Three Jones brothers bring family bond to Trevecca soccer

By Lydia Chapman

Special Projects Editor

Long before they shared a locker room at Trevecca, Levi, Judah and Zion Jones shared a backyard, where hours of competition helped shape the brothers and the soccer players they would become.

“We would always compete with each other for three, four hours a day,” Levi Jones, a graduate student, said. “Just playing and perfecting our craft.”

The games were competitive. There were arguments over fouls, debates over who won and plenty of opportunities to mess with each other afterward.

But underneath the competition was something that has followed the brothers to college: family.

Now, the backyard has been replaced by Trevecca’s soccer field.

Levi, Judah and Zion are three of 10 children. This season, the three brothers play college soccer together, a journey shaped by years of backyard games, training, and family encouragement.

Levi, a graduate student, plays as an attacking midfielder,  Judah, a junior, plays right wing, while Zion, a freshman, plays left wing.

Although they play on the same field, each brother has developed his own relationship with the game.

For Levi, soccer became a way to connect after his family came to the United States from Sierra Leone when he and his siblings were young. He described the sport as a “universal language,” something that helped him connect with a new culture and community.

Their older brother Michael helped introduce the younger brothers to the game. Michael played travel soccer and, despite facing a language barrier, remembered what he learned and brought those lessons home to teach his younger brothers.

Judah remembers training at NSC Academy with his brothers. He and two of his brothers trained there before Levi and another brother eventually joined them.

“I think it created such a bond that was very unique,” he said. “And even though it was competitive, there was also love behind that competitiveness.”

That love has continued even as the brothers have developed into different players.

Judah began playing because the game brought him joy. He watched his older brothers pursue soccer and saw an opportunity to play at a high level. He also views his ability to play as a gift from God.

Zion took a little longer to find that same passion.

At first, soccer was not his priority. He spent much of his time goofing around with his older brother Isaiah while his brothers played.

Around sixth grade, though, something changed.

“For me, at first I was not really that interested in playing, as me and Isaiah, my older brother, were the ones that would usually just be goofing around while they were playing and just telling jokes and doing other stuff as a little kid,” he said.

As Zion watched his older brothers improve, he began taking the game more seriously. He started training harder, found more joy in playing and began setting goals of playing college and professional soccer while becoming a better person.

Now, those goals have brought the brothers to the same place: Trevecca.

The connection to the university goes back even further than the three brothers.

Their older brother Michael attended Trevecca, earning his undergraduate and master’s degrees. Danny Leavy, the head men’s soccer coach, coached him during his time with the program.

Leavy has known the Jones family for years. He attended the same church as their parents and also encountered the family through soccer at Grace Christian Academy.

His first impression of the Jones family was simple.

“They just were always so full of joy,” Leavy said. “You feel it when you’re around them, all of them. They’re just amazingly happy people to be around.”

He remembers Michael as energetic, athletic and fast, someone who loved his teammates and brought a big personality to the program.

“Mikey was just so much life to have in the program,” Leavy said. “He had just so much energy, so much joy. He loved his teammates so well.”

Leavy said he thought the younger brothers had the ability to become college athletes when he saw them at a young age.

He initially thought one or two of the brothers might eventually come through the Trevecca program. Four Jones brothers have now been part of the program.

Leavy said seeing Levi, Judah and Zion in purple during the first day of preseason was a full-circle moment.

“I thought, wow, that’s really cool,” he said. “They really are three brothers on the team at one time.”

For Leavy, coaching the younger brothers is a privilege and an encouragement that the program had a positive impact on Michael.

But while the brothers share a last name and a history with the game, Leavy does not coach them as a package.

Their athleticism may be the common denominator, but they use it differently.

“They’re all very different players, actually,” Leavy said. “I think the common bond that they have or the common denominator with them all is they’re all very athletic.”

Leavy said each brother plays his position differently and brings different talents to the team.

“They are individuals and they all have different talents that they bring to the team,” he said.

Their teammates know they are brothers, Judah said, but they also see them as individuals.

“Obviously, us three have different characteristics that define us and different things that we bring to the program, to the team,” Judah said. “Obviously, our teammates know we’re brothers, but I think they somewhat treat us as our own individual because, again, we’re all different. Even though we’re brothers, we bring different things to the table to the team.”

The one thing the brothers can do together better than almost anyone else on the team is read each other.

Leavy said the brothers can communicate without having to say much.

“I think they probably can read each other better than anybody else,” Leavy said. “They probably can read each other quicker and faster than anybody else on the team.”

That connection is an extension of the relationship they built long before Trevecca.

Every Thanksgiving, after resting for a couple of hours following the meal, the Jones family heads outside to play soccer.

For them, it is their version of the traditional Thanksgiving football game.

“I think a family tradition we do is like every Thanksgiving,” Levi said. “After we rest for a couple hours, we always go out and play together. There’s always been something that we do.”

For Judah, the chance to play college soccer with two brothers is something he does not take for granted.

“Not a lot of people can say they’ve played with two other brothers in college at the same time,” Judah said. “Not taking that for granted or lightly and also seeing the gift and beauty behind that and being just aware of what a blessing this opportunity is.”

Zion said he never expected to play alongside his brothers in college.

“I never saw myself ever playing with my brothers in college,” Zion said. “But it’s been a joy and it’s been great just being around them. Just playing with them has brought me so much joy in the game.”

But the brothers are quick to separate their relationship from the sport that brought them to the same field.

Zion said they would still be close even if soccer had never been part of their lives.

“I would say we would still be close because we were family,” Zion said. “We’ve gone through a lot as a family. My brothers have been there for me. … Nothing can break us apart at this point, as we’ve been there for each other since we were born and since we came to America.”

Judah sees soccer as another opportunity to strengthen a bond that already existed.

“Even though this game brought us close together, I wouldn’t say that’s the core thing that keeps us together,” Judah said. “This game is just another gift, another tool that God has given us to strengthen our bond or our relationship.”

He said that bond would remain even without soccer.

“With or without this game, I think we would have that same love that we have for each other, and we would find another thing or another way that would bring us close to each other,” Judah said.

Levi points to their faith as the foundation for that relationship.

“Our love for Jesus Christ and knowing what he did on the cross for our sins and the punishment that we deserve, how much love he showed to us, even though we didn’t deserve it, is a great example for us,” he said.

He said their love for one another does not depend on circumstances.

“Knowing that our love for each other is not going to change depending on the circumstance is also something special,” Levi said. “So the game can bring us joy, but at the end of the day, being brothers, being family, is always going to keep us together.”

Judah put it even more simply.

“And the game does not define who we are as a family or as brothers,” he said. “Our identity is not built on that. It’s built on Jesus.”