In the 88th minute of Jamaica’s semifinal matchup against Mexico in the 2017 Gold Cup at the Rose Bowl, the Jamaican team froze and watched Kemar Lawrence’s free kick soar over their heads and tuck away into the net in a stadium full of Mexican fans. Afterwards? It was all business for the Reggae Boyz.
However, for many children growing up in Jamaica, it's not just a childhood of watching soccer balls soar over their heads, but one of cricket balls and sprinters bringing home gold medals in the Olympic Games. Lawrence’s late strike was enough to secure Jamaica a spot against the United States in the 2017 Gold Cup Finals at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. and was a huge moment for an island of nearly three million.
On June 20, Jamaican forward Deshorn Brown was acquired after the Black-and-Red traded for the Top Allocation Ranking with the Houston Dynamo. In the month since his arrival, the 26-year-old has made an immediate impact with his new team, scoring goals in back-to-back road games against Dallas (July 4) and Seattle (July 19) and bringing a fresh mindset to the starting eleven.
The speedy forward was born in Manchester Parish, a region in the southern part of the island with a population of just under 200,000. Growing up, he enjoyed playing cricket, soccer, running track and field and watching West Indies cricketers Brian Charles Lara, Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose bring glory to the Caribbean. As a teenager, he attended St. Elizabeth Technical High School in Santa Cruz, Jamaica and played the Jamaican trio of sports.
“I was doing a lot of sports--I was doing cricket, track and field and soccer,” Brown said. "You can’t play three at the same time because you have to study, but the reason I fell in love with soccer was watching Ronaldo in the World Cup; that's when I started loving football.”
Some of the biggest names in Jamaican athletics today include the world-famous sprinter Usain Bolt and cricketer Chris Gayle. In 2008, Bolt shocked the world in the 100M Sprint at the Beijing Olympics with a time of just 9.69 seconds in the 100M Finals. Jamaican flags were waving in the stands of Beijing National Stadium and Bolt proudly dressed the flag around his shoulders on his victory lap--it was a huge moment in history for the Jamaicans. Bolt has now won Olympic Gold for Jamaica in the 100M in three consecutive Olympic Games.
More recently, Jamaicans Gayle, Andre Russell, Marlon Samuels and the West Indies Cricket Team lifted the 2016 ICC World Twenty20 Trophy after Barbadian Carlos Brathwaite hit four sixes (think home runs), off of Ben Stokes to upset England in the Finals of the ICC World Twenty20--it was yet again a notable moment in history, for not only Jamaica, but the Caribbean as a whole.
“You look at Usain Bolt, Chris Gayle and the big names who are there, so for a small island I think it’s amazing,” Brown said. “The part of sports down there is what keeps people alive and happy, especially being in the Gold Cup now.”
This string of Jamaican upsets are no new concept. In 1975, the West Indies Cricket team defeated Australia and stunned the world to grab its first ever Cricket World Cup title, followed by a dominant victory over the Englishmen in London in the 1979 Cricket World Cup Final. In the 2015 Gold Cup, Americans will find it hard to forget the 2-1 Semi-Final loss at the Georgia Dome in which Jamaica’s Darren Mattocks and Giles Barnes scored two first-half goals to book a spot against Mexico in the Finals in Philadelphia. In 2015, Brown also made three appearances in the Copa América and played quality minutes against world giants like Uruguay and Argentina.
Now, the Reggae Boyz have their time to shine in a huge spotlight for soccer. Despite the United States likely being the favored team, Jamaica has proved time after time that they are not an island to be messed with in more than one sport, with Mexico being their latest victim. Jamaica were able to take down El Tri in a Rose Bowl of Mexican green, white and red with just a pinch of Jamaican flags sprinkled in. After Lawrence’s goal? A lack of celebration from Jamaican players and arms crossed by Interim Head Coach Theodore Whitmore who wanted the world to know this was just another day in the office for the small island cozily tucked away below Cuba and Haiti.
“Everyone in life has a talent, so I think in Jamaica we’re just athletic and sports are in us,” he said. "There’s a lot of people there that feel happy on the island. To have such a small island with a small amount of people making history all over the world and being known, I think it’s amazing.”
To many outsiders, Jamaica will undoubtedly be known as a paradise, getaway destination or the country that sent four bobsledders to Calgary in 1988, but its rich athletic history and culture cannot be overlooked. For Deshorn Brown and the Reggae Boyz, Jamaica is not only home, but an island that is capable of so much more than many seem to believe--it’s the island that continues to shock the world.
