The Jay Demerit Story Review

An MLS reject from who goes to London and somehow rises from playing in pub leagues in city parks to competing in the English Premier League.

I’ve heard about the Jay Demerit story from teammates before. I tried finding it on torrent websites but couldn’t, plus iTunes didn’t have it available in my region. Then, as I was on a long-haul flight back to Europe I saw it appear out of nowhere in my Emirates entertainment system and I was very excited. Why? My own story and Jay’s are very similar. We’ve both been told we’re not good enough to live our dreams. We’ve both gone abroad in the hope we could get an opportunity. We’ve both persevered in chasing the same dream. My dream hasn’t been fulfilled yet, but Jay’s did and in an amazing way.

Jay came from a small town college soccer background in the USA. After finishing college, he didn’t get picked in the MLS draft and failed at the tryouts he attended. He then decided to do something which his family and friends deemed as crazy. Move to England with hardly any money to his name to chase his professional soccer dreams. When he got there he began playing for Southall in the ninth tier at age 23 where he got paid a measly 40 pounds a week. He then joined Northwood in the 7th tier where he played against Watford in a pre-season friendly. The rest is history…

Demerit playing against Rooney in the 2010 World Cup

Why do so many people fail? Because they quit when it gets hard. When things aren’t going your way, you look for the easy way out. You stop and move onto something else. Jay could have easily stopped playing

when he was labelled as just another so called “MLS Reject”. He had just earned a college degree and could have easily began working in a company job and start his way up the corporate ladder. He had two paths laid out for him. One path was straight, smooth and sunny. The other was bumpy, potholed and had an 100% chance of thunderstorms. Jay took the road less traveled – he was one of the few people in this world who didn’t take no for an answer and kept going in pursuit of his dream. He decided he was in control of his own destiny.

As I’ve learnt with my own experiences, taking the road less traveled doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll end up reaching the goal you desire. I’ve had numerous chances over the past 3 years, but I’m still not getting the result I want and what Jay wanted – a pro contract. You see, it takes a bit of this thing called luck where an opportunity meets at the right time and place. Most people believe luck is something that just comes to a few of us. I believe luck is something you can create yourself. For me, luck is the result of:

hard work, belief and most importantly, persistence.

Jay worked hard. Running and trying to improve when no one told him to. He believed in his abilities so much that he flew himself to England and he had that drive and hunger to persist, to keep going even when things weren’t going his way. His “luck” came when he had that big chance he’d been working years for. Funny how many people label him an overnight success.

WARNING: This documentary gets you inspired to do something.  To make a mark on your life. I already know a few people that have been so affected by Jay’s story that they’ve set out to do the same thing he’s done. Anyone with a anyone with a dream can relate to the bold character of Demerit through his journey as told by himself and the professional scouts, coaches and friends around him. It’s like he’s in the real life version of that famous movie “Goal!“, the circumstances are different as Santiago is replaced by a small town American boy, but what they both have in common is the ‘struggle’ towards their goals and that’s something everyone with their eyes on success can relate to. The lessons in the story are invaluable, so go out and there and give it a watch. You’ll never regret it.