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Community Transcends Borders for Mañón
11/10/2022 5:04:00 PM | Men's Soccer, Peak Performance
When Sebastián Mañón first came to the United States from the Dominican Republic, there were many cultural differences.
But one important similarity stood out.
"Community is very important," said Mañón. "People are very nice and treat you very well, like back home where people are very warm."
It's an important message, that although one's culture may be different, people at the core are the same.
"There are certain differences, but I've received the same warmth here," he said. "People end up shaping your experience at places like Dartmouth. I hope that I'll leave this place with many good memories of not only things I achieved in the classroom and on the field, but also leave this place with great relationships and great memories of the simple moments I shared with people."
Mañón first came to the U.S. for the 10th grade to attend Taft School in Connecticut because of soccer.
When asked what it was like to be on his own in a new country, he had an interesting response.
"I was on my own, but just for a day or two."
What did Mañón mean by that?
It didn't take long to establish very good relationships with his teammates, so he didn't feel on his own in a foreign place anymore.
As Mañón said, "One of the things that represents Taft is their community and how warm and united it is (the same feeling Mañón would go on to experience at Dartmouth). My teammates took me in and introduced me to a lot of other people. The faculty members would get to know you really quickly. Even teachers I didn't have class with or never met would know my name and say hello in the hallways.
"I thought I was going to be alone, but that wasn't the reality," he continued. "It was incredible how quickly I got adjusted to the change."
The reason Mañón came to the U.S. was to put himself in position to play college soccer.
"My ambition is to become a professional player, but I want to do it through going to college," he said. "Going into Taft, I wanted to go to a good school where I could play at a great level, but also receive a really good education."
While at Taft, Mañón learned and grew under coach Oscar Parente.
"Coach Parente has been one of the most important people to me," said Mañón. "He has not only helped me become a better player, but he has also helped me grow in many ways. During my time at Taft, Coach Parente was not only my coach, but also my advisor and friend. He helped me grow as a person and showed me many values that I will carry for the rest of my life.
"I think I made the best decision," Mañón continued, referring to attending Taft. "College was definitely the next step after Taft."
Speaking of college, Mañón will never forget receiving an email from Dartmouth head men's soccer coach Bo Oshoniyi once the recruiting period opened.
"I remember staying up late that night because I wanted to see if a coach would reach out at 12 a.m. which is when you can start directly contacting the athletes," said Mañón. "I refreshed my email and Coach Bo's email was the first one I received. I had sent emails previously, even though they weren't allowed to answer back, expressing my interest, sending clips, sharing my grades and stuff like that.
"That's how I first contacted Dartmouth."
"When we did a Zoom call with him and his family, their connection as a family was really cool to see," he said. "Right away, we realized he was special in the type of person he was. We laughed about it and said one day, he'll be the president of the Dominican Republic because he's just that kind of individual. He's always looking to see how he can help benefit somebody else's life.
"Those are the types of kids we're drawn to."
Meanwhile, Mañón was drawn to Dartmouth partially because of similarities he felt between the Big Green coaching staff and a longtime coach of his growing up in the Dominican – Oscar Almonte.
"They showed me how much they wanted me to come to Dartmouth," said Mañón. "Obviously, you want to go to a place where you believe you can excel, but at the same time, you want to go to a place where the people are going to care for you and they want you to leave a better person and better player than what you came in. I saw that interest and ambition the coaches had, which was really, really important and special for me.
"It meant a lot."
Almonte was Mañón's coach for years until he came to the U.S.
"When I go back, he still sometimes coaches me, so he has been a really important part of this process," said Mañón. "Similar to what I said about Coach Bo and the Dartmouth staff, I had that since a very young age with my previous coach."
Almonte would stay extra hours with Mañón.
"He just transmitted his passion for the game to me," said Mañón.
Mañón admitted that around the age of 13, he realized he wanted to play the sport he loves, soccer, for a living.
"To make that dream come true, I had to leave the country," he said.
In his first collegiate season, which wraps up on Saturday at Harvard, Mañón has excelled as a starting center back.
"Sebastián and Sam Fenton as freshmen have been leaders in the back," said Oshoniyi. "Sebastian is a very vocal leader. He understands the game and is somebody who's always organizing and making sure guys are in the right spots. He just knows where the ball needs to go and the tempo that it needs to go. Those are things we typically look for in juniors and seniors, but he's giving it to us as a freshman, which is really amazing."
Mañón knows he couldn't be in the spot he is alone.
"Dartmouth takes pride in its community," said Mañón. "By the second day at Dartmouth, I was already talking to the boys all the time. Especially because of preseason, I was able to establish connections really quickly and the coaches have been incredible to me. Even before I got here, they would reach out every week to check in."
College soccer has some significant differences than what Mañón is used to.
"It is played very differently compared to how I grew up, which was more tactical, technical and not necessarily as much running," he said. "But because of certain rules here, like free substitutions, the game is so much faster."
Another difference, compared to Mañón's experience in the Dominican Republic, is weather.
"My first year in the U.S. was a shock," he said. "The coldest I had ever been in my life was probably 56 degrees. Coming here and having to play at 20 degrees, that was a shock, but now I'm more used to it."
While Mañón continues to get acclimated and improve as a collegiate player, he will also continue to grow with experience on Dominican Republic national teams.
"I've played with the national team since I was 14 years old," he said. "I played Under 15s, Under 17s, Under 20s and Under 23s. We just made the World Cup qualifiers."
Included in all this has been plenty of travel all over the world for various national tournaments.
"We also qualified for Los Juegos Panamericanos, which is different countries from South America that play a tournament, all sports," said Mañón. "After beating Jamaica, we made it to the semifinals. We played Guatemala and were losing 2-0 going into the second half and we scored two goals in two minutes, so we tied the game and went to penalties. After winning that game, we qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics."
The amount of international experience Mañón has accumulated is endless, and far from over. Putting on the jersey of his country isn't something he takes for granted.
"It's the biggest honor any athlete could have," said Mañón. "Representing your country, your people. I take a lot of pride in my country; I love the people there, love the culture. I love everything about it. It means even more to me because of how proud I am from being from that country."
"Every time you put that jersey on, it's so, so special."
Mañón is a special player, and person. He hopes all this experience will pay dividends as he looks to make playing soccer a career.
Oshoniyi definitely believes in Mañón.
"Sebastián is on the track to reach his dreams as a professional player," he said. "He'll be participating in the Under-20 World Cup this summer where most of those kids are already pros, so he's going to be surrounded by guys who are on that track or already there.
"His mindset, his work ethic, his attention to detail in always asking questions, those are things that tend to help guys who want to get to that next level," Oshoniyi continued. "I have no doubt in my mind that he will be a professional player at some level."
And it's those intangibles that make Mañón the player, and person, he is.
"Sebastián cares so much," said Oshoniyi. "He wants to make sure everybody's included, and everybody is vested in Dartmouth and the program. I think because of that, people respect him.
"They know that he's not only looking at them as what they can do on the field, but also as people."
Community transcends cultures, races and borders, no matter one's culture.
It's a lesson Sebastián Mañón is living every day.
But one important similarity stood out.
"Community is very important," said Mañón. "People are very nice and treat you very well, like back home where people are very warm."
It's an important message, that although one's culture may be different, people at the core are the same.
"There are certain differences, but I've received the same warmth here," he said. "People end up shaping your experience at places like Dartmouth. I hope that I'll leave this place with many good memories of not only things I achieved in the classroom and on the field, but also leave this place with great relationships and great memories of the simple moments I shared with people."
Mañón first came to the U.S. for the 10th grade to attend Taft School in Connecticut because of soccer.
When asked what it was like to be on his own in a new country, he had an interesting response.
"I was on my own, but just for a day or two."
What did Mañón mean by that?
It didn't take long to establish very good relationships with his teammates, so he didn't feel on his own in a foreign place anymore.
As Mañón said, "One of the things that represents Taft is their community and how warm and united it is (the same feeling Mañón would go on to experience at Dartmouth). My teammates took me in and introduced me to a lot of other people. The faculty members would get to know you really quickly. Even teachers I didn't have class with or never met would know my name and say hello in the hallways.
"I thought I was going to be alone, but that wasn't the reality," he continued. "It was incredible how quickly I got adjusted to the change."
The reason Mañón came to the U.S. was to put himself in position to play college soccer.
"My ambition is to become a professional player, but I want to do it through going to college," he said. "Going into Taft, I wanted to go to a good school where I could play at a great level, but also receive a really good education."
While at Taft, Mañón learned and grew under coach Oscar Parente.
"Coach Parente has been one of the most important people to me," said Mañón. "He has not only helped me become a better player, but he has also helped me grow in many ways. During my time at Taft, Coach Parente was not only my coach, but also my advisor and friend. He helped me grow as a person and showed me many values that I will carry for the rest of my life.
"I think I made the best decision," Mañón continued, referring to attending Taft. "College was definitely the next step after Taft."
Speaking of college, Mañón will never forget receiving an email from Dartmouth head men's soccer coach Bo Oshoniyi once the recruiting period opened.
"I remember staying up late that night because I wanted to see if a coach would reach out at 12 a.m. which is when you can start directly contacting the athletes," said Mañón. "I refreshed my email and Coach Bo's email was the first one I received. I had sent emails previously, even though they weren't allowed to answer back, expressing my interest, sending clips, sharing my grades and stuff like that.
"That's how I first contacted Dartmouth."
Oshoniyi was sold from the start.Next up in our 2022 Recruiting class is Sebastian Manon! Sebastian comes to us from the Taft School via Dominican Republic. Sebastian is an outstanding defender that has captained his National Teams at U20 and U23 level! Welcome to the family Sebastian! Go Big Green! pic.twitter.com/iyonxqCiSF
— Dartmouth Men's Soccer (@DartmouthMSoc) June 14, 2022
"When we did a Zoom call with him and his family, their connection as a family was really cool to see," he said. "Right away, we realized he was special in the type of person he was. We laughed about it and said one day, he'll be the president of the Dominican Republic because he's just that kind of individual. He's always looking to see how he can help benefit somebody else's life.
"Those are the types of kids we're drawn to."
Meanwhile, Mañón was drawn to Dartmouth partially because of similarities he felt between the Big Green coaching staff and a longtime coach of his growing up in the Dominican – Oscar Almonte.
"They showed me how much they wanted me to come to Dartmouth," said Mañón. "Obviously, you want to go to a place where you believe you can excel, but at the same time, you want to go to a place where the people are going to care for you and they want you to leave a better person and better player than what you came in. I saw that interest and ambition the coaches had, which was really, really important and special for me.
"It meant a lot."
Almonte was Mañón's coach for years until he came to the U.S.
"When I go back, he still sometimes coaches me, so he has been a really important part of this process," said Mañón. "Similar to what I said about Coach Bo and the Dartmouth staff, I had that since a very young age with my previous coach."
Almonte would stay extra hours with Mañón.
"He just transmitted his passion for the game to me," said Mañón.
Mañón admitted that around the age of 13, he realized he wanted to play the sport he loves, soccer, for a living.
"To make that dream come true, I had to leave the country," he said.
In his first collegiate season, which wraps up on Saturday at Harvard, Mañón has excelled as a starting center back.
"Sebastián and Sam Fenton as freshmen have been leaders in the back," said Oshoniyi. "Sebastian is a very vocal leader. He understands the game and is somebody who's always organizing and making sure guys are in the right spots. He just knows where the ball needs to go and the tempo that it needs to go. Those are things we typically look for in juniors and seniors, but he's giving it to us as a freshman, which is really amazing."
Mañón knows he couldn't be in the spot he is alone.
"Dartmouth takes pride in its community," said Mañón. "By the second day at Dartmouth, I was already talking to the boys all the time. Especially because of preseason, I was able to establish connections really quickly and the coaches have been incredible to me. Even before I got here, they would reach out every week to check in."
College soccer has some significant differences than what Mañón is used to.
"It is played very differently compared to how I grew up, which was more tactical, technical and not necessarily as much running," he said. "But because of certain rules here, like free substitutions, the game is so much faster."
Another difference, compared to Mañón's experience in the Dominican Republic, is weather.
"My first year in the U.S. was a shock," he said. "The coldest I had ever been in my life was probably 56 degrees. Coming here and having to play at 20 degrees, that was a shock, but now I'm more used to it."
While Mañón continues to get acclimated and improve as a collegiate player, he will also continue to grow with experience on Dominican Republic national teams.
"I've played with the national team since I was 14 years old," he said. "I played Under 15s, Under 17s, Under 20s and Under 23s. We just made the World Cup qualifiers."
Included in all this has been plenty of travel all over the world for various national tournaments.
"We also qualified for Los Juegos Panamericanos, which is different countries from South America that play a tournament, all sports," said Mañón. "After beating Jamaica, we made it to the semifinals. We played Guatemala and were losing 2-0 going into the second half and we scored two goals in two minutes, so we tied the game and went to penalties. After winning that game, we qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics."
The amount of international experience Mañón has accumulated is endless, and far from over. Putting on the jersey of his country isn't something he takes for granted.
"It's the biggest honor any athlete could have," said Mañón. "Representing your country, your people. I take a lot of pride in my country; I love the people there, love the culture. I love everything about it. It means even more to me because of how proud I am from being from that country."
"Every time you put that jersey on, it's so, so special."
Mañón is a special player, and person. He hopes all this experience will pay dividends as he looks to make playing soccer a career.
Oshoniyi definitely believes in Mañón.
"Sebastián is on the track to reach his dreams as a professional player," he said. "He'll be participating in the Under-20 World Cup this summer where most of those kids are already pros, so he's going to be surrounded by guys who are on that track or already there.
"His mindset, his work ethic, his attention to detail in always asking questions, those are things that tend to help guys who want to get to that next level," Oshoniyi continued. "I have no doubt in my mind that he will be a professional player at some level."
And it's those intangibles that make Mañón the player, and person, he is.
"Sebastián cares so much," said Oshoniyi. "He wants to make sure everybody's included, and everybody is vested in Dartmouth and the program. I think because of that, people respect him.
"They know that he's not only looking at them as what they can do on the field, but also as people."
Community transcends cultures, races and borders, no matter one's culture.
It's a lesson Sebastián Mañón is living every day.
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