‘I had to eat out of the trash’: Footballer’s inspirational journey from being ‘homeless’ to captaining his country
Napier City Rovers import JC Mack III has travelled the world before settling in Napier, including captaining the US Virgin Islands international team. Photo / Neil Reid
US Virgin Islands captain and Napier City Rovers import JC Mack III says there is no football opponent he fears as they haven’t had to endure the battles he has. He told Neil Reid about his remarkable life.
The finest of French food was off the menu when JC Mack III was trying to break into the country’s professional leagues.
So too was any lavish accommodation in the famous resort town of Cannes – on the French Riviera – for the then-21-year-old.
Not only had Mack arrived at the wrong destination via a translation error – he was supposed to be 520km away in the eastern French town of Cuiseaux – but he had also lost his wallet and passport.
The midfielder – who now plays for New Zealand football club Napier City Rovers – couldn’t speak a word of French and had just enough credit on his prepaid phone to make one call to his mother back in America.
“I had to sleep on a park bench in France,” he told the Weekend Herald. “I had to eat out of the trash.
“I had been sent to the wrong place. I’ve lost just about everything, and I’m stuck there. I slept on a park bench for three days and was just like, ‘I don’t know what to do.’
“So, I call my mum – who like the rest of my family had a military background – and tell her that I am struggling like I don’t have anything. I’m low-key homeless.
“She said, ‘This [path chasing professional football] is what you chose. This is what you decided. You’re gonna figure it out.’”
Mack has opened up on his life ahead of a lengthy trip from his New Zealand base back to the Caribbean where he will again captain his beloved US Virgin Islands national team – a side ranked 208 in the world by Fifa.
That includes being stranded in Cannes and some life-changing advice in a brief phone call to his mother back in America.
While the response from his mother – who raised him alone, who he is very close to and is one of his biggest inspirations in life – initially saw him “freak out”, it also provided clarity.
“I thought I’m a footballer, find the local football club,” he said.
Not only did the local Cannes club contact CS Louhans-Cuiseaux to say their missing triallist was 571km away, they also got Mack to trial for them.
“I had eaten out of the trash the day before I tested with them,” the 34-year-old recalled.
“My mum knew that I would figure it out because she had done the same thing in her own life in the face of struggles. I watched how she got over things. That gave me confidence.”
Mack’s biggest challenges in his football career – and his life away from the pitch – haven’t been trying to beat hulking opposition defenders.
Instead, they have been what could have been life-defining curveballs.
Mack, who was born in Virginia, US, grew up “super poor” with his sister and their mother, Christine Croyle.
Mack’s father abandoned the family when the future football player was very young, with the trio having to move into a homeless shelter.
He watched on as his mother – now Dr Christine Croyle after she overcame the odds to gain a PhD in educational administration – battled to get ahead.
That included helping fund her studies by packing groceries at a local store in Florida.
“I’ve watched this lady build up a crazy life,” Mack said.
“We had no car. When we went to daycare, we ran while Mum would bike alongside us. I watched it all go down [and what mum did] and I’m like, ‘Everything can be done.’”
Constants throughout Mack’s life have been his mother’s love and forthright advice.
When he told her aged just 14 that he wanted to be a professional footballer she responded: “Okay, do you know the math of that? Do you know how tiny of a percentage of people that is?
“She said, ‘Okay, if that’s what it’s gonna be, that means you’re not gonna eat candy, you’re not gonna have sugar, you are going to be running every day.’”
At an early age he was schooled in the art of the “ginga” style of football; displayed through the generations by Brazilian players and which encourages flamboyance and a level of confidence that at its peak borders on arrogance over baffled opponents.
One of the Brazilian players who taught him the style in America was future Wellington Phoenix player Diego Walsh.
“They looked like me, they talked like me, they all drove Jaguars like I wanted to drive,” Mack laughed.
“I’m like, ‘Oh, I want to be like that.’”
A succession of trips to England followed with various sides until he was 17. But dreams of picking up a youth contract with a professional club fell through as he wasn’t eligible for a work permit.
He thought his big break might come aged 19 when he was scouted by US Major League Soccer club Chicago Fire.
But the head coach who was keen on him was fired “20 minutes after I walked in the door”. His replacement didn’t offer him a first-team spot.
“I was not good enough. I was not fit enough. I was not big enough.”
France then beckoned for Mack.
After a strong trial – following the park bench and foraging for food in a rubbish bin - CS Louhans-Cuiseaux couldn’t offer him a contract due to restrictions on non-European players. But he was eventually signed by minor league French side US Tourcoing.
It was the start of a globe-trotting career – featuring highs and shattering lows – which has seen Mack call Napier home since 2020.
In his early 20s, his mentor Walsh encouraged him to chase a full-time career and riches in Thailand.
Again, his hopes of a lucrative contract were shattered after an older Brazilian player excelled in the final trial.
“After the game I was crying, like, ‘You are better than me.’”
The Brazilian player told him to try his hand at Europe again, a suggestion Mack later took up and led to contracts with professional clubs in Finland and Iceland.
Aside from another crack at securing a contract in Asia – playing in front of crowds of 80,000 at the King’s Cup with Indonesian champions Bhayangkara FC – the Nordic countries were where he played until he finally made his way to New Zealand.
He arrived in New Zealand in 2019, linking with Hamilton Wanderers so he could play under former All Whites coach Ricki Herbert.
But when Herbert moved on shortly afterwards to coach in Fiji, Mack decided to follow, heading for Napier.
“From what I had heard Napier City Rovers were the Chelsea and Manchester United of this country . . . they were the gods and I wanted to be part of a club like that,” Mack said.
Napier City Rovers is one of New Zealand’s most successful clubs, including winning the Chatham Cup five times in its 50-year history.
Three years into his stay in New Zealand he crossed the Tasman after being offered a deal with Illawarra Premier League side Albion Park White Eagles.
But in another career roadblock, the 2021 season was halted by the Covid-19 pandemic after he had played only a handful of games for the club.
“I played eight games, scored two goals, and then season over,” he said.
Unable to work due to his visa status, he was forced to cash out savings he had previously invested in cryptocurrency to live off until he secured an MIQ spot back in New Zealand in December.
“I couldn’t work,” he said. “I took out all of my crypto money [and thought] I will get through this and get home [to Napier].”
Being grounded in Australia for seven months wasn’t the only body blow the Covid-19 pandemic dealt to Mack. After finally returning to New Zealand, he was then forced to miss the US Virgin Islands’ World Cup qualifying matches for last year’s tournament in Bahrain.
Because of his immigration status – he was here on a sporting talent visa – he was told if he left New Zealand, he would not be able to return due to border restrictions on who could enter the country.
US Virgin Islands Soccer Association representatives even approached the US territory’s governor and several congresspeople to see if they could step in to help Mack.
“It almost ruined [me],” Mack said.
“I was so sad. I had waited my whole life to play in the World Cup qualification.”
Mack has been the first-choice US Virgin Islands captain since his international debut in 2018. Six years earlier he had registered his interest and eligibility, via his ancestry, to the US Virgin Islands Football Federation.
His teammates voted him into the role before his debut against Canada; an opposition that included Alphonso Davies, who is one of the stars of German Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich.
“Before that game, I looked in the mirror and couldn’t stop crying.”
Later this month he will again don his national colours – and the captain’s armband – when US Virgin Islands line up in Concacaf’s Nations League competition in home and away matches against Aruba and the Cayman Islands.
The US Virgin Islands has a population of around 100,000. Basketball is its leading sport, followed by baseball and football.
Mack’s side is ranked 208th and fourth from the bottom on Fifa’s world rankings. New Zealand’s All Whites are ranked 103rd in the world by Fifa.
He has been part of Zoom planning sessions twice a week with teammates and team management.
Travel back to his homeland – which is in the Caribbean, east of Puerto Rico – will take three days each way.
“But when I trade the flag with [the opposition captain before the game], it is worth every minute on the plane,” Mack said.
“There are no second thoughts. It is the love for your country. What matters is my people and I’m willing to literally die for them.”
And before the upcoming four internationals, Mack’s number one match-day ritual will be going for a dip in the Caribbean Sea.
“I’ll go and just get in the ocean and try to reset my body,” he said.
“I’ll jump in the ocean and rinse off any thoughts I don’t want to feel. It’s a beautiful thing to feel when I get in the game and know I have prepared great.”
Next year, the US Virgin Islands – like other nations in Fifa’s Concacaf region – will begin the long qualification process for the 2026 World Cup to be jointly hosted by Canada, Mexico and the US.
It is something Mack is desperate to be involved in.
He and his teammates are realistic and know they have no chance of qualifying. But Mack said tasting victory in a match during the qualification campaign – or him scoring a goal – would be priceless.
“That puts you among [a small number] of people,” he said. “I want to be in that group.”
New Zealand Football’s rules restricting four foreign players in match-day squads have contributed to Mack not being a regular starter for Napier City Rovers in their bid to qualify for the 2023 National League.
When he hasn’t been in the club’s top team, he has lined up for their reserves side in Central Football’s Federation League.
Away from the pitch, he works for one of Hawke’s Bay’s biggest car retailers and is also engaged to get married.
He said he loved living in Napier and being a part of the famous Kiwi club and would do all he could to repay their loyalty to any of its teams he played in.
“My ultimate goal is being the best teammate I can be,” he said. “If I’m in your team, I want you to say the most positive things about me, about my work ethic, and about how I treat other people.”
Given what he has conquered to date in his life, when Mack lines up for his beloved nation – and for Napier City Rovers – he has respect, but no fear, in who is marking him.
“When I get in the game now, I look across the pitch and I’m like, you don’t have any understanding of how difficult it is for real. And that gives me so much confidence.
“I had to sleep on the floor. I had to sleep on a park bench. I had to pick through trash to find food in France. I earned this.”
Neil Reid is a Napier-based reporter who covers general news, features and sport. He joined the Herald in 2014.
