Blue and White Army
07-14-2003, 12:00 PM
Jason Bent stays ahead of the game by avoiding kid's mentality
NEIL DAVIDSON
Canadian Press
Monday, July 14, 2003
http://www.canada.com/ottawa/story.asp?id=D01586F4-FFA8-4482-8B3B-0F904F686147
WALTHAM, Mass. (CP) - Jason Bent's soccer path has been filled with potholes: he has battled racism, red tape and more than a few injuries.
The road has taken him from Brampton, Ont., to Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, the U.S. and finally England along the way. But the hard-tackling midfielder with dreadlocks has never given up. A quiet, even-keeled sort, he may be one of the most thoughtful members of the current Canadian national team.
Things happen for a reason, he reckons.
"I put things in God's hands," explained Bent, who plays for Plymouth Argyle in England. "For me, the biggest thing is to stay fit and just try to enjoy the football and whatever's to be will be."
Bent is probably ahead of the game because, unlike some pros, he understands "footballers live almost a make-believe life."
Bent, who says footballers can fall prey to a "kid's mentality" because of the world in which they move, is also not blind to the world around him.
"I see the struggle that a lot of people go through."
Bent, 26, credits his parents for keeping him grounded. His father, now retired, worked for the Ontario Ministry of Transportation while his mother used to work for CN Rail.
"A good environment. Hard-working parents. They set good standards for us," said Bent, who has a 28-year-old brother.
Bent won his 30th cap Saturday in the 1-0 win over Costa Rica at the Gold Cup in Foxboro, Mass. He set up the winning goal with a raking pass that found its way to Paul Stalteri, and almost paved the way for another with a slashing run down the right.
This despite horrific blisters on his feet, a common ailment for players beginning their season as they adjust to running on hard ground in boots. Bent's feet were so bad he could only wear flip-flops during parts of Canada's pre-tournament camp.
The skin tore off the blisters during the Costa Rica game. Two days later, swathes of skin were missing from the bottom and side of his feet. It looked like he tried to turn off a meat slicer with his foot.
"I didn't feel as quick as I normally am," he said of the Costa Rica game. "Cutting, sharp turns of direction, there was burning. I just tried to bear through it."
The blisters may slow Bent's path at the Gold Cup, but he still managed to show again Saturday what he can do for the team. The five-foot-nine, 165-pounder can upend an opposition ball-carrier and then trigger an attack.
Bent is going into his third season with Plymouth Argyle, a Second Division side located in the southwest of England. In his first year with the Pilgrims, he helped the team win promotion out of the Third Division.
Injuries have cut into his career there, however. He re-injured his right hamstring last September - the same injury knocked him out of the 2002 Gold Cup semifinal - and missed three months. He came back and helped the team finish eighth, just out of the promotion playoffs.
The hamstring problem is the same one that has dogged England star Michael Owen. The physio at Plymouth has even contacted Liverpool doctors to ask about Owen's treatment. Bent has been put on a strengthening program, like Owen, to try to build up the muscles.
When muscles tear, they become shorter. There is less elasticity, less strength and there is scar tissue.
A hamstring tear is also excruciatingly painful. When Canadian goalkeeper Lars Hirschfeld injured his - doing the splits in a save some four months ago - he said he turned white and his whole body immediately started sweating, as if in shock.
"I don't wish it on anybody, but if you do tear a hamstring, you'll know exactly," Bent said. "For me, and others who have had it, you feel like you've been shot or something . . . Something just goes, that's it. One-hundred-metre sprinters, when they have it, they're in agony, it's the same thing."
Bent pauses as the conversation continues.
"Me, I don't really want to even talk about it," he said politely, "because it's something you just want to put it out of your mind. You wish it never happened to you but it's part of professional sports. You get injured."
He reckons injuries have cost him 12 or 13 Canadian caps.
He started his pro career in eastern Germany with FSV Zwickau in 1997. Dwayne DeRosario, a national team member currently injured, went with him. A new manager and intolerant surroundings soon turned the trip into something less than special. Plus he had difficulties extricating himself from his contract there.
Not having a European passport made it difficult for Bent to get back to Europe. There were trials overseas but eventually he settled in Denver with the Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer.
When his contract there expired, he turned his attention to England. Work permit problems nixed a move to Preston North End but manager Paul Sturrock and Plymouth finally sorted out the paperwork in September 2001.
Bent enjoys the life of a footballer in Plymouth, but laments the fact the town is so isolated. Away games means 4½ to five hours on a bus.
As a footballer, he is well-known in Plymouth. Plus "there's not too many black guys with dreads in Plymouth," he laughs.
Some leave him alone, most want to talk. Bent understands.
"They have a right to do that, I suppose because it is their club and they're supporters. And they pay their money to see the games. The fans are nice to me, they're always coming up to me whether I'm on the street or at a restaurant or something."
Bent is close to many of the current national team players, having grown up with them on Canadian youth teams. He and Stalteri went to high school together and the two are roommates on the road.
The clan includes Jim Brennan, DeRosario, Richard Hastings, Kevin McKenna and Stalteri.
"It's like a family," Bent said.
Single, he enjoys music - hip-hop is his preference, with Jay-Z and 50 Cent current favourites - and is pondering taking some correspondence courses to prepare for life after soccer.
The dreads have been part of Bent for nine years, although he says "I've had every hairstyle known to the black man."
As for the dreads, he says: "I think it suits me. It's not for religion or anything like that, it's just me."
And for those wondering, they take constant care.
"It's a lot of work and if you don't have anybody to help you out, it can be tough. I do most of it myself."
Self-sufficient to the end.
NEIL DAVIDSON
Canadian Press
Monday, July 14, 2003
http://www.canada.com/ottawa/story.asp?id=D01586F4-FFA8-4482-8B3B-0F904F686147
WALTHAM, Mass. (CP) - Jason Bent's soccer path has been filled with potholes: he has battled racism, red tape and more than a few injuries.
The road has taken him from Brampton, Ont., to Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, the U.S. and finally England along the way. But the hard-tackling midfielder with dreadlocks has never given up. A quiet, even-keeled sort, he may be one of the most thoughtful members of the current Canadian national team.
Things happen for a reason, he reckons.
"I put things in God's hands," explained Bent, who plays for Plymouth Argyle in England. "For me, the biggest thing is to stay fit and just try to enjoy the football and whatever's to be will be."
Bent is probably ahead of the game because, unlike some pros, he understands "footballers live almost a make-believe life."
Bent, who says footballers can fall prey to a "kid's mentality" because of the world in which they move, is also not blind to the world around him.
"I see the struggle that a lot of people go through."
Bent, 26, credits his parents for keeping him grounded. His father, now retired, worked for the Ontario Ministry of Transportation while his mother used to work for CN Rail.
"A good environment. Hard-working parents. They set good standards for us," said Bent, who has a 28-year-old brother.
Bent won his 30th cap Saturday in the 1-0 win over Costa Rica at the Gold Cup in Foxboro, Mass. He set up the winning goal with a raking pass that found its way to Paul Stalteri, and almost paved the way for another with a slashing run down the right.
This despite horrific blisters on his feet, a common ailment for players beginning their season as they adjust to running on hard ground in boots. Bent's feet were so bad he could only wear flip-flops during parts of Canada's pre-tournament camp.
The skin tore off the blisters during the Costa Rica game. Two days later, swathes of skin were missing from the bottom and side of his feet. It looked like he tried to turn off a meat slicer with his foot.
"I didn't feel as quick as I normally am," he said of the Costa Rica game. "Cutting, sharp turns of direction, there was burning. I just tried to bear through it."
The blisters may slow Bent's path at the Gold Cup, but he still managed to show again Saturday what he can do for the team. The five-foot-nine, 165-pounder can upend an opposition ball-carrier and then trigger an attack.
Bent is going into his third season with Plymouth Argyle, a Second Division side located in the southwest of England. In his first year with the Pilgrims, he helped the team win promotion out of the Third Division.
Injuries have cut into his career there, however. He re-injured his right hamstring last September - the same injury knocked him out of the 2002 Gold Cup semifinal - and missed three months. He came back and helped the team finish eighth, just out of the promotion playoffs.
The hamstring problem is the same one that has dogged England star Michael Owen. The physio at Plymouth has even contacted Liverpool doctors to ask about Owen's treatment. Bent has been put on a strengthening program, like Owen, to try to build up the muscles.
When muscles tear, they become shorter. There is less elasticity, less strength and there is scar tissue.
A hamstring tear is also excruciatingly painful. When Canadian goalkeeper Lars Hirschfeld injured his - doing the splits in a save some four months ago - he said he turned white and his whole body immediately started sweating, as if in shock.
"I don't wish it on anybody, but if you do tear a hamstring, you'll know exactly," Bent said. "For me, and others who have had it, you feel like you've been shot or something . . . Something just goes, that's it. One-hundred-metre sprinters, when they have it, they're in agony, it's the same thing."
Bent pauses as the conversation continues.
"Me, I don't really want to even talk about it," he said politely, "because it's something you just want to put it out of your mind. You wish it never happened to you but it's part of professional sports. You get injured."
He reckons injuries have cost him 12 or 13 Canadian caps.
He started his pro career in eastern Germany with FSV Zwickau in 1997. Dwayne DeRosario, a national team member currently injured, went with him. A new manager and intolerant surroundings soon turned the trip into something less than special. Plus he had difficulties extricating himself from his contract there.
Not having a European passport made it difficult for Bent to get back to Europe. There were trials overseas but eventually he settled in Denver with the Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer.
When his contract there expired, he turned his attention to England. Work permit problems nixed a move to Preston North End but manager Paul Sturrock and Plymouth finally sorted out the paperwork in September 2001.
Bent enjoys the life of a footballer in Plymouth, but laments the fact the town is so isolated. Away games means 4½ to five hours on a bus.
As a footballer, he is well-known in Plymouth. Plus "there's not too many black guys with dreads in Plymouth," he laughs.
Some leave him alone, most want to talk. Bent understands.
"They have a right to do that, I suppose because it is their club and they're supporters. And they pay their money to see the games. The fans are nice to me, they're always coming up to me whether I'm on the street or at a restaurant or something."
Bent is close to many of the current national team players, having grown up with them on Canadian youth teams. He and Stalteri went to high school together and the two are roommates on the road.
The clan includes Jim Brennan, DeRosario, Richard Hastings, Kevin McKenna and Stalteri.
"It's like a family," Bent said.
Single, he enjoys music - hip-hop is his preference, with Jay-Z and 50 Cent current favourites - and is pondering taking some correspondence courses to prepare for life after soccer.
The dreads have been part of Bent for nine years, although he says "I've had every hairstyle known to the black man."
As for the dreads, he says: "I think it suits me. It's not for religion or anything like that, it's just me."
And for those wondering, they take constant care.
"It's a lot of work and if you don't have anybody to help you out, it can be tough. I do most of it myself."
Self-sufficient to the end.