Nicholas Addlery: A Jamaican in Vietnam

Note: This is the second part of my American Soccer Road Trip, which will involve me traveling across the country, finding stories that exemplify the diversity that exists in American soccer. Check back soon for further updates.

One the most important factors shaping people’s lives in the 21st century is the ever-increasing pace of globalization. We are familiar with many of the changes globalization has brought: the multitude of products manufactured in China, information available on-demand on the Internet, and people increasingly moving to different countries in search of a better life. But sometimes, globalization brings about a change that is totally unexpected.

When DC United signed forward Nicolas Addlery at the beginning of the season, I read in the press release that the Jamaican had spent the previous year playing in Vietnam. How strange, I thought. How could a player from Jamaica end up playing in a country halfway across the world from his homeland? Well, the short answer is globalization, but the long answer is far more interesting.

Nicholas Addlery sat down with me recently and talked about how he ended up playing in Vietnam and what he took away from his time playing and living there.

Nicholas Addlery (photo: DC United / MLS)

Addlery was born in Jamaica and lived there until he 17. He had made the national under-17 pool and was scouted by a coach at California University of Pennsylvania, where he played for four years. Addlery had a stellar college career, including being named a second team All-American in 1997.After college, Addlery began his pro career in Trinidad and Tobago, first with the South Starworld Strikers and later with San Juan Jabloteh. How did he get there, I asked? Addlery shrugged and responded that the similarities with his homeland had been a draw. “Jamaica, Trinidad, it’s close enough.”

The next stop on Addlery’s career, though, was anything but close to Jamaica. The coach of his team in Trinidad, former English international Terry Fenwick, had connections to a sports marketing company with ties to the Vietnamese team Dong Nai FC. Asked if he wanted a new challenge, Addlery agreed and was soon on a plane to southeast Asia.

He went to Vietnam with another player from his former Trinidadian club, but his teammate soon returned home. While Addlery mentioned several players who struggled to adapt to life in Vietnam, he himself relished it. He lived in Dong Nai province, a highly industrialized area with many factories producing goods for export. He would often go to the capital Ho Chi Min City, which he described as “very modern.”

Addlery would spend his free time at what have become global pastimes: shopping and visiting Internet cafes. He also has fond memories of getting massages (“not the type of massage you’re thinking,” he assures me).

While in Vietnam, Addlery made an effort to fit in with the locals. He bought himself a dictionary and picked up the basics of the language, ate local food (“a lot of rice”), and learned to use chopsticks.

Addlery may have grown used to many parts of life in Vietnam, but many Vietnamese were not used to seeing him. Listed at 6’1”, 185 pounds (that’s 1.85 meters, 84 kg for those lucky enough not to use the imperial system), he is a large man in the United States, let alone Vietnam.

When his team traveled to rural parts of Vietnam, Addlery was often the first black person many rural Vietnamese had ever seen. “They weren’t used to seeing black people,” he told me. “In the rural areas where they don’t really have soccer teams, they’ve never seen a black guy before. You see a black guy that big, you’re like ‘Wow, that’s a big black guy’.”

Addlery’s presence could sometimes be dangerous. “I’ve caused accidents just standing on the corner of the street.”

The Jamaican forward enjoyed this notoriety. “Here, I’m just a regular person,” he told me. “There, I’m like ‘oh my God!’”

Would he go back to Vietnam or another Asian country? “Definitely, if I’m available and they put some good bread on the table,” Nicholas Addlery told me.

“Some people say, ‘I want to play in Europe.’ Me, I want to play in Asia. There are opportunities to do so many other things. It’s just a little different lifestyle … I’m always looking for new experiences.”

This entry was posted on Monday, August 27th, 2007 at 10:00 am and is filed under American Soccer Road Trip, Asia, Caribbean, Ethnicity/Race, North America, Player Focus. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.