RICHMOND, Va. – Richmond Kickers forward Nicholas Simmonds on Monday earned a call-up to Jamaica's U-20 national team for the country's upcoming 2024 Concacaf Men's U-20 Qualifiers hosted in Saint Kitts and Nevis. 

Simmonds and his teammates are set to face Martinique on Saturday, Feb. 24, Grenada on Monday, Feb. 26, and Bermuda on Wednesday, Feb. 28. 

Simmonds was previously called up to Jamaica's U-17 squad in 2023 as the team competed to qualify for FIFA U-17 World Cup Indonesia 2023. He made his national team debut with the Reggae Boyz's U-17 team in the 2023 Concacaf Under-17 Championship against Guadeloupe.

Simmonds was a member of the Richmond United U-17 Boys which won the ECNL Boys National Final in July 2023. He scored one of the team's two goals as they went on to win 2-0 over Seattle United. That same week, he signed his first USL Academy contract with the Kickers. 

A month later, Simmonds scored an 84th-minute equalizer at City Stadium to secure a 3-3 result for the Kickers against Central Valley Fuego FC in his professional debut. His dramatic equalizer made him the youngest goalscorer in Kickers' history at 16 years, 8 months and 13 days old.

"These are the opportunities that motivate me as a person and a player," Simmonds said. "Earning the call-up to represent Jamaica on the international stage is an honor and extremely special to me."

"Nicholas has had an amazing last year in the game," Darren Sawatzky, Richmond's Head Coach and Chief Sporting Officer said. "He is a talented young attacker and we rewarded his hard work with first-team minutes in 2023. As he continues to grow both in the Richmond Kickers professional environment and in the Richmond United Academy environment, we are pleased that he has been called up by Jamaica and the U-20 team. We wish him all the best through the qualifying games and his Richmond Kickers family will be watching from afar."

Simmonds is the second second-generation player to don a Kickers shirt after his father Gregory Simmonds previously played for the club in 2003. His sister, Kameron Simmonds, a Florida State University star and recent W League RVA commit, represented Jamaica's women's national team at FIFA Women's World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023.