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Djuradj Vujcic ,

March 26, 2014 Email Djuradj Vujcic Read this on your iPhone/iPad or Android device



Frank Jonke

After college and university with Notre Dame and the Louisville Cardinals, Frank Jonke, Jr. from Pickering, Ontario played for the Toronto Lynx and the Italia Shooters. The 6 ft 3 striker then went on to play in Finland making a name for himself at JBK, Oulu, Inter Turku and Jaro. After five years in Finland, Frank is back home in Canada playing with the NASL’s FC Edmonton. We recently caught up with him for a quick telephone chat from Edmonton.



RedNation Online (RNO): What are your first impressions with FC Edmonton now that you’re back in Canada? Do you know maybe what your role with the team will be like?



Frank Jonke: Basically my role is to come in here and score goals. Get in to the positions where I can help the team with some goals or even to create the chances for our team on the offensive attack. As for my first impressions, to tell you the truth – I didn’t expect them to be this high. The game is very physical, very strong, very fast-paced. It’s actually great. Once you come in and you see how much better it is than what you thought it would be – it’s a bonus.



RNO: Can the NASL compare to when you played in the USL and the CSL or is it a step above?



Frank Jonke: I’d say it’s a step above – 100%. You have players from other teams signing MLS players and bringing players down and you have international players playing on NASL teams. I mean, in the USL you didn’t get that too often. Also, it’s unfortunate to see what’s happening with the CSL now.



RNO: Do you feel that the NASL can be up there with MLS in terms of quality?



Frank Jonke: I definitely do. I mean, I think the differences between MLS and the NASL are the Designated Players. Most of the players in the NASL that were close to being on an MLS squad have the same background – they come from college, get drafted high and then a DP takes their spot and they get sent down to the NASL so they are quality players as well. That’s the only thing that differentiates the two.



RNO: You received your first cap with the CMNT last year. Now that you got your foot in the door, do you feel that you could get called up again?



Frank Jonke: Absolutely. I was called up as well now under the new management – under Benito – in January of this year. The only thing I can do is do well with Edmonton. If the chance is there and if I get called up, that’s great. That would show that I’m doing well with Edmonton and that I’m keeping the level that I had before. So really, it’s not in my hands but what the CSA thinks.



RNO: I feel that you are under-rated. Would you agree with me when I say that?



Frank Jonke: Well, you can take that both ways. I mean under-rated or just really never getting the opportunity to be where I could have been but to tell you the truth, I’m happy with where my career has taken me. It’s still more of an opportunity than a lot of players get. I might have been under-rated but there’s still a lot of players that don’t get the chance to do that so I’m ecstatic to be able to play for my country. Once and if that was the last time then it was the last time but I played for my country. Although having said that, I definitely don’t want it to be the last time.



RNO: While with Canada in 2013, you already had Colin Miller as a coach. How was your experience with him? Obviously you’re with him in Edmonton again so do you feel that you guys could make a good one-two punch?



Frank Jonke: Absolutely. That’s one of the reasons I came to FC Edmonton. I knew Colin already and how he trains, I knew his honesty and what he thought of me and you can’t ask for more in a coach than that. When he’s straight up with you and when he knows how you play, he’s not going to try to reinvent the wheel on how you play.



RNO: While in Finland you played on the same team (AC Oulu from 2009 to 2010) as your brother John.



Frank Jonke: Well yeah, it was pretty special. We started back in Louisville together. That’s a big accomplishment when brothers go to one of the biggest schools in the States. Before that I was at the Notre Dame College in Cleveland. When my brother was recruited to go to Louisville I guess they heard about me as I was doing well at Notre Dame and they wanted to transfer me over there. That was a perfect opportunity to go and live with my brother into a new environment and having a family member with me. Then when he graduated from Louisville I was at Oulu at the time and they needed help with the defense so what better person to make a recommendation.



RNO: Do you ever consider going back to live in Finland or are you happy to be back home?



Frank Jonke: I’m actually extremely excited to be back home. I love Finland and I have nothing bad to say about Finland but home is home. You get the chance to play at home and have your family come and see you pretty much whenever they want now. No more 11-hour plane rides to Finland to watch me play (laughs).



RNO: Will you be playing centre-forward with Edmonton or will you play more as a striker on the right side?



Frank Jonke: I think we’ll be playing a 4-4-2. I’ll be one of the strikers – although I’m not guaranteed a starting spot. It’s just how we do in the next couple of games and we’ll see how it goes. It’s great to have competition on our team. Every player works towards a starting spot, right? I don’t expect anything. I have to work and earn my position with the team.



RNO: It’s a big deal to work your way up all the way from your highschool’s soccer program to the Canadian national team. Obviously it was a dream of yours but was it something that you planned?



Frank Jonke: I think it just sort of happened like that. At first when I was younger – when I was really young at like 12, 13 – soccer was everything to me. Then you get to school and start to fade off a bit and find different things that you want to do. But once soccer got serious again at around 18 with all the college recruiting and such I thought to myself – OK maybe I can make this a life goal. As soon as I gained confidence and did well at Notre Dame then at Louisville, the sky was the limit from there. I knew I had to work my way up because nothing is given to you in this world so I just kept going and it’s panned out so far.



RNO: Do you feel you can play 5 or 6 more years?



Frank Jonke: Of course. That’s the game plan. Every year you grow with experience. After five or six years your mind still works fine but your body won’t respond the same way it did when you’re my age now. Experience is still an important factor and age is just a number now.