Just Sayin': Kyle Beckerman's parents' roots on Delmarva

• Kyle Beckerman grew up in Crofton, Md., and his parents retired to Ocean Pines five years ago.
• Beckerman made his first World Cup roster at the age of 32.
• Beckerman decided he wanted to play of the US team when he was 8.
• US coach Jurgen Klinsmann saw what so many overlooked in Beckerman.

Paul and Meg Beckerman used to haul their son, Kyle, to everything from baseball and swimming to tennis and wrestling and even football at one time or another in his young athletic career, but soccer was the constant.

Along with his brother, Todd, who was four years older, athletics became sort of a way of life for the Crofton, Md., family's suburban existence.

Paul, a science teacher, and Meg, who taught a third grade gifted and talented class, were home by about four o'clock on most days, allowing for the constant chauffeuring.

"We were a normal family going to activities," Paul said.

But today, those activities for the couple who retired to Ocean Pines five years ago will include taking in Kyle's game against Ghana in Natal, Brazil.

Thinking back to those days of seemingly endless practices, games and matches, Meg doesn't think they could have ever imagined the experience they'll have Monday.

"We knew he was good," she said. "He started playing at 4 and played up with kids who were 6 years old."

They never pushed Kyle — or Todd for that matter — toward any particular sport, and he had the broad experiences that let him make his own decision. In the third grade, he played soccer and football at the same time, changing in the car between sports, but decided himself that one year of that was enough.

He chose soccer.

At 8, Kyle decided he was going to grow up to be a professional soccer player. Prior to Major League Soccer, it really meant playing for the national team. It was the 1990 World Cup in Italy, and the United States reached the group stages for the first time since 1950. They lost all three group stage games, but Kyle had caught the bug. He watched every game on tape and started signing everything he wrote, "Kyle Beckerman USA #15."

A family built on success

Every night of the week there was a game or a practice. Like many families, the question of what's going on Saturday was answered with something like, "Kyle has a game."

But at the same time he also followed in his brother's footsteps. Todd was a standout wrestler, and Kyle would hold his own even against his older sibling. Todd, for his part, played soccer as well.

As they improved, athletics became less local and more about traveling.

"We didn't think it was a strain," Paul said. "We just thought it was something you did. If your kids are a certain level, you just sort of pursue that activity at that level instead of playing local. One year he played local, but we also started playing with a travel team.

"It was just something he did, and it was sort of like, if he wasn't that good we wouldn't be doing what we were doing."

As Kyle started focusing more on soccer, Todd had turned almost exclusively to wrestling. He stopped playing soccer in 10th grade and was a star at DeMatha Catholic High School, going 208-1, then was a two-time All-America at Nebraska. After years as an assistant at Maryland, he is now the head wrestling coach at Brown University.

Wrestling was the last distraction from soccer that Kyle gave up after winning a private school championship at 112 pounds as a freshman at DeMatha. But when it happened, his parents weren't surprised.

When he was in the eighth grade, he left the Maryland Junior League State championships, forfeiting his semifinal match because he had an Olympic Development Program soccer tryout to get to.

After his freshman year at DeMatha — which was spent sitting on the bench behind a lot of veteran players — Kyle transferred to Arundel High School to focus on soccer.

"We had a meeting with the coach and it was sort of like, we have a really good team and we'll see if we can find him some playing time," Paul said. "We just sort of looked at each other like ... Really? Here is a national team player and this high school coach we don't really know was saying we'll see if we can find him some playing time."

But it never fazed the kid who had always been too good to play with his peers, but struggled for playing time against the older kids he played with.

That same coach would later say it looked like the ball was connected to his feet with Velcro.

Playing in the shadows

His career took off at Arundel, and by the time he was a senior, he was accepted into the U.S. Under-17 residency program in Bradenton, Fla. He would play in the U-17 World Cup in New Zealand with future national team players Landon Donovan, DaMarcus Beasley and Oguchi Onyewu.

The Beckermans never thought about Kyle reaching those heights as a child and, until he was in high school, hadn't even thought a college scholarship would be realistic.

But Kyle would forgo college and join MLS, where he would join the now-defunct Miami Fusion.

Much like his earlier career, he found himself on the bench playing behind more experienced stars, but he was always learning. He also had the benefit of forming friendships with teammates like Nick Rimando and Pablo Mastroeni.

Meanwhile, his former U-17 teammates where on squads that needed them right away, paving the way for earlier opportunities on the senior national squad.

"At every level, there was a time when he was sitting the bench and we as parents would have thought he should be in because we thought he was good," Meg said.

After going to the Colorado Rapids, he found himself backing up Mastroeni and struggling for playing time.

"I don't think he ever got frustrated," Paul said. "He'd call home and talk about it. He'd say, 'It's going to work out. I'm getting better, stronger, learning how to be a pro.' He was always positive about it, even though we would be thinking, 'You should be playing, you should be in the lineup.' "

An injury to Mastroeni gave Kyle an opportunity in 2006 when he had seven goals and four assists in 31 games, but again missed out on World Cup competition.

The following season, he was traded midway through the year to Real Salt Lake for midfielder Mehdi Ballouchy in what Meg proudly points out is thought of as the most lopsided trade in MLS history. Kyle has made seven consecutive All-Star teams, and Ballouchy is out of the league.

When he missed out on making the 2010 World Cup roster, Kyle easily could have given up his national team dreams.

"He didn't know after 2010 if he would be given a chance," Meg said. "We thought that maybe it was something that wasn't in the cards for him, but he kept playing his hardest and did everything that he could so that if he got a chance he'd be ready."

That chance came the following year when Jurgen Klinsmann took over the national team. Everybody had a clean slate, and Kyle's play for Real Salt Lake impressed the former German World Cup striker enough that he got the chance he needed.

The grisly veteran, at 32 years old with unmistakable dreadlocks, did not let it pass by.

So on Saturday, Paul and Meg hit the road again, just like they always have.

This time the destination wasn't to Baltimore, somewhere down I-95 or even a comparatively short jaunt to New York.

It was for Brazil and the World Cup.

Kyle has a game.

syonker@dmg.gannett.com 410-845-4642 On Twitter @ShawnYonker