COMMERCE CITY — Jackson Travis is a bit of a latecomer to the Colorado soccer scene, having moved from the Deep South just a few years ago, however, he has been a dedicated Rapids player from Day One.
Thanks to the Academy, the 20-year-old from Madison, Mississippi, is now further proof to young players that a pathway does exist from the Magnolia State to MLS with enough belief and hard work. Travis, however, credits his older brother Deon for being his earliest inspiration and the person who truly kickstarted his journey.
“My brother got into (soccer) so I followed in his footsteps, but we didn’t see too many people do it from Mississippi and make it out,” Travis told Burgundy Wave. “Where I grew up, it was the least popular sport. Nobody really played it.”
Another role model for Travis was someone Rapids fans remember fondly, as do folks back in Mississippi.
“We had Justin Mapp and (former Rapid) Marlon (Hairston), so we were going to try and be like them,” the young defender said.
Travis’ path wasn’t a clear or easy one. Like many younger brothers, following his older sibling just came naturally. Following Deon’s path became his mission for years. Deon, four years older than Travis, would go on to play at the University of Central Arkansas.
“My brother ended up going to (junior college) and Division I, and if he can do that, I’m going to try and do that, so the path was right in front of me.”
Early academy rejections push Travis to look West
Strangely enough, though, his early attempts at breaking into MLS academies across the South were unsuccessful.
“At some point, I was like ‘I’d try for a step further’, so I tried out for a couple of academies in Dallas, Orlando, Atlanta. (FC) Dallas when I was 14, Orlando (City) and Atlanta (United) when I was 16. I didn’t make those so it was discouraging, and I thought I’d go to JUCO like my brother. It was a tough time for me, not knowing the full path, not knowing where it’s going.”
A case of the Blues? Hardly. Jackson used that period in his early teens and turned it into a learning experience when he played back on familiar home soil.
“I played for Mississippi Rush until I was 16, and the level wasn’t the highest but it was about as high as you’re going to get in Mississippi.”
“I played two years of high school ball at Madison Central. In my honest opinion, my freshman year was when I played with my brother, a senior, that was probably the year I developed the most. I was the smallest player on the field, but I had to learn how to maneuver my way out of things.”
The Mississippi Connection
As fate would have it, there were higher plans for the once-smallest player on the field, who, at the time, was listed at a mere five feet, 103 pounds, but it would involve a few degrees of connection to realize the next step. Current Rapids 2 head coach Erik Bushey played at Bellhaven College in Mississippi along with Travis’ high school coach, Cecil Hinds.
“My coach … called Erik and asked if I could get a trial here,” Travis remembered fondly. “I came up, trialed, and Erik liked me. And I say I’m a testament to God every day. I was like, ‘I’m done’, but that happened. It ended up working itself out with the help from God, for sure.”
Travis’ parents, Jamie and Elnora, he insists, were hugely influential in helping him stay hungry and stay committed to the journey.
“You don’t always have parents that support your dream, and at one point I was trying to give up, but they were like, ‘nah you’re going to stick with it!’ They were the ones driving me to Atlanta, Orlando, FC Dallas and when I was discouraged, they were the ones encouraging me saying you’re going to do this. Without them I wouldn’t be here for sure, that’s 100%.”
Seizing the moment
After his acceptance into the Rapids Academy with coach Bushey, Travis recalled his early days at altitude as both good and challenging, to say the least.
“I remember the first two weeks were tough here for sure, but that first year I saw where I could maybe be a top-three player on the U-17 team and keep on progressing.”
His first game came against vaunted opposition in Real Colorado. It was the first of what would prove to be many standout performances in the Rapids Academy. Following the game, Division I schools instantly took notice. Travis was stunned.
“….Like, what?! At that point, I saw that I can really do this, I can play for real and hopefully keep rising. That’s when I thought maybe I can bypass college and use that as Plan B.”
The work outside the work
Seeing that avenue, Jackson wasn’t about to waste the opportunity. He knew given his size and relatively late start to the sport, he’d need every bit of his talent to see the field in MLS. Most of his teammates had a four or five-year head start. Travis found a personal trainer, and every day for two years, the two worked to get caught up to Academy-level speed — and get ahead.
Travis still wasn’t satisfied.
“It takes a lot of hours. That’s all I was focusing on at the time was ball ….away from the team, after training. I don’t really like it to be known, but I want it to be seen when I’m on the field. At some point, I called my parents and they said at the end of the day you’ve got to want it more than anybody else.”
It’s something former Rapids defender Steven Beitashour spoke about routinely: The work a player puts in when nobody is watching.
That “want” is evident when watching Travis lately, as he has filled in remarkably well at left back for an injured Sam Vines. Travis hasn’t let mistakes get him down for a second, and he gets stuck right back into his duties without missing a beat.
Baptism by fire
Recently, Travis has seen a bit of “baptism-by-fire” by starting three MLS regular season games in a row. However, he has already shown significant improvement thanks to the Rapids staff and those minutes.
Case in point, a breakout performance against the Portland Timbers earlier this month.
“Two days ago in training, (Travis) tells me, ‘Yeah, coach, I’ve got clips’. He clipped his own clips from the Dallas game,” Armas recalled. “‘I’ve gotta show you this, I’ve gotta get better at this.’ For a young guy, he’s wanting to get better and is making his own clips. I said ‘Listen, you’ve gotta celebrate the good things. But can you stay on your feet here? Can you not foul here?’ We play young players, we trust young players.
“I thought he had a strong performance tonight stepping in at the end, winning tackles, aerial duals on the back line, starting the counterattack — fearless, fearless.”
Still, Travis knows it wasn’t that long ago that his stock began to boom. At the end of the 2021 season, he accepted his Academy Player of the Year award. From there, he appeared on the radar for the next Homegrown success story at a league-wide level.
“That award was the biggest factor in my journey,” said Travis, who was excited to share the award with his family and friends back in Jackson, Miss.,
“That was the turning point. I have that award in my room and see it every day that I could make it.”
Injury blow only motivated Travis more
For the highs he was on, there would soon be another low: His first significant Injury. He suffered a season-ending setback early in 2022 and would begin the long road back. That August, he had surgery to repair a core muscle injury after he had missed a significant portion of the R2 season.
“Being out for a year, people don’t understand when you’re out for that long period of time it’s one of the hardest things you’ll ever go through in your career. That was a really hard year for me,” Travis shared candidly. “… I feel like the toughest thing about being out is not feeling like part of the group, not feeling like you’re adding things to the group.
“When they come out (to training) you’re in the gym. They’re out there doing what you love to do. You’re inside doing something you don’t want to do. But, you have to get it done and you’re better for it.”
Breaking through the injury barrier and into the first team
Travis didn’t let the rehab time get him down. His comeback via R2 and Bushey’s guidance helped him get back on track.
“After surgery and being out so long it was just about getting my rhythm back, my timing back, and being under Erik that year – Erik is one of the best coaches I’ve ever known. So, it was about getting minutes again, getting my fitness back up, getting myself ready for this year.”
Playing up and in the moment
The young defender admits that essentially “playing up” in MLS has required a different mindset. However, he also explained that this Rapids team is, in many ways, the perfect scenario put together by Armas and the Colorado staff to allow a young player like Travis to thrive in and around this environment.
“The transition to playing with grown men, you do have to learn different things. You do have to work more on the small things, the details, and how significant every moment is and being dialed in and turned on.”
Travis finds his place
While at times it seems like Travis’ career has moved at warp speed since coming to Colorado at 17, this season, the journey has finally slowed down enough for him to take it all in, while continuing to learn, grow, and gel with his teammates.
“Even off the pitch, we’ve got a great group of guys, the locker room is amazing – one of the best because we’re such a young team. You’re with more people you can relate with – everybody’s jokin’, everybody’s tight-knit together.”
“Last year, guys were on just different timelines. They had kids, wives, so they’re just in a totally different headspace. Now, we have a bunch of different young guys and we talk about the same things, we laugh about the same things, we hang out outside the field a lot always at each other’s houses. We’re better for it on the field and the chemistry is off the roof.”
Matt Pollard 