When JV soccer coach Jahkee Smith graduated from college, he had a choice to make: play professional soccer back in Bermuda or stay in the U.S. and marry the woman he loved.

He chose love.

Smith had a chance unlike most to be able to live out his wildest dreams of playing on professional team, but instead settled down in Londonderry to start a family.

Smith has always loved and played soccer wherever he was in the world, whether it was his home country Bermuda or in the U.S.

“I played in Bermuda for two years and the club team moved up to Division 1,” Smith said. “Then we started winning the championships, and when I was 17, I got a full scholarship to play at Southern New Hampshire University.”

Smith had been playing soccer since the age of four with his neighborhood team.

“Once I started, I played through all the levels up until 15,” Smith said. “That’s when I broke into the first semi-pro team.”

He was only 15, and was already getting paid to play semi-professionally.

During 2001, Smith’s SNHU team went to the national championships. Then after his collegiate career, Smith decided to stay in the U.S. instead of getting to the next level of soccer to play professionally in Bermuda.

“In my freshman year of college, I met my wife,” Smith said. “That was one of my reasons for not wanting to go pro. [I wanted] to stay for the family side of things.”

After staying in New Hampshire post-college, he decided to become a girls’ high school soccer town coach.

“I always knew that I wanted to get back to the game sometime,” Smith said. “When my daughter started playing a year ago, I wanted her to learn the right foundation, so I wanted to teach her the right techniques.”

Smith has experienced the playing levels of both the U.S. playstyle and playstyle from abroad. While coaching at the high school level, he has tried to implement a mixture of both.

This technique of blending both has helped players like junior Laurel Mitchell, who is one of the JV captains.

“He has specifically taught me to stay on the last defender and wait for a through ball to run onto,” Mitchell said. “He has us playing narrow, which none of my coaches have ever had us do before.”

The difference in soccer between the U.S. and other countries, like Bermuda, is huge. Smith wants the gap between soccer play styles to shorten.
“It’s two different styles,” Smith said, “but I can definitely see where the games are rising since I first came to the U.S. Soccer is getting bigger and the quality of games is improving.”

The difference between resources and areas to play impacts the development of the soccer play styles. In Bermuda, they play a lot of backyard soccer, which contributes to Smith wanting the high school to play narrow since that’s how he grew up playing.

“My technique improved so much from backyard soccer,” said Smith, “since we’re playing in tight situations. So you’ve gotta think fast. You have to learn to use your brain fast. I think that has elevated my game compared to people who just play in the high school system because [playing soccer] is all about decisions.”

The level of soccer isn’t the only difference between Bermuda and the U.S. There are also differences in how teams are coached and the general atmosphere of the team.

“Over here, I feel like everyone gets points and awards just for participating and all that,” Smith said. “In Bermuda, ain’t none of that. I’ve sat the bench on many teams and that’s what pushed me. It makes you want to get better and it forces you to go in and do the actual work.”

In Bermuda, only the players who put in the work would see the field because the coaches didn’t favor anyone or play someone just to get them minutes.

“I had friends that sat on the bench all through the levels,” Smith said. “Then once we got to the higher levels, they became the better players on the team because of all the extra work they had been putting in. They caught up to everybody.”

Even though this sport requires constant hard work, Smith continues to play.

Why?

“Love,” Smith said. “It’s the love of the game that keeps me playing. The game has always been good to me. I’ve met a lot of my friends through the sport. My family because of the sport. It’s also a fun way to keep in shape.”