It was February 12 of last year on a random practice field at The Home Depot Center. There were no TV cameras, radio broadcasters, or diehard fans in attendance. Onlookers consisted of coaches, teammates, agents, and a few friends. All pretty ordinary by MLS preseason standards. But it was absolutely exceptional for one player: a clearly nervous 20-year-old goalkeeper taking the field for the Houston Dynamo at halftime.
Those 45 minutes on a sunny Carson morning permanently altered Tyler Deric's life. Going into that match, he was the kid from the Dynamo Academy trying out to be the third goalkeeper. There was no other goalkeeper in camp, but Deric was not going to make the roster without showing his mettle in a game situation.
He was not perfect in that second half, but he was able to make up for his mistakes. A muffed goal kick, for example, resulted in a crucial save on an Alan Gordon shot, and Deric's confidence grew from there. It resulted in a shutout second half, completing a 2-0 Dynamo victory.
"He was definitely nervous that day," Dynamo goalkeepers coach Tim Hanley said. "It's hard to step in there, and you want to get out of there with the clean sheet. I think that had to help him feel like, 'OK, I got through that.'"
One year later, Deric is at a very different place in his life. He stands a little taller, looks you in the eye a bit more, and is more confident about what he brings to the world and, more specifically, the Houston Dynamo. In short, he is a professional.
It has not all gone smoothly for Deric, but a professional contract and a season with the Dynamo have helped him mature. He traveled with the team on several international trips last fall in the CONCACAF Champions League and was even on the matchday roster twice.
He arrived for training camp this year with an extra bounce in his step and additional confidence gained in what he called an outstanding offseason.
"I knew what I needed to work on and focus on, which is fine-tuning everything in my game," Deric said. "Everything was focused on training and what I needed to work on - getting stronger, faster, better hands, footwork. The whole offseason wasn't an offseason; it was a pre-preseason."
Deric's role is not expected to change for 2010; he should once again support the outstanding duo of Pat Onstad and Tally Hall while working with Tim Hanley to improve his own game, and another loan spell might even give him his first competitive professional action.
"He has improved, and he's in good physical shape, but he's still learning," Hanley said. "The hardest thing is to learn how to contribute to the team winning even when you don't play. It's a difficult role, but I think he's done alright so far. There are parts of his game he still has to work on, but we're going to be looking to find him minutes at every opportunity, from training to scrimmages to maybe some sort of loan."
Whatever the situation, Deric expects to be ready because, in addition to typical goalkeeper drills, he found a new secret weapon during the offseason.
"I really got into indoor rock climbing, actually, and that's helped out my whole body," Deric said. "It's helped my forearms get stronger, my upper body get stronger, and my core. Then I also made sure I did my long-distance running that [assistant athletic trainer] Shane [Caron] put out for us."
Rock climbing may not equal climbing the Dynamo depth chart just yet, but Deric enters 2010 brimming with confidence and more prepared than ever for any game action. One year later, he's ready to face bigger and better crowds.
