MOBILE, Ala. – Anything is possible if you can believe it. A positive mindset can be the difference between success and failure. These are some of the core values that University of South Alabama men's track and field graduate transfer Rickssen Opont has embodied along his journey. 

However, it was not always easy to see the world through an optimistic lens. Opont was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, where growing up he was unable to live with his mother for most of the year. Although he did not see his mother but during the summers, she made countless sacrifices to ensure that Opont had every chance to succeed by sending him to live with a host family in order to afford him the opportunity to receive a better education. 

When Opont turned nine years old he was able to move to the United States to live with his father in Nyack, N.Y. However, the transition for a young boy who had never been to the United States and didn't speak English was far from a walk in the park. "When I first got there and got to school it was rough," he said. "I struggled to find my way and to fit in because I was different. There was a lot of bullying that I went through because I didn't speak English."

But from an early age Opont found determination to succeed. "Being from Haiti, at an early age I developed a mindset that I needed to take advantage of the opportunities that were given to me," he explained. "Having a chance to even go to school when a lot of kids back home don't get that chance made me take my studies very seriously. I worked really hard to learn English. I took ESL [English as a Second Language] all through middle school and used that drive to try to excel in all areas of school." 

Then in middle school he found an outlet to channel his determination by way of sports. The son of Pierre Opont, a member of the Haitian National soccer team, Rickssen was quick to pick up soccer but loved to play all different kinds of sports.

"I would just go in the backyard and essentially teach myself new skills, whether it was shooting a basketball or dribbling a soccer ball, because for me sports was my escape," said Opont. "No matter what sport it was, it was an opportunity for me to take the edge off and forget about the bullying and pain I was feeling." 

Opont, a gifted athlete, continued to excel in sports and picked up track and field his freshman year of high school. After being convinced by his cousin, a senior on the team, Opont decided that he had time to kill after school so he would join the team. 

After loosely participating as a freshman and picking up shot put, the following year he met a coach that would change his life.

"I met my coach, Jose St. Victor, who is still my mentor to this day," Opont said. "He taught me humbleness, and what it takes to be a champion and to be a man.  At a young age, he engrained the concept of never becoming content but rather recognizing accomplishment and always staying hungry to improve." 

The bond between Opont and St. Victor blossomed and the two continued to push each other to grow. St. Victor challenged Opont to try out for the football team in the fall. For the first time in his life, the Haitian-born Opont went out for the football team his junior year in a decision that heavily impacted his athletic career. He developed a newfound love for strength training in the weight room after being a practice dummy majority of first season.

Often he found himself working out two to three times a day between track and football. It all paid off when he was awarded a starting spot on the football team his senior year. This accomplishment gave him a taste of success, which he would ultimately use to fuel his track season. Opont was able to set a new career best mark in the shot put of 16.15m, an event where he threw just 7.62m his freshman season. 

Although Opont had aspirations to pursue collegiate football, he wasn't heavily recruited and after his senior year he ended up at St. Thomas Aquinas College — where his step-mother worked — upon his parents' insistence.

Once he was accepted into school, he reached out to the track coach at St. Thomas Aquinas and was never contacted. As he had been throughout his life, Opont was persistent and followed up with a second email to the coach again to no avail. On his third attempt, he was finally able to reach the coach at STAC and was offered an opportunity to join the team. 

After being forced to redshirt his first year, in his first meet ever he broke the program record in the shot put. However, the school did not have a track facility and Opont did not have a mode of transportation so for the majority of his second and third years he competed in meets but rarely was able to practice. 

That changed after Opont was fortunate to obtain his own vehicle the following season. "I was really able to start doing more drills in my third season, I was able to get a car so I would drive to my old high school after class every day and throw on my own," he recalled. "I took my shots and implements with me and would go out there for two to three hours every day to throw no matter the conditions because I was just hungry to be better." 

Under the circumstances at the school, Opont had to take responsibility for his training in order to feed that hunger.

"At STAC we had a head coach, but there was no throws coach so training was essentially on my own," he explained. "When I went out to my old high school, I would do some of the drills my high school coach taught me but I wanted more. It was important for me to be a well-rounded athlete in my mind. I wanted to improve my technique and I really wanted to pick up weight throw and hammer, so I would watch YouTube videos and videos on Instagram to learn.

"Then I would film myself by setting up my phone in my shoe when I was practicing and compare the film to the videos." 

He continued to improve each year, with large gains in his redshirt junior season. "I did everything in my own power to reach the goals that I set for myself," said Opont. "I didn't make any excuses about not having the facilities or not having a coach. I said that I'm not going to let not having those resources prevent me from getting to where I want to be."

However, Opont was much more than an athlete, and as part of his growth it was important to him to make his mark in more than just athletics.

"I did the best that I could to be involved at STAC because I wanted to leave my mark even though I didn't want to be there originally," Opont said. "I was class president, president of the marketing club, a member of the business club, and I worked in the athletic department as a spotter and the parking lot for games. I gave campus tours because I wanted to be 'that guy' whose face was everywhere." 

Maybe the most important thing that came out of his experience at STAC was the idea of "Chasin' Greatness". From the outside looking in, it may seem like a typical cliché from a college athlete but it means so much more to Opont.    

"The idea of chasin' greatness came from me trying to help and motivate others," he explained. "There were dark times that I went through that I felt like no person should have to go through. When I was going through those times, I didn't have anyone to turn to. Fortunately, I was able to push myself to grow through being involved and working hard to accomplish new feats, which help me to feel better. In turn, what I wanted to do for others was be the light in their life that I didn't have during the time that I struggled." 

Much of Opont's mindset revolves around positivity and his humble beginnings. "I am no different than any other person around me," he said. "Everyone has the capability to do great things. That is the main message I try to tell people; they can do just as much as me. The difference is that I know what I want and I work to get there."

Around this time a year ago, Opont began his search for a destination to pursue his master's degree and complete his eligibility in track and field. However, it became a stressful time because again Opont had minimal interest from other schools.

That all changed when a unique relationship formed from a direct message.

"It was around January, [South Alabama Head] Coach [Paul] Brueske literally slid in my DMs and he asked me if I had picked a school yet," Opont recalled. "Mind you, at the time I had never heard of South Alabama and I didn't know Mobile. Coach sent me the information and all the pieces started to fall into place."

Brueske spoke about recruiting Opont, saying "I found Rickssen on the transfer portal as a graduate transfer. He was concerned with finding a school that offered a graduate program in sports management. Our team was in a place where we needed to find an experienced thrower, so it was a great fit for both sides." 

But more than the logistics of school and track, Opont felt a bond that would set South Alabama apart.

"The way that Coach Brueske was involved in communicating really aligned with what I wanted achieve," he said. "He checked in with me regularly, after my meets he always sent a congrats but how he said it made the difference. In the text, Coach Brueske would tell me congrats on my mark and then say, 'but next year you're going to throw farther' and that was all he would say.

"That belief and investment Coach Brueske had in me meant a lot. He always went out of his way to make me comfortable and that I knew all the steps that I needed to take, which really sold me."

The more time the two have been exposed to each other, the more the relationship has grown.

"When I got here in the fall my technique was terrible and I was really struggling," recalled Opont. "Coach Brueske was there for me with encouragement, telling me to keep pushing through and that it would all come together. He saw something in me, which has really pushed me to be better and push myself each and every day. Coach Brueske deserves a lot of credit for the success I been able to have so far because he's always believed in me.

"Having a coach like, that the sky is the limit." 

"Coach Brueske even told me that I would be one of the oldest guys in the program, which sparked something inside me," he continued. "I came in with the mentality that I was going to be a leader and I needed to act as such. I came in with a positive mindset and wanted to see that rub off on my teammates. It's exciting for me because I can feel it impacting the team. The atmosphere is upbeat, there is a lot of optimism. We have a great team that can really make some noise."    

That thought was reiterated by Brueske. "Rickssen is a winner. He works extremely hard, has a great attitude and he is very coachable' he explained. "As a result, he has made consistent improvements throughout the year. But more importantly, he has become a role model for the younger athletes on the team." 

Opont recently earned his first Sun Belt Conference title in the shot put at the Indoor league championships. He also finished sixth in the weight throw and established a new personal best (17.57m) in his last indoor collegiate competition. 

"Hopefully I can leave my mark here at South where I can spark something in somebody else, someone who can feed off my hunger and spread greatness through the team when my time is up," said Opont. "That's what it is all about, having the one person to spark something and then seeing it spread so that the dynamic of the team is visibly different. Seeing others excited to compete — and doing so at a high level — brings joy to me because it's more than track and field, it's a family."  

After his eligibly in track expires Opont is looking to complete his master's degree in sports management. His goal is to develop a thesis and research the impact of having a positive mindset in competition, specifically in track and field.

"I want to show people the importance of thinking the right thoughts and the impact that can have on performance," he explained. "I believe that it's a mental game, I say it is 90 percent mental and 10 percent actually competing."

The end goal is to have his research published and to become an author in the field. 

In addition, Opont is a current member of the Haitian National team. Earlier this year he set a new Haitian national record in the indoor shot put after throwing 17.43 meters. He wants to continue training with Brueske in hopes of competing professionally and representing his country in the Olympics someday. 

As far as a long-term career, Opont has two aspirations. First, he would like to work for a professional sports organization in a management or operations position. Additionally, Opont wants to establish his own brand of "Chasin' Greatness." He wants to use his platform to motivate and inspire young people, especially in Haiti. He hopes to travel and give motivational speeches to children in unfortunate situations in order to help them find a way out just as he did.

Because anything is possible if you believe it.  And Rickssen Opont has the story to prove it.

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