‘Bright’ Star
Aiden Jokomba named scholar athlete of the month at FGCU
Former Cornwall College dacosta Cup striker Aiden Jokomba, who was recently named male scholar athlete for the month of December at Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU), is eagerly looking forward to the delayed start of the football season.
The 2020 Asun Conference play was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the six-game season is set to start late next month.
And Jokomba, who was joint top scorer in the 2018 ISSA Champions Cup, says he is ready to improve on his freshman year.
Florida Gulf Coast University(fgcu), which also has former Herbert Morrison Technical defender Tremaine Simpson on its roster, will only play six games in the severely truncated season— the University of North Florida, University of Jacksonville and Stetson University— on a home-and-away basis.
Jokomba, who was part of the Cornwall College teams that won the dacosta Cup in 2016 and the first school outside of Kingston to win the ISSA Super Cup in 2018, says the season being pushed back does not really bother him.
“I don’t really view the season being pushed back as an issue because of the pandemic, so I’m just grateful that the team will be able to compete even though it’s not a full season,” he told the Jamaica Observer West.
In his first season at FGCU, despite missing several games due to injuries, Jokomba scored three goals in 12 games played, including the game winner against Georgia Southern, turning in the ball from close range less than one minute after going into the game as a substitute.
He said he has learned enough from his first season that he says will help him for the upcoming season.
“After the first season I think I’ve adapted well and improved as an individual, making me better prepared for the battle at hand. Personally, I just want to stay healthy and help my team win the Conference,” he said.
Jokomba was named the male scholar athlete of the month for the first time, and according to the school’s website “a female and male Eagle are chosen as the FGCU Athletics Scholar Athlete of the Month throughout the academic year. Factors in the selection for this honour include a combination of significant athletic and overall academic success”.
The second-year student, who is studying public health, scored an impressive 3.82 grade point average (GPA) for the semester and carries a 3.71 GPA overall. He was also named to the Dean’s List twice and the Athletic Director’s Honour Roll three times.
FGCU men’s soccer head coach Jessie Cormier described Jokomba as “quiet and unassuming but he is a driven and highly successful student athlete”.
“He does excellent academic work, and with us, scores goals often in unorthodox ways. As a coaching staff, we are extremely proud and excited about his progress in the classroom and training,” he added.