A Kicker gets the call

Today the USL Second Division club, The Richmond Kickers, announced that their 19th player has moved on from their club to MLS, the big leagues. Who is that lucky number 19? None other than Joey Worthen, who was signed by Real Salt Lake. Joey who?

Personally I think it is fun to look at two aspects of this story. 1) Who is Joey Worthen and where did he come from, what has his American soccer career looked like? 2) Who are the other 18 former Richmond Kickers who have played in MLS and have I ever heard of them? So there you go, two focuses to today's post.

1) Who is Joey Worthen and where did he come from, what has his American soccer career looked like? It turns out Joey Worthen is one of those guys who had a solid college career at South Carolina, played in some US Youth camps but wasn't drafted by MLS coming out of college. He was good enough to be drafted by the Pittsburgh Riverhounds and earned the Riverhounds' Rookie of the Year award in 2002 after being the only player on the team to play in all 28 games of the season. In between the 2003 & 2004 seasons he was traded to Richmond and played for two seasons in Virginia. So now he is making the step up to the big leagues. It will be interesting to remember his name halfway through the season to see how he is doing for Real Salt Lake. That club needs some major help after a dismal first season. So you have to imagine new blood will be welcome and if he plays well in the pre-season a spot will be open to him.

Joey's road to MLS is similar to many other guys who didn't get a lot of recognition after college. It proves that players will develop at different speeds and not everyone is suited to the early jump after high school or before graduating from college. Now we'll see if he can make good on his chance.

2) Who are the other 18 former Richmond Kickers who have played in MLS and have I ever heard of them? Well, here is the list:
Mike Clark (Columbus Crew)
Dwayne DeRosario (San Jose Earthquakes)
Brian Kamler (D.C. United, Miami Fusion, New England Revolution)
Brian Bates (Colorado Rapids, Dallas Burn)
Scott Budnick (Miami Fusion, Tampa Bay Mutiny)
Jeff Causey (New England Revolution, D.C. United)
Ben Crawley (D.C. United)
Ted Gillen (NY/NJ Metrostars)
Gary Glasgow (Kansas City Wizards)
Onandi Lowe (Kansas City Wizards)
Mike McGinty (D.C. United)
Mark Simpson (D.C. United)
Todd Yeagley (Columbus Crew)
Ihor Dotsenko (Kansas City Wizards)
Rob Ukrop (New England Revolution)
Richie Williams (D.C. United, NY/NJ Metrostars)
David Testo (Columbus Crew)
Clyde Simms (D.C. United)
and Joey Worthen (Real Salt Lake)

Many of those names are no longer in MLS but some of them are. Dwayne DeRosario has probably made the biggest impact in the league. If you didn't see his wicked free kick last year you're missing out. Follow this link to the MLS sights and sounds page and click on the 2005 goal of the year drop down list and Wk 29. It was truly a world class goal you expect to see in Spain.

So the Richmond Kickers aren't a gold mine of talent in any way, but the case of DeRosario shows there are some guys who slip through the cracks and are waiting to become stars as DeRo truly has.