UAB Soccer’s Atak Yai appears in TV episode

The show focuses on student athletes who have built character dealing with adversities.

atak_yai_sUniversity of Alabama at Birmingham senior and UAB Men’s Soccer team forward Atak Yai is featured in an episode of “The Real Winning Edge,” a national youth sports TV program. The show focuses on student athletes who have built character dealing with adversities. His segment is introduced by Team USA soccer star Landon Donovan.

Yai, a sociology major, was born in Sudan and began playing soccer at the age of 7. He and his two brothers were able to escape the civil war in Sudan and moved to Jackson, Miss., where Yai played high school and club soccer.

His talent got him noticed by the UAB soccer coaches.

“He’s a very good, hardworking student and super-nice young man,” said UAB Men’s Soccer Head Coach Mike Getman.

Yai, who moved from midfield to forward during his junior year, has played in every match for the Blazers in 2013.

“We selected Atak as the best role model and candidate representing the sport of soccer from college students all over the United States,” said Diane Preston-Reilly, Challenger Films Inc. president and executive producer. “He was chosen to represent this field, not just for the sport, but also for his character and the adversity he has overcome.”

Watch the episode.