Danish Soccer Star Takes On Poughkeepsie
When making your decision to go to college or not, how many of you chose to go out of state, away from your family and friends? What if that decision was to move to a different country that you’d never been to? What if that country was 3,790 miles away…
Simon Lund Jorgensen is a sophomore Business Administration and Marketing Major at Marist College and also a captain of the men’s soccer team. He is also from Copenhagen, Denmark.
Being from a small Scandinavian country and traveling to America to study and play a game can be intimidating. But Jorgensen was looking forward to the opportunity, “I think America is impressive, I like the American optimism and ambition and stuff like that,” he said.
How Jorgensen ended up at Marist is different than how most soccer players who get recruited would. In fact, he wasn’t recruited at all.
“He did it a little different than a lot of us do it,” said Marist College Head Soccer Coach Matt Viggiano.
Recruitment companies often help Scandinavian and other European soccer players gain attention from American colleges and universities in hopes of getting a scholarship. Instead of paying for a company, Jorgensen took it upon himself to get noticed.
“It shows a lot of his character and it’s a credit to him that he went out and did it on his own,” Viggiano said.
Before Marist, Jorgensen played in for many notable clubs in Denmark. In 2014, he won the U19 Cup and received a silver medal in the Danish U19 League. He has been part of the national pool of players for the Danish U15 talent center and U16 National Team.
He spent five seasons playing in international youth tournaments with FC Nordsjaelland where he would face European powerhouses such as West Ham, Tottenham, AC Milan, Juventus and AS Roma.
“That’s one of the best clubs in Denmark if not the best club,” said Viggiano “He was playing for the best club in Denmark.”
“That’s a big deal,” added Leander Schaerlaeckens, soccer columnist for Yahoo Sports.
In that time, Jorgensen he met Derk Droze, who was a coach of his from America. Droze had connections and helped Jorgensen meet with college coaches.
“I was looking at a bunch of schools all over America,” said Jorgensen. The list of schools included the University of California, Santa Barbara, Mercer University, University of Massachusetts Lowell and Marist.
“[That] makes him different, he wasn’t just a part of the number of guys with videos that we get videos on, he went out, sought out schools and did it for himself,” Viggiano said.
What differentiates Jorgensen is the culture he grew up in, which is significantly different from the culture in America.
“Kids back home are much more independent at a younger age where in America, kids are much more dependent on other people,” said Jorgensen “When kids go to college here it is often the first time they’re away from home and their parents and I definitely feel that a lot.”
Soccer is a very free-flowing game so independence is valued and is taught differently in European countries and America.
“European soccer players are taught to think for themselves whereas Americans are often told what to do,” Schaerlaeckens said.
At ages 15–16, kids like Jorgensen are left to their own devices, and taught to make their own decisions completely. That responsibility at a young age creates a maturity that many young people don’t have and Coach Viggiano loves, “They are very business-like, very mature, and they do very well in school,” he said “He makes my life easier and anyone who does that I’m all for.”
School is very much something that Jorgensen wanted when he came here and it is something very different from Denmark.
“One of the biggest cultural difference I would say is the school discipline here,” Jorgensen said “Back home, education is free so in a classroom the vibe is ‘everyone will be fine anyway’ and here you can tell that people pay for it and it’s taken very serious and it’s very competitive.”
“Serious education stops around 15 years old,” Schaerlaeckens said “While they’re attending school, it’s not really school.”
“Not a word is being said in class really here, but back home in high school, I could be having a conversation with a friend sitting next to me during class if I wanted,” said Jorgensen.
There are 1.3 million people in Copenhagen; there are 30,000 people in Poughkeepsie.
“We just live here in our little Marist bubble and sometimes I do miss the city back home,” Jorgensen said.
New York City is just a 90 minute ride on the Metro-North away and Jorgensen has visited the Big Apple to fulfill his city desires. But New York is not Copenhagen and not where Jorgensen grew up, so a tourist visit to the second biggest city in the world doesn’t satisfy his homesick feelings.
“Yeah sometimes [I get homesick], but it’s not so bad. For instance, it’s my dad’s birthday on Saturday and the whole family is coming over and I’ll be there on FaceTime,” said Jorgensen “Those are the times I miss it because I would like to be there.”
The remedy for sickness is the proper medication and his teammates may have been the perfect prescription.
His fellow Red Foxes are his family away from home, “we talk about that all the time, we are a family and it’s definitely important for me to have a team here, it’s been a big and significant part of my life.”
“It’s the most important thing,” Viggiano said “it’s part of being a team, it’s one of the reasons I love doing what I do”
Viggiano has two kids and looks at himself as a father at work as well, “I consider them all my sons, I have two girls at home and right now I have 30 sons.”
Jorgensen felt a part of a family as soon as he got off the plane, “I never really felt alone when I came here.”
It was set up for a former teammate to pick Jorgensen up at the airport and bring him to their family’s house until it was time to go to Marist.
“He got to experience Long Island, I’m glad he didn’t get back on the plane and leave,” said Viggiano jokingly.
“That was my first experience in America,” Jorgensen said “I feel like there was a big effort from everyone to take care of me when I got here.”
When Jorgensen played for FC Nordsjaelland he played right back, and on club teams previous to that he was a midfielder.
Adjustments to his game was something he was used to, “I always felt that my right role was in the center-mid because that’s where I played most of my life,” he said “But I am a little taller and they [FC Nordsjaelland] wanted smaller, quicker players in the middle.”
Opportunity is one of the reasons Jorgensen landed at Marist, “When I looked at him and I spoke to him, I asked him if he ever played in the middle of the field because we were looking for someone a little more mature and be a cog in our team,” said Viggiano.
“We were looking to give him a bigger role here than he had at his club or at other schools would have wanted to,” Viggiano said “I think that helped draw him to us.”
“That says a lot about him, he’s probably too good for that position,” Schaerlaeckens said.
The right back on a soccer team is comparable to the right fielder in baseball — it’s not where a team puts their best player and there isn’t as much responsibility as a midfielder.
“My responsibilities were different as well because then my job was to set up other players who were better than me, compared to previously being one of the best players on the local club team I was on before,” said Jorgensen.
Despite the lack of playing time and frustrated with the position he was playing, Jorgensen still appreciates his time with that club.
“It definitely taught me a lot, it was a completely different level from what I was used to,” Jorgensen said “I’m proud of what I did and I think I made an impression during the time I was there.”
Cultural differences and adjustment are prominent themes throughout Jorgensen’s story. Soccer styles are different between America and Europe as well.
“American coaches put more emphasis on physique instead of technique,” Schaerlaeckens said.
There is a more physical style of play in American soccer, but physicality doesn’t necessarily equal success. Soccer legends like Pele and Lionel Messi were not physically imposing human beings or soccer players, what made them great is their unique style of play, how creative they are and how smart they are.
Jorgensen has adjusted to many things in his journey to America, but the quality of soccer he came from he believes is not a downgrade. “The level of soccer I came from was just as good if not better, it wasn’t as physical, but tactically and technically, it’s a very high level.”
“I watched the game tape and I know the level over there, his whole team could’ve played for us in all honesty,” said Viggiano.
Schaerlaeckens was born in Holland and made his own trek to America in 2009. He says that college soccer in America has been a problem for a long time. Between the NCAA rules, how long individual players can play and major American soccer stars skipping out on collegiate soccer, “College soccer has been a problem and it has held American soccer back,” Schaerlaeckens said.
In 15 games in 2015, Jorgensen scored four goals, recorded eight points and received All- MAAC 2nd team as well as All-Rookie Team honors.
The team finished with a 7–9–2 overall record and got in eliminated in the quarterfinals of the MAAC Championship tournament. After the season, Jorgensen was voted a captain.
“He gets along with everyone, is a leader and is a captain already,” Viggiano said “That says a lot about him and who he is as a person.”
“I feel like I’m a natural leader, I always try and help my teammates and try to get the team to play the best we possibly can,” said Jorgensen “Being a captain has helped me grow as a player.”
Viggiano said, “Obviously he’s a good player and guys on the team saw and respected that from day one.”
Soccer is something that comes natural to Jorgensen, but it wasn’t all easy, things like language and communication took some time to get used to.
“A lot of things are happening fast on the field and my reaction often is in Danish but I kind of got a game vocabulary that I use now,” said Jorgensen.
Jorgensen is fluent in English, Danish and German; however he does get confused by some things in the American language. In English a word can have three different meanings and can be spelled three different ways. “He’s a bright kid,” Viggiano said “I trust he understands everything he needs to by now.”
In 12 games this season, Jorgensen has already surpassed his point total from 2015. He has two goals and five assists, totaling nine points.
“We have a better team than last year and I hope we can win the MAAC,” Jorgensen said “I personally want to help the team reach that goal and if I can do that than everything else should fall into place.”
Growing up in a middle class family, Jorgensen loved soccer and music. He has a cousin who is a classical musician and a brother who is a music producer and writer and he owns his own company.
When the time came to make a decision between the two, Jorgensen knew what he wanted to do, “I wanted to be a professional soccer player.”
Until that opportunity possibly awaits, his teammates and coaches are happy to have him in the midfield for their team.
“We’re glad he’s here,” Viggiano said “He’s a welcome addition to the program and the family and I think it goes both ways, he gains a valuable experience from us and we all can learn a lot from him.”
