Akeem Ancil García (born 9 November 1996) is a

Trinidadian Trinidadians and Tobagonians, colloquially known as Trinis or Trinbagonians, are the people who are identified with the country of Trinidad and Tobago. The population of Trinidad is notably diverse, with approximately 35% Indo-Trinidadian, 34% ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach and player.

Club career

Early career

García began playing football at age six with local club Arima Ball Masters. At age 17, García signed for

TT Pro League The TT Premier Football League (formerly known as the TT Pro League) is the Trinidad and Tobago professional league for association football clubs. It is the country's primary football competition and serves as the top division in the Trinidad an ...

side

San Juan Jabloteh San Juan Jabloteh Football Club is a football club located in San Juan, Trinidad and Tobago that plays in the country's TT Pro League. The team plays its home games in Hasely Crawford Stadium in Mucurapo, Trinidad. History The club was founded ...

W Connection

In 2014, García signed with

W Connection W. Connection Football Club is a professional football (soccer), football club from Trinidad and Tobago, which currently plays in the TT Pro League. The club plays its home games at the Manny Ramjohn Stadium in Marabella. The club's offices are ba ...

, scoring five goals in two league appearances that season. He received great recognition for his play that year and earned his first senior national team call-up in early 2015. Later that year during tryouts for the Trinidad and Tobago U23 team, García tore his ACL and after undergoing surgery missed a total of twelve months while recovering.

North East Stars

In 2017, García signed for his hometown club,

North East Stars Athletic Club of Port of Spain (previously known as North East Stars FC) is a Trinidad and Tobago professional association football, football club based in Port of Spain, Trinidad, that plays in the TT Premier Football League. The team plays its ...

. He went on to score four goals in twelve league appearances that season as North East Stars won the

, García's first league title. García also added another seven goals in other competitions that year.

Santa Rosa

In 2018, García followed North East Stars manager

Derek King Derek King (born February 11, 1967) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey Winger (ice hockey), left winger who currently serves as an assistant coach for the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League. King played 14 seasons in the ...

TT Super League The TT Premier Football League 2 (formerly called TT Super League) is a league for semi-professional association football clubs in Trinidad and Tobago. It is the second-highest division of the Trinidad and Tobago football league system. The league ...

side Santa Rosa. That season, he scored five goals in sixteen league appearances and ten goals in all competitions as Santa Rosa won the league title. After the end of the season, García spent two weeks on trial with Mexican

Ascenso MX Ascenso MX, also known as Ascenso BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, was a professional association football league in Mexico and the second level of the Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Primera División A de México (1994–2009 ...

side

Celaya Celaya (; Otomi: ) is a city and its surrounding municipality in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico, located in the southeast quadrant of the state. It is the third most populous city in the state, with a 2005 census population of 310,413. The muni ...

HFX Wanderers

2019

On 10 January 2019, García signed with

Canadian Premier League The Canadian Premier League (CPL or CanPL; ) is a professional Association football, soccer league in Canada and the highest level of the Canadian soccer league system. The league comprises eight teams, from five of provinces and territories of ...

side

HFX Wanderers Halifax Wanderers FC, also written as HFX Wanderers FC, is a Canadian professional soccer club in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The club competes in the Canadian Premier League (CPL) at the top of the Canadian soccer league system, and play their home ...

, where

had signed as an assistant manager. García scored the first goal in Wanderers history in the team's home opener on 4 May 2019. García finished the season with a team-leading seven league goals in 24 appearances, tying for seventh among the league's top scorers. On 7 November 2019, García re-signed with Halifax for the 2020 season.

2020

García excelled in the shortened

2020 Canadian Premier League season The 2020 Canadian Premier League season was the second season of the Canadian Premier League (CPL), the top level of Canadian soccer. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the CPL announced a 14-day hold on all pre-season training on March 1 ...

. He was a major part of Halifax's drastic turnaround from their previous last place finish, and the Wanderers made it all the way to the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

, where they were defeated by

Forge FC Forge FC, also known as Forge Football Club, Forge FC Hamilton, or Hamilton Forge FC, is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Hamilton, Ontario, that competes in the Canadian Premier League, the top tier of Canadia ...

. In total, García scored six goals in 10 matches, winning the Golden Boot. On 3 November 2020, García re-signed with Halifax for the 2021 season.

2021

García struggled to maintain his form from the previous season, managing to only score 2 goals in 22 appearances. The team as a whole was also unable to match their performance from 2020 and finished sixth in the league. However, the forward was re-signed for the following season, as well.

2022

During the 2022 CPL season, due to the

ACL injury An anterior cruciate ligament injury occurs when the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is either stretched, partially torn, or completely torn. The most common injury is a complete tear. Symptoms include pain, an audible cracking sound during in ...

occurred to

João Morelli João Morelli Neto (born 11 March 1996) is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a forward. Early life Morelli was born and raised in the city of Itu, São Paulo state. In 2013, he joined the under-17 team of local club Itua ...

, García once again became the team's main attacking choice, together with Samuel Salter. He ended the year with four goals in 13 appearances, as the Wanderers finished second-to-last in the league table, missing out on the Finals for the second consecutive time. At the end of the season, Halifax announced that García would put his playing career on hold, in order to work as a coach at a

local Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Local'' (comics), a limited series comic book by Bria ...

grassroots club in

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

International career

Youth

García received his first youth call-up for

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...

as a 14 year-old at the

2011 CONCACAF U-17 Championship The 2011 CONCACAF U-17 Championship determined the four CONCACAF representatives to advance to the 2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Mexico. Jamaica staged the championship between 14 and 27 February. The United States defeated Canada 3–0 in the ...

, but did not appear in the tournament. García was called up again in the following U17 cycle and played in all three matches of the Caribbean qualifying tournament for the

2013 CONCACAF U-17 Championship The 2013 CONCACAF Under-17 Championship, CONCACAF U-17 Championship was a North American international association football tournament that determined the 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup participants from the CONCACAF region. The 2013 edition of the com ...

, scoring goals against the

British Virgin Islands The British Virgin Islands (BVI), officially the Virgin Islands, are a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean, to the east of Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands, US Virgin Islands and north-west ...

and

Suriname Suriname, officially the Republic of Suriname, is a country in northern South America, also considered as part of the Caribbean and the West Indies. It is a developing country with a Human Development Index, high level of human development; i ...

. After Trinidad and Tobago qualified, García was called up again for the finals tournament, appearing in all three matches for Trinidad and Tobago against

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

and the quarter-final loss to

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

. As a 15 year-old, García first represented his country at the under-20 level in

qualifying Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...

for the

2013 CONCACAF U-20 Championship The 2013 CONCACAF Under-20 Championship was an association football tournament that took place between February 18 and March 3, 2013. The CONCACAF U-20 Championship determined the four CONCACAF teams that would participate at the 2013 FIFA U-20 Wo ...

, making five appearances as Trinidad and Tobago ultimately failed to qualify. García was also eligible for the following U20 cycle and appeared in all five matches for Trinidad and Tobago at the

2015 CONCACAF U-20 Championship The 2015 CONCACAF Under-20 Championship was an association football tournament that took place from 9 to 24 January 2015 in Jamaica. It determined the four CONCACAF teams that would participate at the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup in New Zealand. Q ...

. García attended trials for the Trinidad and Tobago U23 team ahead of the Caribbean qualifying tournament for the

2015 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Championship The 2015 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Championship was the fourteenth edition of the CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Championship, CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying, the quadrennial, international, age-restricted association football, foot ...

, but missed the tournament after tearing his ACL.

Senior

García earned his first cap for the Trinidad and Tobago senior national team on 27 March 2015 in a friendly against

. He played the final 26 minutes of the match in a 0–1 loss. Following strong performances in the

, on 4 October 2019 García was recalled to the national side for a

CONCACAF Nations League The CONCACAF Nations League (, ) is an association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its secondary continental tournament for men's senior national teams from North America, Central America and the Caribbean. The tournament takes pla ...

match against

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

on 10 October and a friendly against

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

on 14 October.

Personal life

García was born in

Chaguanas The Borough of Chaguanas is the largest municipality (83,489 at the 2011 census) and fastest-growing
– Afr ...

and grew up in the Calvary area of

Arima Arima, officially The Royal Chartered Borough of Arima is the easternmost and second largest in area of the three boroughs of Trinidad and Tobago. It is geographically adjacent to Sangre Grande and Arouca at the south central foothills of the ...

Career statistics

Honours

Club

W Connection *

Trinidad and Tobago Charity Shield The Trinidad and Tobago Charity Shield is the country's annual football match contested between the champions of the previous TT Pro League season and the holders of the Pro Bowl. If the Pro League champions also won the Pro Bowl, then the league ...

: 2014 North East Stars *

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

Santa Rosa *

: 2018 HFX Wanderers *

**Runners-up:

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

Individual

* Canadian Premier League Golden Boot:

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Garcia, Akeem 1996 births Living people Men's association football forwards Trinidad and Tobago men's footballers 21st-century Trinidad and Tobago sportsmen Sportspeople from Arima People from Chaguanas Trinidad and Tobago expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada Trinidad and Tobago expatriate sportspeople in Canada San Juan Jabloteh F.C. players W Connection F.C. players AC Port of Spain players HFX Wanderers FC players TT Pro League players TT Super League players Canadian Premier League players Trinidad and Tobago men's youth international footballers Trinidad and Tobago men's under-20 international footballers Trinidad and Tobago men's international footballers