Last year, Bobby Convey became the youngest player to make an MLS debut when he entered a March 25th game two months shy of his 17th birthday. Since then he has become an MLS starter, debuted for the national team and helped the U.S. U-20s reach the World Youth Championship. Get to know the high schooler in this segment of socceramerica.comÆs series on the USAÆs most promising talent. Name: Bobby Convey Team: D.C. United Position: Midfielder Height: 5-8. Weight: 150 Born: May 27, 1983 Hometown: Philadelphia, Pa. 2000 MLS Season: 22 games, 0 goals, 2 assists. 2001MLS Season: 3 games, 1 goals, 1 assists. (through May 4) International: 1999 U-17 World Cup, 2001 U-20 World Cup qualifying (3 goals); 2 full international caps (debut Oct. 25, 2000 vs. Mexico). INTERVIEW BY BRYAN ALVAREZ Soccer America: What do you do when you are not playing soccer? Bobby Convey: I play golf a lot, I sleep a lot, and I have to do school work. Basically, that’s about it. SA: Who is your favorite actor? BC: Tom Cruise. SA: Who is your favorite actress? BC: Cameron Diaz. SA: What is your favorite book? BC: “To Kill A Mockingbird” by Harper Lee. SA: Who is your favorite comedian? BC: Jim Carrey. SA: Who is your favorite musician? BC: The Dave Matthews Band. SA: What’s your current living situation? BC: I just bought a house and I move in three weeks. My sister and her fiancT are going to move in soon. For now, I have some roommates. Just people that I know. SA: Do you have time to go out, be young? BC: Yeah. I just went home this weekend and got a chance to hang out with some of my friends. I still go out and do stuff with kids my own age. SA: How to your friends react to you now that you are a professional? BC: A lot of my friends thought just treated me the same as when I went to school. They don’t treat me differently. SA: Being on the road so much, do you get homesick? BC: Kind of, but I’ve traveling for so long, I’m used to it. It’s always good to go home every once and awhile. SA: What are your impressions of your first year in the MLS? BC: I got a good opportunity to play early in the season. I got a lot of playing time. It helped me a lot physically and mentally. Now I know what it takes to be a good professional. SA: What is the biggest adjustment you had to make? BC: I had to get physically used to playing every week, sometimes twice a week. SA: What was your favorite moment from last season? BC: Playing in my first game. SA: Who has been your greatest influence? BC: Last year, you could say Marco Etcheverry. He’s great with the young players. Everyone on the team is helpful. It’s really not just one person. SA: How do you plan to improve in your second season? BC: I want to score a few goals and contribute to the offense more. SA: What are your predictions for this year? BC: We started off well but it’s a long season. The team is doing well and hopefully we can keep it up. SA: Who is the toughest opponent you faced last year? BC: Chicago. They are a pretty good team and they have good players. SA: What are your opinions about college and high school players coming out early? BC: It’s definitely harder than it looks. It’s great that players in the U.S. have a league to play in. SA: What can the MLS do to retain its young stars? BC: So far they’ve done a great job. It’s basically not up to them. It’s up to soccer growing in the U.S. Hopefully, the league will grow, we’ll get more fans and it will be like Europe. SA: What can the MLS do to improve? BC: Hopefully, we’ll be getting soccer-specific stadiums soon. But in D.C. we really don’t have a problem with fans and a stadium. In other places, we need a bigger fan base and stadiums. SA: Do you have an opinion on single-entity? BC: Not really. It’s definitely a big thing. But, I have no idea. SA: What’s your commitment to the MLS? BC: I just added another year onto my current contract [through 2005]. SA: Do you eventually want to play abroad? BC: I definitely think about going over there. You always have to weigh your options. I like England a lot. Hopefully, I’ll play enough with the national team in the next few years. But, I like England and Spain. SA: What is your relationship like with the fans? BC: It’s really good. They’ve taken me in well. They are real supportive. SA: Do you get recognized in public? BC: I get recognized often. It shows how soccer is growing and that a lot of people in D.C. like soccer. SA: Are you a soccer fan? BC: I like to watch, but not all the time. I like watching other sports too. SA: Who is your favorite team? BC: Manchester United. SA: Who is your favorite player? BC: David Beckham and Ryan Giggs.