SOCCER STANDOUT'S GOAL: STAY PUT

If he can't break through the red tape, Cristian Lopez will have to head home to El Salvador before his senior year at Hardaway

BY BORDEN BLACK - Special to the Ledger-Enquirer --

He's an "A" student, decorated JROTC cadet and star soccer player. But unless some red tape is cut, Cristian Lopez will be sent home to El Salvador before he can graduate from Hardaway High School.

The exchange student, who is being sponsored by a Fort Benning family, will complete his junior year on May 23, but without a visa extension he will have to board a plane home later that day.

Cristian came to Fort Benning in 2006 when his father, Lt. Col. Jose Lopez, attended courses at the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security and Cooperation (WHINSEC). He had learned English is a special program in El Salvador and was able to enroll in Hardaway's International Baccalaureate (IB) Program as a sophomore. Although he had never had much opportunity to speak English, he soon mastered the language and was also picked to play on the school's varsity soccer team.

Jane Kane and her husband, Col. Greg Kane, got to know the Lopez family and when it was time for them to return to Santa Tecla, El Salvador, Cristian told the Kanes he would be willing to sleep on the floor if he could just stay and continue with his schooling. After many discussions between the two families, the Kanes took the 17-year old in.

"His character and desire to succeed set him apart from other young men of his age and background," Col. Kane says. "Because of his demonstrated potential, we agreed to sponsor him as an exchange student for the remaining two years of his high school studies."

The unsubsidized tuition at Hardaway was paid and an F1 student visa obtained. It was only later that the Kanes discovered the visa was good for only a year and could be renewed only if Cristian were attending a private school.

"The U.S. is a country with opportunities," Cristian says of his desire to stay in the country. In an essay written for a class, Cristian described the hardships his family had to face including the loss of everything during the Civil War in El Salvador and his father's subsequent decision to join the army and fight communism. "He chose wisely," Cristian wrote of his father. "He has made the world a better place by the choices he has made."

Cristian would also like to make wise choices. He hopes to get a soccer scholarship, use the HOPE scholarship that he qualifies for and go to college in America. Although he could transfer to a private school and renew his visa, it would mean abandoning the IB program, losing eligibility for the HOPE and giving up the visibility he has gained on the Hardaway soccer team. JROTC is also not offered in the private schools he is eligible to attend and Cristian wants to continue in that program as well.

"I like the Army and the Infantry," he says. "It's in my blood."

Also in his blood is his country's popular sport of soccer. Cristian has been playing since he was 5 and his skill helped Hardaway to the state final four last year. He plays several positions but prefers striker, where he can score. And score he does -- 18 goals last season. He also plays for the Red Star traveling team and has come to the attention of some scouts, according to the Kanes.

The Kanes are now involved in a last-ditch effort to try to keep the young man that they treat like a son in this country. "We were prepared to adopt him," Jane Kane says, but that also wasn't possible.

While Cristian misses his family -- which includes two sisters, grandmother and many aunts and uncles -- he believes that he belongs here.

"I like it here. The U.S. is a country with opportunities," he explains. "My country is in a bad situation. To live over there is hard." His dream is to get a degree in engineering and in some way help his country and work to strengthen relations with the United States.

"It's harder to live here legally than illegally," Cristian notes. "I want to finish school in the place that I know."

With the clock ticking, Cristian has begun the soccer season and the Kanes are sending letters to congressmen and other government officials hoping to get a last-minute reprieve. If all else fails, the Kanes will try to enroll Cristian in Calvary Christian private school. If he can make it through high school they say it is much easier to get a four-year visa to attend college.

"I would miss you terribly if you left," Jane Kane told Cristian as they discussed his future.