some TLC after practice or suiting up with The BetterGuard during practice and games, I will do what I can to make sure I am performing at my best and preventing any injuries that I can. After that, I’ll eat at the stadium or go home and have lunch, about an hour or two after practice. 

When I’m home, I spend time with my family for a bit, take a 30-minute nap, sometimes more, depending on how I feel. I will read, play FIFA, or watch a movie, while I’m wearing my Hyperice recovery boots. I end my day by eating a healthy dinner at 7:30 p.m. and going to bed around 10:30 p.m. before repeating this same schedule the following day.

AM: What are you looking forward to this season as I know you're currently in the regular season right now.

BK: This season, my goal is to lift a trophy at this wonderful club with all my amazing teammates.

PHOTO COURTESY | Bernard Kamungo

AM: Do you have any routines that you do before a match to get ready for the game and what do you do post-game to come down from all that energy on the field?

BK: My game day routine is so simple. Most of our games are played at 7:30 p.m. and we report at 5:40 p.m. I’ll sleep as much as I can the night before the game. I normally wake up between 9:00 to 10:00 a.m. and have brunch. I keep my mind and body at ease, preparing for games by wearing my recovery boots and relaxing for a bit by reading, while getting in the game day mindset by playing a bit of FIFA or watching clips of soccer games. I then take a 30-minute nap and, when I wake up, eat my pregame meal by 3:00 or 3:30 p.m., at the latest. Once I shower and meditate, I head to the stadium. My head is in the game, and we hopefully come home victorious. After the game, I go home, but I find it hard to sleep after a game. I’m not a talker after games, so I just sit and take it all in, whether I am sitting alone in my room, playing FIFA, or with a small group of friends.

AM: What are your must-haves that you use to assist you in playing the game?

BK: Before the game, I must have either tea, hot milk or rice as my pregame meal. On the field, I rely on kinesiology tape to keep my wrist stabilized and The BetterGuard ankle brace to keep my ankle protected from serious injury. I went down during the end of the first game of the playoffs last season against Seattle. All I want to do is play soccer and compete and, when injury gets in the way, it is the most frustrating thing. Wearing The BetterGuard, I have been able to recover faster and get back on the field quickly, rejoining my team in Dallas to finish the 2023 season and join the USMNT to start 2024. The Betterguards’ team has been working to take their signature product to the next level, and I am excited for everyone to get their hands on The BetterGuard 2.0, launching July 31, to experience the peak athletic performance I have while wearing the brace.

AM: When you're not on the field, how do you take time for yourself?

BK: I like to stay indoors, so I spend most of my time inside, hanging out with my family and friends while trying to stay focused.

AM: Are there any projects coming up that you would like us to know about?

BK: I am so thankful for everyone’s support and look forward to seeing you at an upcoming FC Dallas match. Our season runs through October, and you can find more information, including where to watch or how to buy tickets at fcdallas.com. You can find me on Instagram @bernardk17.

Read the latest issue of Athleisure Mag.

YELLOW IS A GO

Sometimes you have to give it up to get it back together - but how far would you go to make sense of your world and your place in it? Kim Dinan does that while adding goodwill into the world in her memoir, The Yellow Envelope. We took some time to chat with Kim to find out about her series of time traveling with her husband as a global nomad, those she met along the way, what she learned and how she has assessed her time post the journey that was covered in her book.

ATHLEISURE MAG: We enjoyed this memoir, do you still go on nomadic adventures? How does it feel to be home with a routine etc?

KIM DINAN: I have not had a nomadic adventure since my husband and I returned to the states in 2015. The adjustment back to a “traditional” life was fairly jarring and we had a few months where we felt like we couldn’t tell the ground from the sky. Since we’d sold everything before we left, we came home with nothing. We rented a house, but it was completely empty. We didn’t own a bed, a couch, a car or dishes. So initially there was this out-of-control feeling as we re-acquired all of this stuff we’d purposefully gotten rid of. Then my husband went back to a 9-5 job and that was a real shock to the system. I had my book and freelance work to focus on, but all in all it just took a while to find our feet again. 

There were bright spots too, though. I longed for a routine and was happy to have one again. Toward the end of our trip all I wanted was an oven to bake bread in and dresser drawers to organize my clothes. The small things that I used to take for granted in everyday life became things that I really missed. To this day, if it’s raining outside and I’m inside, I thank the universe to have a roof over my head and warm water in the faucet. Those things weren’t guaranteed when we were traveling, and there are many people that do not have such luxuries. I just don’t take those conveniences for granted anymore.

For a long time we said that we’d never do a truly nomadic trip again because the adjustment back was so hard—but of course now we are plotting our next big adventure. Though when we hit the road next time we’re getting a storage unit!

AM: Are you still in touch with Michele and Glenn?

KD: Absolutely! Michele and Glenn still live in Oregon, and while we don’t live in Oregon anymore, we keep in touch via email and Facebook and of course we see them whenever we go back to the west coast. A few months after we returned to the states Michele took a six-month sabbatical and Glenn quit his job and they set out on their own trip around the world!

AM: Inspiration and being a role model when you may not realize it is a theme that we kept seeing in your book. Besides Michele and Glenn, who else inspired you on this trip? 
 
KD: I met so many inspiring people on our trip. I think the most inspiring thing was not one single person, but this realization that there are so many ways to live—and there’s no “right way.” In the U.S. there’s this belief that you should follow this very traditional and well-trodden path that’s like: high school, college (if you’re lucky), job, house, marriage, kids… you know it because everyone knows it. It’s just a part of who we are as Americans. There’s nothing wrong with it per se, it’s just not the only way.

It wasn’t until I set out into the world that I realized that there are people all over the world living in very different ways—and they were happy. Of course, I always knew this intellectually but to actually experience it was a whole new thing for me. There are people that have very little money, but are incredibly rich in community—their social fabric is so strong. 

I met people that had traveled for years and were raising their kids on the open road. I met olive farmers and doctors and rickshaw drivers and holy men and women and what I realized was that, you know, we all need certain things to have a good life—clean water and air, food, access to a good education, community—but after that life can take so many shapes. You don’t have to do it the way everyone back home is doing it. You’re allowed to live life
in the way that makes you feel really alive, even if it doesn’t make sense to other people. 

AM: You traveled for 2 years on this trip - what are 3 things you loved and 3 things you could have done without on the trip?

KD: We actually traveled for nearly 3 years! Not every country and experience made it into the book. 

When I look back on the trip the 3 things I really loved was, first of all, the time. Every single day was wide open. I had the time to really look inward, to ask myself what I wanted out of life, to spend time mentally sorting through my life and truly getting to know myself. I feel so incredibly lucky that I had those years—they changed my life. 

The second thing I really loved, and maybe this makes me sound a bit selfish, was that I didn’t worry about people. Since I wasn’t home and I didn’t have a phone I knew that I’d only hear about something if it was really important. I used to be the kind of person where, if the phone rang unexpectedly, I’d automatically think that something was wrong. I guess I’m a worrier by nature. But I stopped worrying because I was so far away from home and I couldn’t fix anything for anybody—and that feeling was incredibly freeing. 

The third thing I loved was the food. Oh man, the food. Especially the Indian food—even the airplane food in India made me drool. 

As far as the things I could have done without. Well, I really missed the people I loved. I missed being a daily part of people’s lives. You leave and the world keeps right on spinning and you realize that if you don’t show up for people they move on without you. I also could have done without the marriage tensions and problems that came to a head while traveling. But the thing is, I’m also grateful that I faced my deepest questions—about my marriage and myself—head on. It’s so easy to stuff uncomfortable thoughts and feelings down and ignore the truth and much, much harder to face it. No one wants to go through gut-wrenching times, but they’re necessary.  

AM: What lessons that you learned on the trip do you still do to this day?

KD: One of the biggest things I learned on the trip was to let go. I stopped being a control freak. I used to think that I was just born that way but, nope, it’s a learned thing and it can be changed. Now I know that the only thing I can control is my reaction in any given situation. So I just roll with things now. It’s so much better not getting worked up about small things! 

Because of the yellow envelope gift we were given, I also learned a lot about giving. I learned that giving will always be awkward and uncomfortable but that's no reason to avoid it. To this day I still give yellow envelopes away and I’ve even started something called The Yellow Envelope Project (find it on Facebook @yellowenvelopeproject) where I mail yellow envelopes to people around the globe and they use their envelope to perform an act of kindness.

AM: Prior to leaving on this trip, what are 3 things that you would have never done in your old life, but find yourself enjoying now?

KD: I used to be a planner, but now most of the time I just show up and figure things out when I get there. It leaves room for spontaneity and adventure.

I also used to be so guarded of my time, but now I’m more open. I make time for people—I almost always say yes to an invitation, whereas before I said no because my life was so scheduled and regimented.

I’m also just more curious about people and more trusting. I mean, I traveled the world for three years, relying on strangers the whole time, and time and time again people proved to me that humans are generally good and willing to help as long as you are open to receiving. That’s the thing; I wasn’t open to receiving things before. Now, I let people help me. And I do everything I can to help other people. We’re all in this thing together.
 
AM: What are your favorite mountains/hiking trails?

KD: Oh, there are so many!! First, I have to start in my own backyard because the United States has some of the most stunning natural beauty in the world. The National Parks are a national treasure—I could spend the rest of my life just exploring states like Utah, Colorado, Oregon and Washington.

I have a very soft spot in my heart for the Camino de Santiago, a 500-mile pilgrimage route through Spain that I walked solo (though it didn't make it into the book - maybe another book!). The Camino de Santiago is a special experience, there’s nothing else like it on earth.

I also have to give a shout-out to Nepal. My husband and I walked the Annapurna Circuit. That was some of the hardest trekking of my life (we crested a 17,000-foot pass!) but also some of the most magical. It’s not just the mountains, which are amazing, but also the villages that you walk through. It’s a special part of the world and I can’t wait to go back.
 

AM: What places/countries have you yet to visit that are on your bucket list?

KD: Namibia, Tanzania, Iceland, New Zealand, Ireland, Bhutan, Tibet… should I go on? 

AM: Are you still in touch with the women you met in India or those that were on the biking trip in Vietnam?

KD: Somewhat, yes. Thanks to the wonders of Facebook and Instagram I’m able to keep up to date with most of the people I met on my trip.

AM: There are many people/experiences that you share - is there a moment that didn't make it in that you or Brian were impacted by?

KD: I think of a thousand small moments that impacted us—people stopping to ask us if we needed directions when we looked lost, people that asked us curiously about our life back home, just small moments when others took the time out of their day to assist us in some way. I think in general we’re all so caught up in our own lives and moving so fast that we rarely take the time to look up and see how we can be of service. I try to pay more attention now to small ways that I can help.

AM: Culturally you walked in the shoes of others throughout your journey as you experienced various "culture shocks". Share 3 with us and why is traveling to places different than your own so important?

KD: Traveling is so important because it teaches you what it's like to be a foreigner. It’s hard to be the odd man out like that. It’s impossible to know what that feels like and not have more compassion and understanding for people having similar experiences in your own country. Traveling teaches you that your way is not the only way. You don’t have
to get on an airplane and fly halfway around the world to learn this lesson. If you live in the country, go to the city. If you live in the city, head to the country. Be open and curious—you’ll learn something.

As far as culture shock goes, I think the biggest culture shock came when we transitioned from western to eastern cultures. In western cultures, thinking is very linier and logical. In eastern cultures, it seems like there is more wiggle room. If you try to use logic to make sense of the way some things go down in places like India, you’ll go nuts. But if you can just learn to laugh and accept things as they are, you’ll be fine. That was my experience.

AM: What was your favorite country and/or city covered in the book? 

KD: Well, when I look back on the trip I know that some of my feelings about certain places are clouded by my own personal journey. I was battling a lot of internal unrest in South America, so when I think back to some of those countries it's hard for me to separate my own unhappiness with my overall feelings about a place. On the other hand, I am in love with India. I loved the country, the people, the culture—but I also had a bit of an awakening in that country, so I’m sure the fact that I kind of came out the other side of things and found balance there is also part of the reason why I love that country so much. I’m almost afraid to go back because I love it in my memory just the way it is.

Read more from the April Issue and see Yellow is a Go in mag.