In Los Angeles, the black and gold draw a bright line between a player and the spotlight. For Jacob Shaffelburg, LAFC’s No. 18, the distance to that stage began in Port Williams, Nova Scotia. A village of about 1,100 people in the Annapolis Valley.
Now 26, Shaffelburg brings his direct running and relentless energy to an LAFC attack alongside Denis Bouanga and Son Heung-min. The move puts him in a new city and a new chapter. But the story behind the winger has never belonged to him alone. It belongs to the family that helped him leave, the neighbours who filled a grandstand to welcome him home, and a province that saw its own hopes travel with him.
Raised by the community
Before the stadiums and international tournaments, there was Valley United SC and a family that made soccer part of everyday life. Shaffelburg’s older brother, Zach, remembers his younger sibling firing hard shots at friends who volunteered to play goalkeeper. His sister, Jessica, offered a different kind of training: she did not go easy on him in a tackle.
“Any hard challenges he’s had this tournament he’s already received from his sister when he was younger,” Zach told CBC during the 2024 Copa América.
That family edge came with a community behind it. When Canada’s men’s team held an open training session in Halifax in 2025-the program’s first visit to Nova Scotia: thousands came to watch. Children queued for autographs. In the family section, Shaffelburg spotted neighbours from home.
“I was kind of raised by the community,” he told OneSoccer. “I mean, I had my neighbours there. It’s a special place. Everyone loves each other.”
The warmth of that homecoming had a history. Growing up far from the country’s main soccer centres meant believing in a path that could be hard to see. Shaffelburg’s brother called his Copa América success “an achievement for the whole family.” And when Sidney Crosby visited Shaffelburg in the locker room after Canada’s quarterfinal win over Venezuela, Zach saw a familiar quality in both hometown heroes: modesty.
Shaffelburg has a nickname, too: “Maritime Messi,” coined during that tournament. He’s not convinced by the comparison. “The Messi thing is funny because I couldn’t be more of an opposite player than that guy,” he said.
The joke lands because it sounds like him: a gifted player who keeps the attention on the work, and on where he came from.
The hard decision to leave
At 14, Shaffelburg began to understand the limits of being a young player in Nova Scotia. A visit from a youth national-team coach left him feeling that the province was being checked off a list rather than seriously scouted.
“If I’m going to do something, I’ve got to get out of here,” he recalled.
He and his parents, Michael and Linda, made a plan. At 15, he left home for Berkshire School in Massachusetts. A year later, he joined the Toronto FC academy. Leaving wasn’t a rejection of home. It was a decision the family made together to give his ambition a chance.
The road still had its hard stretches. An injury limited his 2020 season in Toronto. His next year brought more opportunity, three goals and three assists in 20 appearances, but he was traded to Nashville midway through 2022. A change of club can test a player’s confidence as much as his game. Shaffelburg found his footing in Tennessee, earning Nashville’s Newcomer of the Year recognition in 2023 and helping the club lift the 2025 U.S. Open Cup, starting in the final.
Then came Los Angeles. In December 2025, LAFC acquired him from Nashville in a deal that included $500,000 in General Allocation Money in 2026 and another $500,000 in 2027. For a team built to attack quickly, his pace and willingness to press offer a natural fit. For Shaffelburg, the move brought a new platform just before Canada’s home World Cup.
A national breakthrough
Shaffelburg made his senior Canada debut in 2020 and helped the team finish first in the final round of Concacaf qualifying for the 2022 World Cup. But the summer of 2024 changed how many fans saw him.
At its first-ever Copa América, Canada reached the quarterfinals against Venezuela. Shaffelburg set up Jonathan David’s winner against Peru, Canada’s first victory of the tournament. Against Venezuela, he scored the opening goal; Canada went on to advance on penalties. Canada ultimately finished fourth, and Shaffelburg earned a place in the tournament’s quarterfinal Best XI.
His game (quick, direct, and committed to the press) found another gear under Canada coach Jesse Marsch. Shaffelburg has been clear about how well the approach suits him: “Jesse’s a great coach to play for. He’s given me a lot of confidence. It’s the best style I can play.”
That rise is part of what made him a symbol for home. Not because one winger carried a national team on his own, but because supporters in a small Nova Scotia village could watch one of their own help Canada make history on a major stage. And with a World Cup on North American soil, the kid from Port Williams now plays for a club in the host country, one step closer to the tournament his qualifying run helped secure.
Back home, still hungry
Halifax’s 2025 training camp offered a rare chance to see the journey come full circle. Canada’s men had never trained in the province before. Shaffelburg had already played at the Wanderers Grounds as a Toronto FC player, scoring the deciding goal in a Canadian Championship match there. Now he returned with the national team, with thousands watching from the stands.
He had helped encourage the visit, too. During Marsch’s cross-country tour in January, Shaffelburg texted the coach to call Nova Scotia “the best province in Canada.” Months later, the team was there.
The applause was a homecoming, not a finish line. Shaffelburg has spoken openly about the pressure he carries: “I don’t feel like I’ve made it yet. I’m always worried about my spot or being replaced or something like that. I’m never really comfortable ever.” He calls it Maritime grit: the drive to make Nova Scotia proud every time he steps on the field.
That persistence is the thread between the boy who left Port Williams and the winger wearing No. 18 in Los Angeles. The village didn’t make the road easy, and it couldn’t walk it for him. But it gave him a place to come from, people to carry with him, and a reason to keep going.
A World Cup stage and an LAFC shirt may be a long way from a village of 1,100. For Shaffelburg, the distance has never erased the connection. The community was there when he left. It was there when he came home. And wherever the next chapter takes him, it remains part of the story.
Follow Sports Media Network’s LAFC coverage and Jacob Shaffelburg on Instagram at @jacobshaff.
References
- LAFC player profile sheet, provided to Sports Media Network, October 2026.
- LAFC: “LAFC Acquires Forward Jacob Shaffelburg from Nashville SC”
- Nashville SC: “Nashville Soccer Club Acquires $1 Million in General Allocation Money from LAFC in Exchange for Jacob Shaffelburg”
- MLSSoccer.com: “LAFC acquire Jacob Shaffelburg from Nashville SC”
- CBC Sports / The Canadian Press: “Nova Scotia soccer star Shaffelburg at Copa America an ‘achievement for whole family’”
- CBC News: “‘Maritime Messi’ turning heads for Team Canada at Copa America”
- OneSoccer: “From Port Williams to CanMNT: How Jacob Shaffelburg’s character drove took him away and then back home again”
- Canada Soccer: Jacob Shaffelburg profile
- Wikipedia: Jacob Shaffelburg
