USL Feature
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
By NICHOLAS MURRAY
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – The equipment manager had already rolled out the bags full of dirty laundry from the ESPN Wide World of Sports locker room and all of his teammates had emerged after their 1-0 victory against Toronto FC when Orlando City’s Demar Stewart languidly strolled out.
The 6-foot-2 Jamaican international, recently signed by the Lions to improve their squad ahead of the 2011 USL PRO season, wore the smile of a man who had done his job well that night. The laid-back attitude, though, was in sharp contrast to the way he had competed on the field not 45 minutes earlier, a combination of strength and aggressiveness that played an important role in the Lions’ shutout.
“I love to tackle and I like to defend,” Stewart said with a smile. “I like to keep a clean sheet. Once we keep a clean sheet and I don’t let my opponent score a goal, I’m very satisfied. It doesn’t matter whether it’s Keiron [Bernard] or Jack [Traynor] or anyone else the coach puts on the team, we’re going to do a fantastic job.”
It’s that attitude and work-rate that saw Lions coach Adrian Heath bring the 26-year-old to the team this preseason. A former teammate of Bernard’s with the Jamaican U20 national team, Stewart has gone on to play 10 times for the full national team since.
With that experience, and the experience of playing professionally in such countries as Belgium and China, Stewart believes he has become capable of adapting to different styles, not only from his team but also from opponents, than he was when he first played for the national team.
Heath agrees, saying that it didn’t take he and his staff long to decide that Stewart was a player they needed for the upcoming season.
“We think he’s going to be a really good signing,” Heath said after the victory against Toronto. “I honestly believe he’s better than the level that we are, and I think that people will see that over the next year or so. I think he’s got huge upside, great athletically, very determined and I just think today we saw what a good player he can be.”
There will still likely be a period of adaptation for Stewart, one that was not helped by a recent knee injury he suffered in the Lions’ friendly against Swedish First Division side BK Hacken last weekend. Stewart said on Wednesday that he hoped to be ready for the club’s season-opener against the Richmond Kickers on April 2, and his relationship with Bernard is already paying dividends as the duo are regaining the chemistry they had when they played together previously.
According to Bernard, though, there is one difference from those days, one that became evident the first time he saw his former teammate on the Orlando City practice field.
“First time I saw him I was like, ‘damn’, because he was bigger back then,” Bernard said. “I was like, ‘man, where’s all the weight gone?’ But I was happy to see him because we needed a defender, a really good defender, and me and him we jelled very well from knowing him from back then so I was really happy to see him.”
With Bernard and Stewart at the center of the Lions’ defense this summer, opposing teams might not feel quite the same way as the team aims to win a championship in its first season in Orlando.
“It would be a tremendous achievement if we do that,” Stewart said. “If we get to the final and win the championship it would be a great achievement, not only for the team but for the community. They haven’t had a professional team here in a long time and for us to come here as a new franchise it would be a big achievement for the community itself.”