He is now in charge of the overall management, direction and development of coaching and grassroots development programs across Canada for Soccer Canada.

Ditch the technical jargon and go to the basics.

What you get is something Canada has been in desperate need of since people began playing soccer with a pig’s bladder for a ball.

You have a Canadian soccer player who was raised, trained and played in Canada; has beaten what was then the longest odds to play professionally overseas successfully; captained Canada’s national team; studied the game and understands what it takes to develop Canadian players; has tried to change the system in Canada; and has recently earned his coaching licence enabling him to coach any team, anywhere in the world.

The Soccer Canada job description fits Jason deVos like a second skin.

One can only hope the Appin native is going to get the chance to do what’s he’s been wanting to do since he recognized his time on the playing field was coming to an end and that’s making the game better and giving young, Canadian players, men and women, a chance to be successful in the game.

The 42-year-old has lived the successes and tragedies that is a Canadian player trying to make it big; he’s lived the frustrations; the tunnel vision; the politics; people who talk-the-talk but never walked-the-walk; and the many people protecting their turf rather than worrying about their players.

The development of soccer and players is big in the deVos agenda. But having travelled the route he’s travelled, deVos recognizes that if a player can’t enjoy the trip and doesn’t believe there is a destination to strive for, there will be no development.

“This is the principle I’m going to have printed and put on my wall in my office,” deVos said.

“The need of the player comes first in every decision. It’s not about what I want, what other people want, coaches or clubs, presidents or what the players need. It has to be what’s in the best interest of the player. If you follow that, I don’t think we’re going to go too far wrong.”

Amen to that.

DeVos has played in leagues at all levels all around the world. Unlike many who have gone before him, he recognizes that playing experience isn’t enough, so he’s studied the game from the grassroots level up and worked at improving his knowledge.

As deVos worked through his coaching certificate, a process that began in 2015, he was asked to write a description of his goals and career path.

“I said to our academic advisor, ‘The problem is the job that I want doesn’t even exist,’ ” deVos said with a laugh. “He said ‘That’s OK. We’re going to make sure that you are ready when that time does come, you’ll be ready to take it with both hands.’

“Then this opportunity came up and I look at the job description and said ‘This is it. This is my chance to make a difference.’ ”

DeVos isn’t going to force a square peg into a round hole. He is a person that will work to see where that peg does fit.

“It’s never going to be about me having all the answers and me coming in and telling people what to do,” deVos said. “I have my ideas and my experience and my knowledge base. I want to work with people to create a solution for their part of our country that works for them and the people that live in those communities; at the same time tying it into an over-arching vision of what we are trying to do in Canada and where we want the game to go.”

DeVos said he wants to make soccer development “seamless and obstacle free” for the players. He knows what that means.

“We have challenges in Canada with the geography, climate and systems,” deVos says. “I grew up in London and played soccer there and even now, there’s more disagreement than agreement in the London soccer community. I came out of that city knowing how difficult it is. But I know there is talent in communities like London.

“I’m a kid from Appin, Ontario. What worked for me won’t work in other areas and players shouldn’t have to go through what I had to go through to make the national team. That’s what’s been driving me for eight years since I finished playing. There’s got to be a better way of doing things. Lord knows, it was a struggle for me.”

But now the Canadian soccer system is going to get direction from a Canadian player who can speak to development and the needs of a Canadian player. DeVos says he isn’t interested in coaching. He’s interested in building an entire system.

After he retired deVos was a television analyst. He expects he will only return to it on special occasions. He would still like to work with the Canadian national teams as an assistant coach working specifically with central defenders. He worked extensively with Londoner Shelina Zadorsky and her partners Kadeisha Buchanan and Rebecca Quinn.

DeVos really wants players to listen to his message.

“It’s about getting parents and their kids to realize they can be something that they never imagined they could be; they could be something bigger and better and reach a level far beyond their wildest imagination,” deVos said. “If you had said to me when I was 16 years old and we did our first interview that I was going to go on and have the career I had, I’d have laughed in your face. That’s what I can bring to this . . . I am living proof of what you can achieve in the game with a tiny, tiny fraction of ability and a whole lot of work and effort.”