April 21, 2026 — On a recent cool evening at Campbell High School in Smyrna, senior Jackson Cherfils moved around the soccer pitch with a steady confidence that appeared both natural and hard-earned. Each touch of the ball displayed a rhythm in a game he has long understood, despite the off-beat journey that brought him to this place. For Jackson, a Haitian teenager seeking asylum in the United States, soccer has been a constant and a refuge. It has been the steadiness in his life amid the uncertainty he has endured over the last several years.
“Haiti was difficult,” Jackson said, keeping his sentences short while adapting to a language that he is still in the process of mastering.
Jackson arrived in the U.S. in January of 2024. Enrolling at Campbell mid-year, he wanted to join the Spartans’ soccer program. However, he had to wait while the Georgia High School Association (GHSA) decided on his eligibility. He used that time to find his place in what might become his new team.
“They were really good to me,” Jackson recalled. “They welcomed me very well. The challenge for me was the language. But all season, I'm training.”
He trained without any promise of playing in an actual game. Eventually, near the end of the regular season, the GHSA reached its decision.
“I got word Jackson was going to be cleared to play the day after our region play concluded, right before spring break,” Campbell head soccer coach Troy Connolly remembered. “Jackson started playing with us two games before the playoffs started.”
The Spartans had already earned a state tournament berth without Jackson, but now they had the opportunity to improve their team for the title run.
“We knew Jackson was very good,” Coach Connolly said, “but it took us about ten practice sessions and three-and-a-half games to figure out exactly how to best integrate him into our squad. We subbed him on halfway through that Lambert game. He immediately changed the game and helped us come from behind to win. From that point on, he started every game.”
Putting on the Campbell soccer club uniform, Jackson made the Defensive Midfielder position his own. It’s no surprise he was comfortable in a defensive role. It's something shaped by his experiences in his home country.
HOMELAND IN CRISIS
Haiti’s prolonged period of political instability left the country vulnerable to widespread security issues. Armed gangs ran rampant, particularly around the capital of Port-au-Prince, engaging in kidnappings, extortion, and violent clashes.
“If the capital is bad, we can say that the country is bad,” Jackson said with conviction.
Jackson speaks from personal experience. He was selected to play for Haiti’s under-14 National Team which spent much of its time in the capital, though it sometimes changed its location to avoid unsafe situations.
“When you play for the National Team,” Jackson explained, “you stay in the capital. Training, playing. You go to school there. Your life changes.”
While playing for the National Team was an honor, the civil unrest made it a difficult existence. Young athletic males were among the least safe, sometimes being forced to work for gangs under the threat of family harm. National athletes like Jackson were also more susceptible to kidnappings because crime groups felt ransoms were more likely to be paid.
It was under these conditions that, when the opportunity presented itself, Jackson and several family members fled Haiti and sought asylum in the U.S.
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LATE ADDITION, LASTING IMPACT
Jackson played just seven games in 2025, but most of them came when it really counted, playing in all five state tournament games. His presence in the lineup made a significant impact as the Spartans slashed their way through the tournament field. When Jackson entered that second-round state game against Lambert, Campbell was down 1-0.
The Defensive Midfield position doesn’t receive much recognition because it rarely fills up the offensive stat sheet. However, the importance of the position is not lost on those who appreciate the beautiful game. Once Jackson locked down that position following his entry into the Lambert game, Campbell outscored their opponents 11-1 in the remaining games of the tournament on their way to the GHSA 6A Soccer State Championship.
When asked what his favorite memory from his partial season in the U.S. might have been, Jackson smiled as he answered, “My work on the field. The final. The celebration.”
LEADING THE SPARTANS
This season, with a state title defense on their minds, the Campbell soccer team chose Jackson as a team captain. This speaks volumes about what kind of teammate he has been and what his coaches and the team feel about him.
“I think I received it because I was working,” Jackson deflected humbly. “I try to show the example on the field.”
Coach Connolly noted that it only took a few games into this season for Jackson to solidify his role as captain.
“He does such an incredible job of organizing our team around him on the field,” Coach Connolly explained. “That, accompanied by his work rate and attitude in games and practices, made it obvious to everyone around the team that Jackson needed to be a captain. He’s a quiet leader who leads by example, and he elevates everyone else’s play.”
As the 2026 regular season wound down, Jackson had one goal and three assists. That, however, doesn’t reflect his full value to the team, which is better defined by game results. With one game left before the postseason, the team had a 12-3 overall record and had won the Region 3 Championship with a perfect 7-0 record. In 15 games, the Spartans had only surrendered 17 goals, and only one region opponent had scored against them (two goals in a 10-2 Campbell win).
Clearly, absent the fear of the dangers he faced in his homeland, Jackson is playing freely, and the joy felt with each team victory is magnified by his new opportunities.
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FINDING HIS PLACE
Like most American teenagers, Jackson has dreams. One of them is to become a U.S. citizen. He is quickly adopting the culture with his Campbell classmates.
“My favorite things about the USA,” he admitted, “eating hamburgers, chicken fingers, and I like ESPN SportsCenter.”
According to Coach Connolly, though, Jackson is so much more than a typical teen or soccer star.
“Overall, I’ve just been so impressed with who he is as a person,” Coach Connolly said, “and how he’s had such a positive impact on the team. I’ve had so many teachers, unsolicited, approach me to say how much a joy Jackson is in class. He always has such a positive attitude and a smile on his face. Knowing some of the tough situations that he’s been through to get to this point, I think he’s an incredible example of resilience.”
On the pitch with the Campbell soccer club, the game still moves in a familiar rhythm for Jackson Cherfils. Now, in part because of his resilience, Jackson’s life around the game is, for the first time in years, in rhythm, too.
h/t non-branded photos provided by GHSA and Campbell High School (Edson Dominguez and Ezra Moore)
