Exclusive interview by Andrew Brown, Stand Up For Southport
A world renowned tennis coach who survived a brutal civil war in Africa will share his remarkable life story at The Atkinson in Southport.
Sam Jalloh grew up in Sierra Leone in West Africa where food was scarce, dangers were rife and the challenges many.
Tragically he saw the cruel realities of civil war first hand when he saw his best friend shot and killed while he was next to him. His outlook on life changed instantly.
The inspirational dad-of-two will tell his harrowing and yet uplifting story – one with hope and belief for the future – with guests at The Atkinson in Southport on Thursday, 24th February.
The proud father-of-two 16-year-old twin girls, Sierra and Sahara, has important messages to share with people of all ages; of compassion, of peace, of love for another and his lessons on how to succeed in life.
Sam, an international tennis player and a professional tennis coach who loves living in Southport, is the author of a number of books, including the exceptional ‘How Tennis Saved My Life’.
He is the winner of the BBC Inspirations Awards 2020, a Tedx Speaker and has featured on shows including BBC One Breakfast, BBC One Sunday Morning Live, BBC Radio Four Saturday Live, BBC World Service TV and Radio, BBC Africa and many more.
He is looking forward to presenting his incredible journey of how one man has defied the odds to become a truly inspirational figure around the world.
He said: “The show will be a message to humanity of peace and love.
“I saw my best friend killed in front of me during the Sierra Leone civil war. I vowed to get away from the violence – and tennis was my way out.
“Seeing my best friend dying in front of me was a turning point for me.
“I took things a little more seriously after that.
“Before that happened, I thought I was invincible.
“After my best friend got shot, that really changed me.
“When it happened, I looked at my Mum and she looked at me in a way that said ‘I don’t want to see that happen to you’.
“To this day, I ask myself ‘what if’?
“What if we had been standing just 10 yards away from where we were when he was shot?
“I want to tell people at my talk in Southport that violence never pays.
“When I was growing up, I suffered many beatings from my adopted family, and then saw the brutality of the civil war in Sierra Leone, where a quarter of a million people lost their lives.
“Sierra Leone has only just started to get back onto its feet now.
“Imagine where we could have been now as a country without that war?”
Sam’s outlook is one of tolerance, of forgiveness, of understanding others.
He said: “We must be kind to each other, and learn to tolerate our differences, whether that is through politics, religion, sexuality, or anything else.
“We are all one human race, we are a human family.
“I have travelled all around the world and I have known nothing but love.
“Violence doesn’t pay, racism doesn’t pay. In the 21st century, we shouldn’t be talking about whose lives matter, we should be talking about being one big family.
“Humanity is given to us all, and we should cherish it.”
Sam Jalloh now lives in Southport, but he grew up in a very different world in Freetown, Sierra Leone. He was the first boy in his family to celebrate his second birthday, unlike his three brothers born before him.
Hard work was vital within his family. His father had two jobs, his mother had four, and he had to survive his early years without shoes, and on just one meal a day.
The civil war began when Sam was nine, and would last for 11 years.
When he was young, Sam was captured on various occasions by Nigerian soldiers, brought in to expel rebels from the Sierra Leone city of Freetown. But they didn’t know who were rebels and who weren’t, and the enemy had snatched and trained thousands of child soldiers.
One day Sam was stopped – but fortunately by a soldier who he had formed a friendship with through tennis.
He said: “I was lucky. I knew one of the soldiers, called Julius, and he let me go.
“We had trained tennis together, and also taekwondo. I didn’t recognise him at the time because they all had helmets with black glass on their heads, and they didn’t speak much either, they just used their guns to hit you and tell you where to go.
“He came behind me and said, ‘You have to run; you have to go.’
“He risked his life for me. I never knew what happened to him after that.”
Sam played tennis for Sierra Leone and would play tournaments against players from around the world.
But with the civil war raging in Sierra Leone, it was a time of huge worry and unrest, not just for Sam, but also for those around him too.
In January 1999 he was playing against a competitor from Israel on a devastating day he would never forget.
Every time he looked across to the sidelines, his coach was quiet, his ear glued to a radio listening to the latest news.
Sam said: “I was playing, looking at my coach for help, but he wasn’t saying anything. He had a little radio in his ear, listening to the news. Then he just burst into tears and said, ‘Everyone in the city of Freetown has died; I’ve lost my wife and family.’
The tragic news sparked Sam’s concerns for his own family too. Contacting them was difficult.
He said: “Back then, my Dad never owned anything electric other than a radio he had before I was born, and it took him two hours just to tune it, so I couldn’t phone my parents. I didn’t know where my family was, and I couldn’t sleep.
“Everyone with us was very supportive. They were hugging us, trying to tell us that everything would be ok.”
The rebels had destroyed Freetown, murdering tens of thousands of people. Had it not been for tennis Sam could well have been among the victims.
Instead he and his coach found themselves as refugees in Ghana for the next few weeks before they could return to Sierra Leone.
He has been in Southport for the past 18 years, and loves living here.
He is often bemused at hearing some of the things people complain about, against the background of his own life experiences.
He loves living in a place where people have ready access to good quality, free healthcare; where there is plenty of transport; where people can eat.
He has used Southport as a base to travel across the country and around the world, meeting tennis stars of the past, the present – and helping to guide those of the future.
He said: “One of the things I am always grateful for has been meeting Virginia Wade at the Liverpool International Tennis Tournament, and becoming great friends with her.
“When I first spoke to Virginia, she said ‘your story is amazing. Why don’t you get your story out!’ I could talk to her all day.
“Mansour Bahrami has also become a good friend, we have worked together a lot.
“I have been around a lot of very talented tennis players, coaching people including Gianluigi Quinzi, who won the 2013 Wimbledon Championships junior boys’ singles title; Sachia Vickery, who has been in the top 70 players in the world; while a good local player I have worked with is Natalie Wall, who has been a County Champion.
“I enjoy tennis a lot! I enjoy hitting with top level players, and coaching players.
“I love encouraging children to play tennis too. When the Liverpool International Tennis Tournament is on, we do a lot of promotional work with young people. I love to see children playing tennis and engaging with them in doing something so positive.”
When the Covid pandemic swept the world two years ago and resulted in a series of lockdowns, it had a silver lining for him – it meant that he was able to spend some real quality time at home with his two teenage daughters. They spent lots of time together, enjoying the scenery of Southport with the fabulous beaches, the parks, the pinewoods, and other beauty spots on their doorstep. He is a proud Dad, and he loves where he now lives.
“Southport is my home now,” he said.“This town has been really good for me.
“I have travelled all around the world. But if people ask me where is the best place I have been to, I always say Southport.”
And his message to everyone who comes to hear him at The Atkinson will be one that everyone should hear.
Sam said: “The whole world is one family.
“It doesn’t matter how rich or poor you are, what you look like, what colour you were born, where you come from. Always be honest with people, always be kind, always work hard, and good things will come your way.”
- Sam Jalloh: A Show About My Life is at The Atkinson, on Lord Street, Southport, 8pm-9.45pm on Thursday, 24th February 2022. For tickets (£15 / £10 concessions, plus booking fee £1 per ticket online / phone) please visit: theatkinson.co.uk
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