Boston College Athletics
The Life of Kyle
February 03, 2003 | Men's Soccer
Feb. 3, 2003
Someone needs to pinch me because these past few months have been like an amazing dream. Last year at this time I was so close to hanging up my soccer boots and calling it a career because I was so disenchanted with the game. But I decided to come to BC and play one last year of soccer, hoping to step away from the game content and without that gut-wrenching feeling of not living up to expectations. During this past season, I fell back in love with the game. Our team bonded in a way that happens so very rarely. Each one of us drew upon the cohesion of the group to play at a level that at times transcended our natural abilities. We had an amazing run, winning both the Big East regular season and tournament titles.
At some point along the incredible journey of this past season, I began to believe that I just might be able to fulfill my lifelong dream of playing professional soccer. As far back as I can remember, the one thing I truly wanted to become was a professional soccer player. That dream was lost for a number of years, as I struggled to come to grips with high expectations and internal pressures, as I moved from high school to college. During this tremendous season of ours, though, the dream returned.
I was fortunate enough to be selected to attend the Major League Soccer Combine in Florida in January, a prelude to the MLS Draft, which would ultimately determine my fate. Complicating my dream of playing soccer was the fact that I have only one semester left to finish up my master's degree in higher education administration, which I was determined to finish regardless of what soccer opportunities came my way. With preseason training camps beginning at the end of January, that meant that the only hope I had of being able to finish my degree and play soccer was if I got drafted by the New England Revolution. In addition, I would have to somehow able to work it out with both the team and my professors to be able to do both at once. For the week between the Combine and the Draft, I just kept praying that everything would work out, but deep down I couldn't see it all coming together.
Finally, it was draft day. I was so nervous that I couldn't contain myself. As part of my master's program, I had to do an internship in higher education, and I was working that day for BC Sports Marketing at the BC/BU hockey game. The draft isn't televised, so I had to watch it online, checking every so often to see if I got drafted.
One time I stopped in to check, and they just had done pick 28, so I was about to get ready to go back to work when my phone rang. One of my BC teammates called and said congratulations. I said, "What, did I get drafted?" He said I got drafted by the New England Revolution with the 29th pick.
I was ecstatic. It was the perfect situation. My only thoughts were, "OK, so how am I going to get my professors to allow me to miss some class and make up assignments, and how on earth am I going to be able to balance four courses, a 10-hour-a-week internship and a 10-hour-a-week graduate assistantship with two-a-day practices and preseason trips?"
Once again, everything worked out perfectly. My professors and my internship advisors were unbelievably understanding with the situation and were willing to help me work it out so that I would be able to graduate in May and play at the same time. Needless to say, my second question of how I am going to do it all is still haunting me, but I have faith that I will be able to put in the hard work and make it through.
I think the key word in all of this has been and continues to be faith. If you have faith in yourself, things tend to work out for you. This week, I begin my career as a professional athlete. It is a situation where there are no guarantees. The minute I don't perform, I could be out of a job, and my dream of being a pro soccer player could be over. But, I have faith, not necessarily faith that I'll one day be a superstar, but faith in the idea that if I work as hard as I can and trust myself, I'll enjoy the journey no matter where it takes me.
