Canada's Boyz: Toronto trio ponders national options

Gordon Williams , Gleaner Writer

On that August evening in 2008, as he got ready to watch the Reggae Boyz play Canada, Ashtone Morgan didn't hesitate choosing which colours to wear for the World Cup qualifier in Toronto.

"I have a Jamaican jersey, I have a Canada jersey," Morgan explained with a laugh over two years later. "... I had my Jamaican jersey on."

The decision was simple. Morgan's father Wayne, his biggest football influence, is from Kingston. The teenager grew up on patois and reggae. He loves jerk chicken.

But today the choice is fuzzier. Morgan was born and raised in Canada. Now 19, he has already represented the North American nation at several youth levels, and is poised to begin a professional career, possibly with Major League Soccer club Toronto FC, where he is enrolled in its football academy.

Canada is home, where Morgan embraced everything he knows - family, education and football. He visited Jamaica once - as a child. So Morgan leans heavily on the red and white of Canada. Yet he is not ready to concede he has worn a Jamaican jersey for the last time.

"I like to keep my options open," said Morgan in a more serious tone while attending a recent training camp in the United States with Canada's under-23 team. "You never know."

Morgan, a left back who has drawn comments about his resemblance to England international Ashley Cole in looks, playing style and position on the field, wasn't the only one in Canada's camp considering that dilemma. Forward/midfielder Kyle Porter and Sean Hart, a defender, were also in that squad. Both were born in Canada to Jamaican parents and represented the country in youth football.

Until the trio represents Canada in a senior level competition officially sanctioned by football's governing body FIFA, such as World Cup qualifiers, they remain eligible to play for Jamaica. Like Morgan, Porter and Hart are not ready to shut the door on future possibilities.

"Right now I'd probably be leaning more towards Canada," said Hart. " ... But you never know what happens."

DEEP ROOTS

The connections to 'yard' run deep for all three. Porter, 20, admitted that matches he has played against Jamaica - such as Canada's 3-0 win in an under-17 World Cup qualifier and a 1-0 loss in a friendly against the under-20s - have stirred "mixed emotions because I have Jamaican blood." But, he claimed, it has never affected his play.

"I was fighting for Canada," said Porter, who played in Germany, but is with Canada's Vancouver Whitecaps, which is set to join MLS. "I had no regrets beating Jamaica."

Like Morgan and Porter, Hart, who is currently attached to the Schultz Academy in Florida, said he played for Canada because that country called first. Until recently, Jamaica never contacted them.

Hart said neither of his Kingston-born parents - father Ian and mother Sandra - pushed him towards one country or the other. Porter claimed his father Neville, from Montego Bay, wanted him to represent Jamaica, but he could not get the Jamaica Football Federation's (JFF) attention. Morgan said his dad has "mentioned" him playing for Jamaica, but has left the decision to him.

The three have been friends for a while. All were raised with strong Jamaican culture and played for Toronto area teams with a heavy Jamaican flavour. The link has them pondering. When asked if he ever ruled representing Jamaica, Hart's answer was a quiet "no".

CANADA'S PITCH

Canada, meanwhile, has embraced the qualities that players with genetic connections to countries like Jamaica can add to its national programme. The coaches admit there is a difference. Players with Jamaican roots are usually physically gifted, with speed and skill. Morgan, Porter and Hart fall into that category. Canada, while understanding the lingering temptations, is banking on them to remain loyal to the country of their birth.

"Young players, they always have a passion and attachment to their background," conceded Canada's under-23 coach Tony Fonseca. "But growing up in Canada you hope that Canada will mean something to them ... You hope that they will defend those colours."

Despite their Canadian connections, the danger of losing players to another country is real. Jamaican-born O'Brian White, who migrated to Canada as a teenager, decided to play for Jamaica against Costa Rica on November 17, despite being wooed by Canada. Senior team head coach Stephen Hart admitted the decision will always be with the players.

"They make their choice," he said. "I work with players who are available to me."

TESTING

Meanwhile, Morgan, Hart and Porter seem to offer enough on-field quality to make their dilemma even more testing. Porter, for example, has received strong endorsement from Dever Orgill, a Jamaica player and former teammate at the Whitecaps.

"He's strong and fit and he's really speedy ... He's really good with the ball," said Orgill. " ... I highly recommend him giving it a try, if it is possible, to play for Jamaica because I think he will fit right in."

Jamaica's head coach Theodore Whitmore has taken notice. Whitmore watched Canada's under-23s thrash a local select team in Florida on November 16 and left pleased.

"I saw the game and they were very impressive," he said. " ... They showed interest in representing Jamaica's national team."

Whitmore plans to review their prospects after the Digicel Caribbean Cup.

Where - and if - Morgan, Porter and Hart ever end up as senior national players is anyone's guess. Morgan appears to have the fastest track to Canada's senior team. Fonseca believes he has "lots to learn, but he's very composed the way he behaves, the way he presents himself.

"We're very happy with him," he said.

The trio has no complaints about Canada. And while individually, Morgan, Hart and Porter admitted to thinking about representing Jamaica, they claim they have not, as a group, discussed the issue. That too hasn't been ruled out.

"No, we haven't done that," said Morgan, "but you never know."

Choosing jerseys, it seems, isn't so simple after all.