Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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40 MARCH 2017 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2017 FOOTBALL RECRUITING ISSUE BY COREY BODDEN Imagine moving 5,500-plus miles across the globe right before starting high school. A daunting task for any- one, let alone a teenager. That is what Jordan Genmark Heath did in 2013 along with his par- ents, stepfather Krister Genmark and mother Doreen Genmark, leaving Sweden to relocate to San Diego. All to help Genmark Heath fulfill his dream — playing high school football. Genmark Heath was born in Stock- holm, Sweden, and began playing football at 8 years old after being per- suaded by his cousin and stepfather to give it a try. He fell in love with the sport immediately. Genmark would drive his stepson around 40 minutes for practice with his football club. Several years later, continuing his football career was one of the factors in the family leaving Sweden. "I've always wanted to move to the U.S.," Krister Genmark said. "It's been a dream of mine since I was 4 years old. I had an American flag on my wall. When I met Jordan's mother, we shared that dream. When Jordan started to play football, we talked more and more about it. "Then when everything came to- gether, Jordan was going into high school and I was offered a job in the U.S., and we decided as a family that we had the opportunity to do it." Despite his entire life being about to change dramatically, Genmark Heath showed no hesitation or resistance in making the move. "The way Jordan works is if he has a goal he is very focused and that is where he is going to focus all of his attention," Krister Genmark said. "He never really hesitated. Granted he was a young teenager and going into high school, and all of his friends would be in Sweden. "It's a sensitive age in that way. He said, 'Let's do this' and actually left be- fore us so he could attend the football camp at the school." Even though he had learned how to play the game in Sweden, Genmark Heath had to adjust to a new style of football when he arrived at Francis Parker School. He would later transfer to Cathedral Catholic for his junior and senior years. "One of Jordan's challenges was in Sweden he was always better than ev- eryone else," Genmark said. "He was very fast, very strong. When he got here he realized there's more guys like him and he had to work even harder to keep up with them. I would say the physical part was much, much tougher when he came here." Off the field, Genmark Heath also had to adapt to a new way of life so- cially, including the differences be- tween American and Swedish teenag- ers, and school. "Jordan got into a very academically demanding school and even though he spoke English and his biological dad is English speaking, he said in the beginning he was kind of translating everything for himself and listening to the teachers," Krister Genmark said. "It took too long. He realized he had to get it down and not have to translate everything he was listening to. "He was studying very hard that first month. He was staying up late to get everything down." While his original dream was to simply play football in high school, Genmark Heath quickly found out his career would likely not end at the prep level. More learning and adjust- ing ensued. "Our goal and his goal was for him to play high school football," Krister Genmark said. "Then pretty early peo- ple were telling him you are a good player and you will play in college. … It was a learning process for the first two years when we realized he had the potential to play on the next level. "When he got the first calls and coaches showed up at his school, he was very confused. What does this re- ally mean? We were fortunate enough to have really good people around us to help us through the process and not get too consumed by it." Genmark Heath's talents and hard work provided him the opportunity to continue his athletic career at over a dozen programs. He ultimately com- mitted to Cal this previous October. The firing of Sonny Dykes left some uncertainty around the program and that is when Notre Dame swooped in and offered Jan. 11. The Irish hit all the right buttons Jordan Genmark Heath's 7,700-Mile Journey To Notre Dame Genmark Heath was born in Stockholm, Sweden, and began playing football at the age of 8. PHOTO COURTESY RIVALS.COM