West Ham United legends Jack Collison and Anton Ferdinand inspired young footballers at Jacksonville Armada FC in the United States on Thursday.
The Hammers are in northeast Florida for a two-week Sunshine State Tour, and a big part of the trip is about sharing the West Ham Way on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.
Collison and Ferdinand, who played a combined 284 games for the Club, and both won promotion to the Premier League, shared their experience and wisdom with U19 and U17 squad members who hope to follow them into the professional game.
Former Wales international Collison has been living in the United States for five years, having initially coached at Atlanta United’s Academy before becoming the first-ever head coach for MLS Next Pro expansion club Huntsville City.
Incidentally, Jacksonville Armada FC will join MLS Next Pro as an expansion club in 2026, and the young players who met, quizzed and were coached by Collison and Ferdinand will hope to be part of the Armada’s senior squad when they kick-off in spring next year.
The event kicked-off with an insightful Q&A session hosted by Action Sports Jax anchor Stuart Webber, in which both Hammers told inspirational stories and gave invaluable advice to around 50 teenage players.
Ferdinand talked about how he was driven to be the best he could be, while having to deal with being the younger brother of the world’s best defender, while Collison reflected on his own difficulties with injuries, and how he encourages his players to be ‘fearless, relentless and honest’ in everything they do.
“We spoke with the boys before we held a training session and the message was very clear – sacrifice, hard work, dedication and repetition – and if you follow that message you’ll have a great chance,” said Ferdinand.
“One thing I know is that football didn’t just create a footballer in me, but a person, and the soft skills I learned as a footballer have stood me in good stead in life. Football forces you to communicate and, whatever you do in life, you need to communicate, and the lessons you learn in football will help you do so in life.
“West Ham is a family-oriented football club which wants to help people on and off the pitch. Armada have been fantastic in the way they’ve hosted us and the kids here are lucky to have the care they get from their coaches, and doing something like this is something West Ham as a football club, and myself as an ambassador, are both really big on.
“We’re embedded in our community in east London and now we’ve come to America and embedded ourselves in the community in Jacksonville.”
Jacksonville Armada U19 coach Elmar Bolowich, who spent three decades as a successful head coach of the North Carolina Tar Heels, Creighton Blue Jays and George Mason Patriots collegiate teams, developing future United States internationals Eddie Pope and Gregg Berhalter, among others, said the experience would be invaluable for his young players.
“This is our inaugural year with our youth academy with MLS NextPro, so we’re looking forward to progressing our players to the next level, whether than be the pros or Division 1 colleges,” explained Bolowich, who moved from his native Germany to coach in the US over 30 years ago. “It’s fantastic to see how players evolve and become leaders and get success out of their work.
“As a country, we made huge strides when the MLS was first established and the youth academies started, and now we’re seeing stellar players coming out of our system and getting contracts in Europe.
“It’s priceless for our young players to hear from professionals who played in the Premier League in England and about the ups and downs they had to endure and how they overcame adversity and were still successful. In order to be a leader, you need to lead yourself and that’s what they gained from listening to Jack and Anton speak. In order to be a great player, you need to lead yourself.”
After the session, which was also led by Jacksonville Armada Academy Director Tommy Krizanovic and his staff, Collison and Ferdinand spoke to parents and supporters, posed for photos, signed autographs and gave away tickets to Saturday's Stateside Cup tie at EverBank Stadium, completing a memorable occasion.
West Ham United would like to wish Jacksonville Armada’s young players the very best for their future careers.
