It was the Junior League State Wrestling Tournament, and Paul and Meg Beckerman were anticipating their son, Kyle, competing in the semifinals when it suddenly became clear Kyle Beckerman, then 13, was going in a different direction.
"Kyle asked me what time it was," Paul Beckerman said. "I said, 'About 2:30,' and he went over to the corner of the gym and started taking off his wrestling stuff. I said, 'What are you doing?' and he told me, 'The [Olympic Development Program] has soccer tryouts in an hour. We need to get going.' "
Beckerman, who graduated from Arundel High in 2000, was going to be a soccer player.
Today, at 27, he is team captain for Real Salt Lake of Major League Soccer and in the player pool for the United States World Cup team next year in South Africa.
"It was always my dream to play for the national team even when I didn't know what it was," said Beckerman, who has flowing dreadlocks. "To be on the national team, it's an honor. And I'm proud to be playing Major League Soccer for 10 years."
While it came as a shock to Paul Beckerman that his son - who would win the private school state 112-pound wrestling championship as a freshman and played lacrosse, baseball and football, and even spent a season on a swimming team - had settled on soccer as his sport of choice, it didn't surprise Beckerman's mom, who had clues to his passion early on.
"When he was 4, he was playing soccer with his older brother in a league for 6-year-olds," she said. "When he was 8, the 1990 World Cup was being played, and he knew all the good players. He'd come in and say he was going to watch and started introducing me to soccer. It was always soccer. The ball was there, and he'd just get the ball and go outside and juggle. One season, he even wanted to go to a camp for goalies."
Beckerman said the choice, while clear, was difficult, and getting to where he is now wasn't easy - though he had a pretty easy time playing in high school.
"He was definitely a student of the game," Arundel coach Nick Jauschnegg said of his center midfielder. "He had the ability at times to take over games. It seemed like he had Velcro on his feet. The ball would never get away from him. But even more important, he was a really good person and very well liked by his teammates."
Perhaps because of two pieces of advice he received at an early age, Beckerman has always been a good teammate.
