JACKSON WARNS THAT CANADA WILL LOSE MORE YOUNG TALENT Interview - Feature | Posted on March 10/10 by Max Bell

Part 1 of 2

Simeon Jackson is confident that Canada are taking positive steps towards 2014, but warns that more will follow the path of Asmir Begovic to represent other nations

Gillingham, UK

Simeon Jackson stands out from the surroundings at Gillingham FC.

As he enters the press room at KRBS Priestfield stadium, his finely knit cardigan and suave cap immediately distinguishes him from his adopted post-industrial Kent town as much as his still-strong Canadian accent.

He apologizes with a polite smile for keeping us waiting during his post-training massage, but offers the confident air of a collected young star.

At this club, Jackson is a star.

As we navigate the all-too-awkward set-up for a TV interview, Jackson and I enter the expected conversational terrain as we share a few laughs lamenting the lack of media coverage of the national team. He gives a humorous nod as we mutually acknowledge the “vacuum” of information that consumes most of the CSA’s management of the senior men’s team.

When we arrived at the stadium for the morning’s press conference with Gillingham manager Mark Stimson, we were greeted by a modest, but rather amazed group of local journalists. Had we really come all this way from Canada? Is Simeon really drumming up the adoring interest of millions of Canadian soccer supporters?

Well…no, and no.

The truth is we had merely taken an hour-long train ride down from London. And while Simeon has quickly become a star within Canadian soccer circles, not least by being named the 2009 CSA Player of the Year, his name has hardly become household back across the Atlantic.

But for the boy who got his start as a goal-hungry youngster with Ontario’s famed Dixie Destroyers, the mere fact that he has established himself as a professional ‘number 10’ in England, is a massive achievement that shouldn’t be discounted.

Eligible to play for Canada, Jamaica and England: Simeon told me that it was his involvement in Canada’s youth program that effectively sealed his fate. “I think when you’re younger, with the three countries, you think: who would you love to play for?” he said. “Being in the set-up and playing my first game for Canada kind of made my mind up. This is who I want to play for.”

As we entered the always sticky territory of addressing the defectors: Jonothan De Guzman, Begovic, Hagreaves and co. – Jackson emitted his first awkward laugh of the afternoon, sensing the inevitable questions of personal opinion.

His response was decisive and admirable – though maybe not what some of the betrayed supporters would have hoped for. “It just comes down to the individual,” Simeon said. “If you grow up and have a lot of ties to the country, and you feel like you want to play for them, by all means go ahead. I still speak to Asmir, and when I see Jono it’s not going to come in between us.”

Rather unexpectedly Simeon dropped a bit of a bombshell, confirming the worst fears of Canada’s most loyal, and weary supporters.

“For a lot of the young players coming up, there will be a lot more of that,” he said in reference to more stars leaving the Canadian program. “Especially in Canada, there are a lot of players with dual nationalities and they’re going to be faced with the decision of picking one of the countries. And it’s tough, it’s not easy – you just have to go where your heart takes you really.”

While we filmed bit of Gillingham’s morning training routine, we caught a glimpse of just how much the club’s on-field tactics revolve around Jackson. He had an entire drill set-up for his benefit. Two teams of ten contested battle in one half of the pitch, while Simeon waited, unmarked in the other half, for a through ball and his chance to sprint 50 yards to take an unchallenged shot-on-goal. The intended ego-boost was clear – and effective.

Strikers are typically the alpha-males of English football, and while Jackson carries a definite aura at the club: he treads a comfortable line between his lofty ambitions and his humble beginnings. His time at non-league clubs Dulwich Hamlet and Rushden & Diamongs have perhaps left Simeon with a permanent sense of humility.

As we started to talk in-depth about the national team, Simeon held nothing back, almost relishing a rare chance to tell the player’s side of the story.

He started by walking me through the disappointment of failing to score a single goal during the 2007 U-20 World Cup in Canada.

“I can’t even tell you now what went wrong,” he said, still searching for answers. “The build-up was good, the team had everything – but we went out there and didn’t perform to our best ability. It hurt. A lot of us feel that if we get the opportunity again to play at home, or play in another big tournament – we want to put it right in the future. It’s still stuck in my head, and will be for a long time.”

Jackson admitted that coming out to a pro-Chilean crowd in the tournament’s opening game in Toronto was a blow to the team’s confidence, but he remains hopeful that Canadian support is growing, especially with the following generated by Toronto FC.

Simeon also let us in on his first couple experiences with the senior national team under Stephen Hart, whom he quite obviously admires.

“Definitely,” he said when asked if he supported Hart’s appointment as permanent manager. “He gave me my first cap, my first game and invited me to the Gold Cup as well. It’s a very positive thing.”

The Jamaican-born striker added that despite the difference in languages and backgrounds of the Canadian team’s players: that there remains a definitive sense of national identity. “There’s a massive Canadian-ness,” he said.

With the entire soccer community firmly focused on qualifying for Brazil 2014, I was curious to get Simeon’s perspective on how the team is shaping up.

“Having the manager appointed is the first step,” he said, “but there’s a lot of work to do: especially if we’re looking at qualifying for a World Cup. Hopefully the younger guys will have matured and we’ll have the right mix. I believe it can be done. We have the talent and the ability, and as you’ve seen in the games that we’ve played, we want to win games.”

As we bounced around the perennial debate over where Canada should play it’s qualifying games, he offered a twin perspective commonly shared by most supporters. Build a fortress at BMO Field in Toronto, but don’t forget the ‘home-ice’ advantages of our northern cities.

“It’s all about winning games and obviously the atmosphere does help,” he said. “Being from Mississauga you want to see a lot of games in Toronto, but if bringing the Mexicans to Edmonton and letting them freeze is going to get results then that’s what we’ve got to do. You have to make it difficult for teams like that.”

As we wrapped up the interview, we swapped stories about our respective experiences as young Canadians living in the UK. He told us that he has remained close to his Ontario youth friends Jaime Peters, David Edgar and Gavin McCallum, and that his connection to his fellow Canadian mates was an important asset for him during his early years in England.

He also shared a juicy bit of gossip about a certain Canadian by the name of Junior Hoillet currently racking up meaningful Premier League minutes under Sam Allardyce at Blackburn Rovers.

“Yeah we’re trying to tap into him,” Simeon said as he confessed that him and others on the Canadian team have been having friendly discussions with Hoillet. “We want to make sure he joins us on our side, especially seeing as how we played together when we were younger, to play on the same national team can only help us really.”

Despite having been passed up by a series of bigger clubs during this year’s January transfer window, Jackson seems focused with the same quiet determination that has brought him back from the 7th tier of English football to be one of the brightest starts in League One.

“I’m going to knuckle down now and put the hard work in,” he said in reference to his plans for the rest of the season. “I’m trying to help us stay in this division. ”