 Alright, we continue talking football and Trinidad and Tobago's 23-year-old winger, Tyree Spicer, is starting the new year with a lot to look forward to. He was in mid-December the first overall pick in the MLS Superdraft by Toronto FC. In his four seasons at Lipscomb University, Spicer netted 29 times and provided 18 assists. This included 14 goals and three assists last season. In other eye-catching accomplishments, he was named to the ASUN All-Conference First Team, the United Soccer Coaches All-Region Second Team, the ASUN Championship Core MVP, the ASUN All-Tournament Team and ASUN Player of the Week. Well, Tyree Spicer joins us to talk about his accomplishments and expectations with Toronto FC. Welcome to the Sportsmax zone, Tyrees and Happy Happy New Year. Thank you very much, Happy New Year to you as well. Alright, so let's talk about the good news. You're starting 2024 with a bang. How does it feel, of course, to be the number one overall Superdraft pick? Did you see this coming? Maybe I had some talks with Toronto before. So I had an idea of it, but personally it's just overwhelming to know that I went number one overall in the whole of America. Just coming from a small country like Trinidad and Tobago, I just want to encourage all the youths. You work hard enough and you dream big, you can accomplish anything you put your mind to. Yeah, Tyrees, you speak about coming from a small country like Trinidad and Tobago. As you can tell by my accent, I'm also from Trinidad and Tobago. And I have to say I'm so proud of you because for quite some time, at least for all of my career sitting on this show, I've not had anything really to celebrate when it comes to Trinidad and Tobago football. You know, I always have to read about the past footballers and look back at those clips from before my generation. So thanks to you, we have something now to celebrate. And you know, of course, a lot of the trainees will feel very proud, of course, to identify with you. How difficult was it from, you know, starting your career in Trinidad and Tobago during these times and of course making it now where you're the number one pick? I would say it was pretty difficult. I say I'm so thankful for my dad and my mom to always support me, my uncle as well and my aunt. They always stood by my side, no matter what situation I was in. I come from like humble beginnings, you know, how it all started. My uncle bought me my first cleats. Like sometimes growing up, like I won't have enough money to get cleats or to go to school. And you know, all of that like helped me develop as a person, you know, just going through all the thick and tins with life, honestly, whatever challenges it showed me. I really dealt with it well. Like I developed really well at Trinity Nationals. I would say I grew up under my coach, Mr. Wark. I like to shout him out and my dad of all, of course, he'd been my coach since I was like five years old. He taught me everything I knew today. I think that making a step to America, it was a big jump. But I think I adapted well. I think that the environment I had and the culture I had with my teammates and my coach, I think it helped me grow as a person and mature like over the years. And I think that last season it just, it all like just went straight in line for me. It was just at my peak. And I just performed like at a really good on a high consistent level. I can't go up for that as well because I always pray every day for it. I made it happen. It wasn't just, and this wasn't like a blink of an eye. It was work. It was progress. It took time. But like it paid off. And I would just like to say that if you go up. Tyrese? All right. So Lance, we lost Tyrese in the middle of, of course, you know, such an important point. I was about to follow up though with, you know, he spoke about the struggles, you know, getting his first boot from his uncle. And for a young man like Tyrese, I, my question, the next question would be instantly, how was he able to stay focused because it's so easy. And I mean, I experienced this myself. Sometimes you feel like you just want to give up, right? But for him, he stalks through. And of course, now he's reaping the rewards. And I really wanted to know, you know, what kept him so focused. Yeah. Well, I think we're going to get him back hopefully. But he did suggest that it helped to toughen him. So even though his start had been difficult, I think the negative aspect of that, he turned it into a positive and he made sure that that helped him to become a tougher individual to, to climb, you know, the mountains he has climbed. Yeah. So beautiful. Well, I think we have good news. Tyrese is back with us. Tyrese, are you there? Yeah, I'm here. I'm here. All right. We lost you for a second. Do you want to continue that point that you were making? Yeah. So as I was sitting, I started off playing soccer with my dad from a very young age. I wasn't the best growing up, but I always try to work hard and pursue my goals. And I always aspire to get a scholarship or to go professionally. And I think over the years, me grinding and I putting in the work behind the scenes and on the field. I think it helped me develop as a player. I didn't, I wasn't like, I didn't have enough like money growing up. So it was difficult at times, but like I overcame it. My parents would like, you know, provide for me. And I think that growing up, I just always wanted to, to give back to them when I, when I go pro. And I think I have the opportunity now. I think that me giving back to them is just going to help me and help them. And it's just going to make me feel so satisfied. And Tyrese, I saw in an interview, you were compared to Alfonso Davies. How do you feel about that? It's surprising, honestly. Yes, like thinking that's a world-class player. And they're like, comparing me to him, my attributes and his attributes, my speed and dynamicness, like it's a surprise, but like I worked hard. And I think comparing us together is a big jumble. I think it's a good comparison. Right. And how excited are you to work with coach John Hirdman, who had a big part to play in the development of Alfonso Davies? Yeah, just knowing that he had a big part in Alfonso Davies' career is just going to be excellent. Yeah, I think we lost him again. I'm not sure if we're going to get him back, but some connectivity issues there. But really great to see this happening for young Spicer. It's the second time in history that a Caribbean player has been drafted, number one in the MLS. The Jamaican Andre Blake as a goalkeeper had achieved that, which was significant as well, because goalkeepers hardly ever get that kind of position. Yeah, Tyrese is back with us. Tyrese, a couple of weeks ago, we had a discussion about the role of schoolboy football in the Caribbean developing our players. I know you had played for St. Mary's College and transferred to St. Augustine. Can you briefly talk about your experience playing SSFL football in TNT and how much of a role that played in developing you as a player? I think my role developed really well in the SSFL. I think the level is really good. I think there's a lot of players that are overlooked. And I think that there's a lot of good talent there. Like myself, there's a guy called Kai for a bit as well. He's really good. He plays for Evansville University. There's a lot of good players that comes out of the SSFL. I think that the schools developed the young guys to excel in life. I think that is a good program and it shouldn't be overlooked. There's a lot of good prospects there. Yeah, a lot of Caribbean players get lost in the U.S. Collegiate System to their national programs. I've heard complaints that a lot of the quality players in the U.S. Collegiate System are often not looked back at from, you know, national coaches in the Caribbean. How eager are you to be a part of the TNT Soka Warriors International Program? It would be a dream, honestly. I always wanted to represent the red, white and black industry. I would be so happy to represent my country. I know my parents is going to be proud of for me to even be called up to the national team. I think sometimes college guys get overlooked because the coaches don't know how high the level is. But I think that the D1 level is very close to professional. They provide so much stuff for you to work on. They have so much development programs for you. If you need to work on anything, the access to unlimited supplies is there. So like the level is really good. I think that they do get lost in the collision playing field. Yeah, and quickly, Tyrese, because I know the MLS season usually starts maybe March or so, can you talk to us quickly about what happens between now and the start of the MLS and your your introduction to the to the Toronto staff and so on and preseason? Yeah, so preseason starts the 13th. I'm doing my personal work. I got from my performance team from Toronto FC. So like I'm doing that right now to get fit, to get my body in the right shape. And then when I go into Toronto, I do a medical and then we'll go to preseason wherever that would be. So I'm very excited to be on a journey to even like be on that team. So I'm happy for it. Yeah. And of course, we know that Trinidad at Tobago has a fairly rich record of outstanding players in the MLS. You have had a couple of MLS cup winners from TNT, Jovin Jones, a two time winner with the Seattle Sounders and Kevin Molino just recently with the with the with the current champions. And we know that Stern John was now retired, remains a legend in the Columbus crew folklore. So you recognize that as a TNT player, you are following up on some platforms that were laid by, you know, other outstanding TNT players. Yeah, I like just to follow on their footsteps. I always used to look at them on TV and be like, you know, one day I aspire to be there on that field and I have like the huge look up to you because I always looked up to Molino. I always looked up to Jovin Jones and my dad actually coached Stern John. I actually had a talk with Stern John like two days ago. And, you know, they always like tell me to keep keep my head down, keep humble and keep going close as well. And, you know, like right now I'm in that spotlight. And I want to like show the younger folks that no matter where you come from or how low you are, like if you work hard enough, if you dream big enough, you can achieve anything you put your mind to. And, you know, that's a message I want to put out there. No matter where you come from, you could do whatever you want. Yeah, Tyrese, I'm so proud of you. I want to thank you so much for joining us on the Sports Mac. So I'm looking forward to see your progress as you suit up for Toronto FC. Thank you so much. Thank you. All right, just here there from Toronto FC's Tyrese Spicer. He hails from the same country as I, Trinidad and Tobago. Let's take a break.