Joe Hamilton's Gold Cup Experience
(FREDERICTON, NB) While millions of Canadian soccer fans were locked on the march of our national women’s team to their historic Olympic gold medal, a lot also had their eyes on Canada Soccer’s men’s team, and their push into the semi-final round at the recent Gold Cup tournament.
Joe Hamilton was paying close attention to the men’s team. In fact, he had a front row seat.
Hamilton, a four-year member of the REDS men’s soccer team, has just completed an impromptu stint with Canada Soccer and the national men’s team where he worked as a performance analyst and training player during the Gold Cup.
“As a performance analyst, I was part of the technical staff with a range of responsibilities and tasks,” said Hamilton. “I set up equipment at the training venues for coaches to use when needed. On match day, I’d record tactical footage of our games. Off the field, I worked directly with head coach John Herdman and other tech staff to create visuals for meetings, other meeting content, or visuals for players to look over.”
“As a training player, I’d step into the training sessions where the coaches needed me. For the first few days, I would just step into specific parts of the sessions. But after that, I was regularly taking part in the full sessions, from warm-ups through to cool-downs for the remainder of the tournament.”
The opportunity to join Canada Soccer at such a prestigious international event came unexpectedly, through former REDS teammate Alex Dodgshon.
“Alex got a job with the men’s national team straight out of university,” said Hamilton, who took a call from Dodgshon in early July. “They wanted to fly me out to Kansas City the next day, so I had to make a lot of phone calls, in a short space of time, to different people to ensure all my responsibilities here were taken care of. I knew it was an opportunity I couldn’t turn down, so I was prepared to do whatever it took to make it possible.”
Hamilton had been working a summer job at Autism Connections Fredericton and co-coaching the Fredericton District Soccer Association’s U17 boys’ premiership team.
His employers and his coaching colleague, current REDS teammate Tom Pheulpin, recognized the opportunity presented to Hamilton, and made accommodations which allowed him to leave.
“I got the best of both worlds,” said Hamilton. “I was working closely with the technical staff every day. Their wealth of experience and tactical understanding is something I hope to bring to the REDS this season. Being a part of their conversations during meetings or just over dinner was unbelievable. These guys are at the forefront of driving this country towards a World Cup campaign, so to be able to bring back a small amount of that knowledge and understanding is going to benefit the team.”
Originally, Hamilton was only supposed to spend two weeks with the national team, helping them through the Gold Cup group stage. That turned into more, as Canada advanced.
The Canadian men logged group round wins over CONCACAF rivals Martinique and Haiti before dropping a close 1-0 decision to the United States.
Their 2-and-1 record moved them into the Gold Cup quarter-finals, where the world 70th ranked Canadians upset 50th ranked Costa Rica 2-0.
In the semi-final round, Canada pushed world No. 11 Mexico to extra time before falling 2-1.
“What a great opportunity for Joe, not only as a player, but as a developing coach,” said Barry Morrison, head coach of the REDS men’s team. “He got to play with players who are playing in some of the top leagues in the world, and was helping prepare them for an international tournament, and he got first-hand experience on the coaching and analysis side at the international level.”
Morrison believes Hamilton’s time with the national men’s team will have an impact on the REDS, scheduled to return competition in 2021 after the 2020 season was lost to the pandemic.
“He’ll bring back experience and knowledge that we can use here at UNB to improve the work we do with our players and how we analyse our own performances,” said Morrison. “This opportunity came at a great time for Joe to get into some high-quality training sessions and push himself from both a physical and tactical perspective. I expect we’ll see a refreshed and energetic Joe come training camp.”
The national men’s team roster featured 23 players, mostly from the ranks of Major League Soccer and Europe’s top leagues.
Unlike the players he was working with, Hamilton didn’t grow up dreaming of wearing the Maple Leaf. As a young boy, living in northern England, he dreamed of sporting three lions on his chest. Regardless, he’s thankful for the opportunity Canada Soccer gave him.
“That was an unbelievable experience,” he said. “Playing with and against Canada's top talent day in and day out was an absolute pleasure. Playing with these big-name players who play professionally across North America and Europe is any young soccer fan’s dream, so to live it and build relationships with these guys along the way was really special.”
Hamilton’s summer job with Canada Soccer won’t just have an influence on the REDS’ coming season, it ties in with his studies too.
“A good chunk of my time spent in Kinesiology has been studying and researching elite level sport,” he said. “This has always been the area of Kinesiology I want to pursue once I graduate. So, to be able to experience an elite level environment first-hand is extremely valuable. The amount of work and preparation that goes into an international tournament like that is astonishing.”
Looking back, Hamilton is excited about what he feels is a bright future for Canada Soccer’s national men’s team.
“It's a national program that's seriously on the rise,” he said. “What John Herdman and the staff have created is special. I have no doubt that this country can qualify for the 2022 World Cup, and make some big waves in that competition.”
The national men’s team has advanced to the final round of CONCACAF qualifying for the World Cup. They begin that effort in early September, in a game against Honduras.
While he won’t have the front row seat he had during the Gold Cup, Joe Hamilton will be paying close attention.
PHOTOS: Canada Soccer