On the pitch and beyond, UChicago goalkeeper gives his all

Editor’s note: This story is part of Meet a UChicagoan, a regular series focusing on the people who make UChicago a distinct intellectual community. Read about the others here.

Of the 22 players on the pitch during a soccer match, the goalkeepers have one of the most important jobs—make sure nothing gets past. 

That’s the task presented to University of Chicago second-year student Ali Alamery, the starting goalie on the Maroons men’s soccer team. His role can be the loneliest on the pitch, requiring a laser focus to stay locked on the game, especially when the action is happening far downfield.

“A lot can happen if I’m not fully concentrating for 90 minutes,” Alamery said. “Even if I stop focusing mentally just to relax for five seconds, one slip up or delayed reaction can be the difference between winning a game 1-0 or having that result flipped on you.”

It’s that drive for excellence that powers Alamery. But this energy isn't just confined to the pitch—he applies it to everything he does, from his academics as a pre-medicine student and aspiring neurosurgeon to the volunteer work he does with hospice patients and kids, including those at UChicago Medicine Comer Children's Hospital.

“UChicago students, whether it’s myself, my teammates or just someone I share a class with, are very focused on trying to be at the top of whatever they want to do," he said. "We really want to make a difference.”

On the field, Alamery anchors the goal for a team built to compete. 

The Maroons won a men’s national soccer championship just a few years ago and play in the toughest conference in the NCAA’s Division III. They take on equally competitive schools during non-conference play. That group includes St. Olaf University—a formidable opponent that also won a title this decade and squared up against UChicago in the second match of the season.

The Oles’ strikers sent shot after shot at Alamery’s goal, hoping to sneak one past him to break the stalemate. In all, they had 21 attempts, with Alamery stopping all 10 that ended up on goal to secure the first shutout of his career in a 0-0 tie.

He would start in all 20 games for the Maroons during the past season and record nine shutouts in total—good for eighth in the UChicago career record books after just one season.

Alamery maintains his goalie’s mindset through each challenge he takes on, no matter the venue.  

“Being a keeper is all about trust,” he said. “The team trusts you to stop the ball, they trust you to do the work and be a team player. It’s the same thing with academics, right? If you don’t give it your all—your focus, your hard work, your dedication—you’re going to let yourself and your team down.”

Motivated by family and driven by teamwork

Growing up and attending school in East Lansing, Mich., Alamery performed at a high enough level to play Division I soccer and trained with Detroit City FC, a member of the USL Championship professional league.  

But after starting at Michigan State University, he decided to transfer to UChicago for several reasons. He knew the Maroons always fielded a competitive team and that he could get a top-caliber education—but more than anything, he said he wanted to repay his parents, who immigrated to the United States from Iraq in 2001, for the sacrifices they made to give him the opportunities he’s had.

“In the end I wanted to make them proud and show them that all their hard work to give us the best life was worth it,” he said.

Off the field, Alamery is a neuroscience and psychology double major. He finds both interesting, but once again, his reasons for the choice are mostly tied back to family.

“My father was a prisoner of war for 15 years and with that has come post-traumatic stress disorder,” he said. “I think my drive to pursue neuroscience is because I truly want to understand what my dad went through. Most Iraqi men were raised to hide their emotions, but I feel like if I take these classes and really understand the science behind it, I don’t need him to tell me anything—instead I can do what I can to help him feel more comfortable.”

Alamery wants to use the knowledge he gains from psychology to carry over into a career practicing neuro-oncology. He's a lab assistant for Prof. Bakhtiar Yamini in the UChicago Medicine Department of Neurological Surgery, studying the aggressive brain cancer glioblastoma. The lab team is currently investigating various inhibitors to slow tumor progression or improve survival chances. 

It didn’t come as a surprise to Yamini that Alamery is the truest form of a team player.

“Ali is intimately involved in the team,” Yamini said. “He’s not only learning things on his own but also passing those lessons on and teaching less experienced members of the group. Labs only work when each of the links are strong and his efforts strengthen those around him.”

Even with the demands of athletics and academics, Alamery still finds time to volunteer with hospice patients around the Chicago metro as well as children who are currently receiving treatment at Comer Children's—something he signed up for immediately during his first year on campus.

“These children are coming in with tough cases but all they want to do is escape and feel like a kid again,” said Alamery.“There are parallels to people who are in hospice care as well. I just want to be able to give them a little bit of comfort and show that people care about them, even if it’s only for a few minutes.”

Winning in the classroom and community

Back in the locker room, Alamery knows the success he achieves on the field is all for nothing if he doesn’t reach those same levels in the classroom. Being a student athlete and balancing academics can be a difficult task, especially at UChicago, but it helps when studying is also a team effort.

“As soon as we get to our hotel, whether that’s in New York City or Atlanta, you’ll put your bags in the room and by the time you get back to the lobby half of the team is already doing coursework,” Alamery said. “It pushes me more when I see them grinding it out through the night to reach our goals.”

Men’s soccer head coach Phil Kroft wants  a good squad on the field—but he’s also trying to produce men that will do great things for society off it. It’s one of the reasons why Alamery ended up coming to play at UChicago.

“We are held to high standards, but we also know that he cares for us,” he said. “Whether it’s dedicated study time during travel or connecting us with alumni to help us form professional connections, he wants to see all of us go off and do great things in the world.”

Alamery’s effort to become the best version of himself hasn’t gone unnoticed by Kroft.

“Ali is not one to take shortcuts and his nose down, hardworking mentality carries over into the classroom as well,” he said. “During warmups with teammates, he is often talking about his latest lab, lecture or research that he’s working on. He truly loves being a premed student at UChicago.”

Kroft also said Alamery “single-handedly” convinced him that the squad should get more involved with the community. That volunteering spirit led to Maroons men’s soccer partnering with Team Impact, an organization that works with children dealing with serious illness or disability, matching them with teams across the country to give them a sense of belonging. It’s one way that Alamery can share his passion for service with his teammates. 

“With Team Impact, we get to see their smiles, see them be able to leave the difficulty and hardships behind,” he said. “Being able to see this really pushes me and my teammates and puts a smile on all our faces too.” 

Alamery has already made an impact both on and off the field but there is still time to do so much more as he’ll soon become a rising third-year. Leaving home and family behind was one of the tougher choices that he has made, but in the end, UChicago is where he belongs.

“I’ve come to realize that UChicago isn’t just a four-year thing,” he said. “Whether it’s soccer or my volunteer work, I know I am forming lifelong bonds and making a difference in others’ lives. I couldn’t be happier to be at UChicago and I hope the warmth and welcoming feelings that people showed me are the things that I can help pass on to the next generation of Maroons.”

—A version of this story is published on the University of Chicago College website.