Commentary
Clint Dempsey's diverse childhood soccer experience
- by Mike Woitalla @MikeWoitalla, Jun 7, 2013
Clint Dempsey, the USA’s second all-time highest scorer, leads the USA against Jamaica in World Cup qualifying on Friday. Dempsey is the subject of the
YouthSoccerInsider's latest edition of "When They Were Children."
By Mike Woitalla
He grew up in the East Texas town of Nacogdoches and while a
teenager played in Hispanic adult leagues for teams with names such as Zamora, Tampico and El Salvador.
"There were ex-pros and former semipros,'' Clint Dempsey said. ''I
learned a lot. Playing with men, you have to learn quickly. It's sink or swim. It forced me to develop."
Dempsey says he grew up admiring the Argentine, Colombian and Brazilian style of
play:
"Keeping the ball and making the other team work. The Hispanic league was like that.''
Starting in fifth grade, Dempsey took six-hour roundtrip journeys to Dallas where
his play for elite club Dallas Texans paved the path to stardom.
Dempsey was the second of five children and grew up in a trailer in his grandparents' backyard. His mother,
Debbie, said, in a 2006 interview with ESPN reporter Wayne Drehs, that
expenses for Clint’s youth soccer meant selling her husband's boat, holding off on new furniture, never going out to eat, never going on a vacation -- "Our vacations became soccer tournaments"
-- and not buying a new car.
When he won the 2006 Honda U.S. Player of the Year Award, Clint gave the prize, a pickup truck, to his father.
Dempsey, who after playing college
ball for Furman and in MLS with New England, has starred in the English Premier League since 2007.
Clint was first introduced to soccer by his older brother Ryan, who
said he got a taste of the sport from the Latino kids in their neighborhood. Debbie said she signed her children up for soccer to get them some exercise and Clint's first team was the local rec
league’s Strikers.
But he played plenty of ball on his own.
''I was the little kid in a big family,'' he says, ''so I usually had someone to kick around with. When I
was alone, I'd juggle, kick against the wall, or dribble around by myself pretending I was in the middle of a big game.''
He said playing in different environments is what helped him
become the goal-dangerous, dynamic player he is today.
''The main thing is love of the game,'' said Dempsey. ''You've got to love the game and go out and play with passion. You've got to
want to play whenever you can and find a game wherever you can find it.''
Previous editions of the YouthSoccerInsider’s “When They Were
Children” series:
Neven Subotic
Kristine Lilly
Darlington Nagbe, Sean Johnson, Nick Rimando, Luis Silva, Juan Agudelo
Michael Bradley
Chris Wondolowski
Hope Solo
Jurgen Klinsmann
Mario Balotelli & Philipp Lahm
Nani & David Silva
Cristiano Ronaldo & Danny Welbeck
Bastian Schweinsteiger, Andres Iniesta & Andriy Shevchenko
Didier Drogba
Lionel Messi
U.S. Women World Cup 2011 (Alex Morgan & Co.)
Ronaldinho
Logan Pause, David Ferreira, Fredy Montero, Dwayne De Rosario, CJ Sapong, Perry Kitchen, Tim
Ream
So here is the best USA player saying that most of his development knowledge came from playing with Hispanics and admiring the Argentinian, colombian and brazilian style of play. Maybe there's something to that, huh??
It's like white kids playing bball with black kids. No surprises.
Clint Dempsey reflects the passion that it takes to become a professional soccer player. "I don’t believe skill was, or ever will be, the result of coaches. It is a result of a love affair between the child and the ball."
ROY KEANE.
Arsenal, very true but coaches can have a great influence in that affair by generating the environment for that affair to blossom. The best players, like Dempsey just dont wait for that coach to show up and help make it happen.
that expenses for Clint’s youth soccer meant selling her husband's boat, holding off on new furniture, never going out to eat, never going on a vacation -- "Our vacations became soccer tournaments" -- and not buying a new car.
Boy is this ever true... but hopefully worth it in the long run and if not... hopefully it was a good ride and lotsa memories.