JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Alex Smith grew up in Jacksonville playing football and basketball, until he fell in love with a new sport.
"You know was watching the 2006 World Cup and me as a little guy I was like 'What's this?' I was fascinated by it and took it by storm," Smith said.
Smith then began playing club soccer for Jacksonville Armada FC.
"It was easy access because it was right there and so that's how it kind of came off and then I had great coaches like Tommy and Pat Cannon who helped me and helped me grow," Smith said.
Smith starts at center back for the Armada.
A full circle moment for a player who has had his fair share of adversity.
"Against UNC went up for a header and just came down and I felt it and from that moment I was like 'Yeah, I'm out for the season," Smith said.
Smith missed most of his sophomore season at Georgia Southern due to an injury.
However, he came back stronger his junior season, even scoring the game-winning goal against UNF which was the school he grew up wanting to go to.
Now he's back playing for his hometown Armada which he calls a dream come true.
He's got a lot of fans in the stands too.
"My neighbors come out. Obviously my parents. My brother from Orlando he'll come back and watch and that's super special because he's the reason why I'm playing," Smith said.
Smith is glad to be healthy, and he's ready to give it his all to help the Armada to a championship.
"Just trynna be healthy and keep playing, you know, so…last year didn't really play too much so this year I'm glad to just be on this team and you know have a starting spot and keep playing," Smith said.
Credit to local photographer Lexi Ray for supplying one of the photos for this story.
You can find Lexi's work on Instagram at lexiray_photos and on her website.