It is a moment of which so many young athletes dream…
You emerge from the tunnel with fans cheering and waving flags. Once you and your teammates in national colors reach their place, silence falls over the crowd. Then, the music begins, and the national anthem plays as jubilant supporters sing along.
It’s then that the moment of emotion hits for so many — you’re about to compete for your nation, and you have a whole country united behind you.
With the Summer Olympic Games officially under way in Tokyo, the world’s best athletes are ready to compete for their countries. And while the Riverhounds don’t have any representatives in Japan, the club has more than a handful of players who have had the honor of being selected to their national team at the youth or senior level.
Among the nations represented by current Hounds are Cameroon, Guyana, Jamaica and, of course, the United States. Most recently, defenders Jelani Peters and Mekeil Williams played for Trinidad and Tobago in this summer’s CONCACAF Gold Cup, the North American championship of soccer.
Williams is a veteran of international play with more than 30 appearances to his name, but for Peters, who had been called into camp once prior with the national team, his start in Trinidad’s qualifying match against Montserrat on July 2 was the first time he got to step on the field for his country.
“There were a lot of emotions, for sure, but it was good representing my country,” Peters said. “I had been trying to get into the national setup for quite a while, and I’m just very grateful for the opportunity I got. To make it was a big test, and I gained some experience. It was good catching up with some of the boys from back home. … All in all, the experience was amazing.”
Williams, who was a late addition to Trinidad’s Gold Cup squad, said whether you’re making your debut like Peters or a seasoned vet like himself, the emotions never change.
“It’s always a pleasure to work as a country and to meet up with the guys you grew up playing against and amongst,” Williams said. “It never gets old. As a soccer player, that’s one of the best feelings. That’s what you live for, to go represent your country, and every time you hear the national anthem, it’s a different sense of passion, a different sense of pride that never gets old.”
That feeling seems to be universal, whether a player is representing a smaller island nation or more than 330 million people wearing red, white and blue.
Hounds forward Josh Gatt earned his first call-up to the senior U.S. National Team in 2012 after a decorated youth career and a jump directly to the pro ranks in Europe. His chances to play for the U.S. were cut short by the knee injuries that plagued his career, but it’s clear almost a decade later he takes pride in those call-ups.
“It was a long time ago, but you never forget that,” Gatt said. “It’s very special getting the first call into your national team, and for me, it was pretty brief, but I was pretty excited at the time, and it’s something I’ll always have to look back to for the rest of my life.”
Gatt continued: “There’s definitely a sense of national pride when you represent your national team. It goes with any national sport, whether it’s the Olympics, or just a friendly, whatever. Obviously, when you hear (the national anthem) before literally every sporting event in America, it dilutes it a little, but when you’re with your nation, it really resounds. You see the Euros, the Olympics, how they react to their national anthem, yeah … when you first hear it for the first time representing your country, it’s a very emotional experience.”
That sense of pride is why so many players strive to get back to getting the call.
Hounds striker Albert Dikwa, a native of Cameroon, played six matches for his country’s under-20 national team. Dikwa has never received a call-up to the senior team, but having just turned 23 this year, that dream remains in his mind.
“That experience was good. Back then, I was living in Cameroon and playing with some young guys from big team like Barcelona and Athletic Madrid, and that was such a dream for me as a young kid,” Dikwa said. “That’s actually my big dream is representing my country in a big tournament, and I’m here working hard every day, giving my best, and let’s see what happens.”
The same hope to wear the colors again goes for defender Jordan Dover, who was selected this year to represent Guyana for a second straight Gold Cup, only to have to withdraw due to injury.
“It was such an honor when I got selected for the Gold Cup (in 2019). … It was a big moment for my family, and I shared with all of them, and it’s something I hold close to my heart,” Dover said. “I have a lot of family back there, on my dad’s side, especially, so when I played for them the first time, he was so excited to tell everybody back home.”
Alex Dixon, who played three matches for the U.S. Under-17 National Team, and Kenardo Forbes, who played three senior internationals for Jamaica, also count themselves among the fortunate few to wear their national colors, even if a future call-up seems unlikely at this point.
“As a kid, it’s what you want to do, to represent your country,” Forbes said. “It was a good experience — even though I didn’t play in a major tournament — traveling with the team and going new places. I always wanted to play in a Gold Cup, but it didn’t happen.”
“The youth team is a little different than the full team, which I never got to experience, but it’s a good feeling to represent your country, and it’s something you take with you the rest of your life,” Dixon said.
While his loyalty will always be to the U.S., Dixon knows what an honor an international call-up is, and he and his Hounds teammates were cheering for Peters and Williams — as long as it didn’t cross their own country’s path.
“Whenever they step on the field, you want them to do well, and you want their teams to do well and progress. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to go further in the Gold Cup, but each game, we were watching, and it’s exciting to see one of your teammates play on that stage,” Dixon said.
And excitement is definitely what the Hounds watching at home saw in Trinidad’s first group stage game, as Peters and Williams helped their country hang on for a 0-0 draw with tournament favorites Mexico. The post-match celebrations, which were widely circulated on social media after the game, were a perfect picture of the overwhelming joy that can come from achieving a victory — or in this case, just an upset draw — for your country.
“It was wild. We defended for 90-plus minutes. That was the plan, and we accomplished it, so that’s why we celebrated so hard,” Peters said.
