The Captain: Mark Barigye

Barigye during pre-game vs. Martin Luther College. Media By Dana Fitch.

Football season has started, and everyone is excited to enjoy a sport that is heavily watched every year around the nation. In this weeks article, the real focus is on one individual on the Greenville Panthers varsity football team that many have come to know and love; Mark Barigye.

Barigye is a senior that is heading into his third year in the starting role at defensive tackle for the Greenville’s defense. He is also a defensive 2-time team captain and a huge leader on the team that many players want to follow.

Barigye was born on April 30, 1997 in Uganda and has moved between different states, including North Dakota, California, and even back to Africa for a couple of years. He finished out his high-school career at Pleasant Valley high school in Chico, CA. He only played one season of high school football before heading here to Greenville to live out his dream of playing college football and studying pastoral ministries. While in Greenville, Barigye has matured and grown as a person and strived to be a great leader on and off the field.

Barigye poses for a stylish picture during NSO. 
Media by Justin Willis.

Off the field, Barigye is a man of many talents. Some may know him better as Zulu Nation. This is because he enjoys poetry and creating music. Barigye is also a member of the Joyus Chaos improv team, where he uses his talents to create smiles and laughs throughout the whole campus. Barigye is also a ministry major and is very talented in public speaking. He is able to use these skills and knowledge of the Gospel to preach to different churches during the summer.

On the field, Barigye is a huge help for the defense, but he set aside some personal goals as well. Barigye wants to be named to the academic all-conference team and get ten or more sacks this season. He says what motivates him is his desire to be a good steward of what God has called him to do; striving for excellence in all aspects of life.

Barigye is known around campus as the person that parents would want their daughter to marry, and the friend that anyone can lean on. I asked him what he wants his legacy to be remembered as after he graduates from Greenville. His response was, “I want to be known as the person who was able to love and inspire others and to have fun while living out their calling.”

Bariyge during pre-game vs Kalamazoo. Media By Dana Fitch.

If Barigye seems like an interesting person and you want to know more about him and learn more about his story and testimony of his life, which is a pretty powerful testimony, walk up to him on campus, or show him some support out on Saturday afternoons on the field wearing number 97, and dominating offensive lineman during nearly every play.

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