Born in Jamaica, here's how Levonte Brown became valued member of Northside soccer

Levonte Brown moved to Jacksonville and felt frigid temperatures.

While Eastern North Carolina isn’t known for frosty climate, the Jamaican-born Northside soccer player said it was the weather that first grabbed his attention when he moved toward the end of 2018.

“It does not get very cold in Jamaica,” Brown said. “But when I came here, it was cold.”

But that wasn’t the only reminder that Brown was away from his Caribbean Island nation.

“The schools in Jamaica are way stricter,” he said.

Nearly four years later, Brown is a junior on Northside’s up-and-coming soccer team that looks to take the next step after hosting a playoff game for the first time last season.

Brown is comfortable living in Jacksonville and being a student athlete at Northside. He has friends, mostly from the soccer team, and he is well-liked and well-respected by his coaches.

“You can’t ask for a better kid,” coach Derek Yates said. “He makes great grades, he buys into the program and he makes everyone around him better.”

He doesn’t want to let down his mother, Tahjna Pryce, a teacher, and he also doesn’t let a Jamaica athletic stereotype hold him back.

“I want to show people that there is more to Jamaica sports than just track and field,” Brown said. “We have good soccer players, too.”

From Jamaica to Jacksonville

Brown was born in Manchester, a west-central city in Jamaica with a population of a little more than 190,000. The temperature dips to around 75 degrees during the coldest month of January.

Brown has loved soccer since he was taught the sport at 8 by his uncle.

“I played every day,” he said.

But Brown was quick to point out that while he finds success on the pitch in high school, he wasn’t a standout in his home country because “there is so much talent.”

Then in 2018, the often-reserved Brown's life changed when he joined his mom, two brothers and his sister in the move to Jacksonville.

Pryce took a mathematics teaching job at Jacksonville Commons Middle as part of the Global Teaching Partners, a group that unites educators from across the world to promote diversity. She wasn’t concerned about her transition but worried about Brown.

“Levonte is usually a quiet person and he never really showed that he was nervous about moving,” Pryce said. “But I was concerned about him fitting in because we do have different cultures and he usually gravitates towards people with similar interests.”

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But those concerns quickly dispersed once Pryce saw her son interact with other soccer players at school and students “who do well in school."

"As soon as he started soccer," she said, "he felt more comfortable.”

Becoming a Monarch

Northside teammate Kaiden Smith first met Brown in the seventh grade as the two tried out for the Jacksonville Commons team. It didn’t take Smith long to realize that “something was different” about Brown in terms of his competitive spirit.

“He wanted to win more than anything, and he had more passion for the game than anybody else on our team,” Smith said. “That’s what makes him such a good teammate and player for our team.”

Brown didn’t see much time as a freshman for Northside’s varsity team, but his role was elevated last year as the Monarchs won a program-record 13 games.

Last year, he had four goals and tied for the team high with 10 assists. Brown is now one of the more skilled players this season. His versatility allows him to play multiple positions.

“Levonte plays with a little swagger, but was under the radar last year so he has something to prove. I feel like he was one of the more underrated kids in the area,” Northside coach Derek Yates said. “He told me that in Jamaica they play almost like a street soccer style. He has brought that style to us but he also buys into our team concept.”

Brown feels “this is our year” to help put Northside further on the map. He said the Monarchs are motivated by their first-round home playoff defeat last year.

“Levonte does well in everything that he does,” Pryce said. “I honestly think he does well in school and soccer because he does not want to disappoint me. I have big expectations for him to carry on the family tradition of being a good person.”

Chris Miller can be contacted via email at chris.miller@jdnews.com. Follow him on twitter @jdnsports.

This article originally appeared on The Daily News: How Levonte Brown became valued member of Northside soccer