FRISCO, Texas -- Sometimes, the good guy does win. In the case of FC Dallas player Ryan Hollingshead, he has won twice.
After a stellar season for UCLA in 2012, Hollingshead was penciled in as a top 10 pick in the 2013 MLS SuperDraft, but a promise he made to his brother five years ago was more important. Hollingshead instead opted to take a year off to help his brother get a new church off the ground.
But Dallas still took a chance, using their No. 20 pick to draft him. Now, nearly two years after taking that leap of faith, Hollingshead is in the lineup rotation for FC Dallas.
“At the end of the day, you respect the guys that are willing to make big decisions like that,” said
goalkeeper Chris Seitz
, who himself made a big decision to place someone else’s needs over his playing career when
he submitted to being a bone marrow donor
. “If you aren’t willing to do that sort of stuff, there is going to be some regret.”
Some college players are simply unable to make the professional cut given the physical and mental demands on the MLS level. But even with a year off from the sport, Hollingshead has managed to do more than adjust.
“After being out of the game for a year, coming in and making a difference in your first year is huge,” Seitz said. “He puts in the work. He is one of the first guys in and one of the last guys out. Obviously that’s a cliché, but at the end of the day he is a testament to it.”
Hollingshead earned his first start in what turned out to be the team’s most lopsided win of the season,
a 5-0 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes in California on August 16
, and with
Blas Perez
and
Michel
unavailable for last Saturday’s game against the Chicago Fire,
he earned yet another start
and has worked his way regularly into the top 18.
“Ryan has had a great few weeks,” said head coach Oscar Pareja. “I think he found his rhythm. He already played in San Jose and he got some minutes in the last game. Things are coming along for him.”
Hollingshead admitted that it was a huge challenge to work back into soccer shape, then raise his game to be at a professional level.
“I think the mentality was the hardest thing to overcome,” Hollingshead said. “Why is this taking so long, I used to be able to do A, B, and C and now I can’t do any of them. There was a lot of frustration.
“What kept me going was my desire to prove myself, especially for FC Dallas to be like, hey you drafted me on a whim, not knowing if I was going to come play, now that I’m coming, I want to prove that I was worthwhile, prove I was worth your pick.”
And while breaking into MLS has proven gratifying, the 23-year-old Hollingshead didn't necessarily assume he'd ever step on an MLS field again.
“When my brother decided the church was happening in February [2013], well that is maybe the worst timing in terms of getting drafted and getting a chance to play professional soccer," said the California native. "But it wasn’t even a question. Even if it meant I would never play soccer in MLS, it was worth it to us because this was something we’d been dreaming about for years. We did it, and we don’t regret a single minute of it.
“The church started, literally with just four people. My brother, his wife and me and my wife.”
Hollingshead remains in regular contact with his brother, who shares stories about how the church in California continues to grow. But he also calls to talk soccer and his brother's pro career, which has only begun to scratch the surface of its potential.
“The good thing about now is I’m finally starting to play," Hollingshead said. "And I still don’t feel like I’m in top form. There is a lot more room for me to grow.”
Kevin Lindstrom covers FC Dallas for MLSsoccer.com.
