A top Manx footballer celebrated the start of a soccer scholarship in Florida by scoring on his debut.

St George’s midfield maestro Jay Skelcher-Maxwell made a good impression when he turned out for Webber Warriors shortly after arriving to take up his scholarship.

The 19-year-old former Ballakermeen High School student is on a four-year scholarship at Webber International University and earned a place in the first team as a fresher.

That saw him playing in blistering 36C heat (about 97F), but he soon made his presence known, opening the scoring after 15 minutes, as the Warriors went on to complete a 3-0 victory over Trinity Baptist College for the season opener.

Playing in a similar central midfield position to that for which he is known at St George’s, Jay’s performance earned him praise from the live stream commentator for his aggressive attacking and defensive play.

Speaking after the match, Jay told the Examiner: ’The heat and humidity out here in Florida is incredibly draining.

’We did fitness tests pre-season both in the mornings and at midday and my personal results changed dramatically.’

He said that the temperature, coupled with 62 per cent humidity during the match, made the conditions the equivalent to playing in 40C-plus.

The switch to Florida is a dramatic change from the Isle of Man, particularly in terms of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The state has had more than 1.2 million coronavirus cases and has mandatory social distancing and mask-wearing.

Jay said he did not quarantine as he had no symptoms and was tested with the team the day after his arrival, receiving results within a week.

He added: ’The regulations out in the general public are similar to the UK’s. Wearing masks and social distancing are mandatory, but the latter doesn’t seem to be followed quite as closely as back home.

’The school is better at regulating and enforcing these rules, along with additional temperature checks every time you come on campus and different wristbands issued each day after you pass the temperature checks.’

Jay said the college and footballing experience had been very positive.

’I have had team-mates and staff members make themselves known to me in case I need help with anything,’ he added.

’There are two other English lads in the team who have made it over despite Covid-19 so it is nice having some home connection.’

Based on his initial experiences, Jay believes the standard of young players in the island is slightly higher than what he has seen in Florida so far, but he said players in the States were very good technically.

’The Manx/English aggressive style of play gives us a massive advantage during training and matches,’ he added.

Reacting to the praise for his attacking and defensive style of play, he says if anything it stands out more in Florida than back home.

Jay’s scholarship is for all four years of his degree. After that impressive debut, the Manx football maintained that form throughout the season and was later named in the Sun Conference All-Tournament Team for the 2020 postseason.

In the TSC quarter-finals against Warner University, Skelcher-Maxwell scored the first goal of the match after 15 minutes, helping Webber triumph 3-1 and earn its first postseason win since the 2006 season. The team’s reward was a match against No. 22 Keiser University (based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida) in the semi-finals but the Warriors ultimately lost 1-5 despite Skelcher-Maxwell setting up a goal for team-mate Agustin Sanda.

Skelcher-Maxwell finished his rookie campaign with four goals and 10 points in total, which was second on the Warriors’ behind only senior leader David Negrin Ruiz.

Warriors head coach Neil Cockburn paid tribute to the young Manxman: ’I am very happy that Jay received some form of recognition for his performance this season.

’He is by far one of our most consistent and hardworking players. He gave 100 percent to his team regardless of the result this season.

’If he did not miss a few games due to Covid-19 contact tracing, I feel he would have been awarded all-conference.

’A freshman being from another country, going through family problems and isolation for 14 days, to come back and give everything he’s got, shows that he has great character as well.’