Under-17 standout, just a junior, finds ‘perfect situation’ with D.C. United
Bobby Convey’s prodigious talents long ago caught the eyes of American soccer’s most influnential coaches, who encouraged the U.S. under-17 standout to take his game to MLS. A few weeks in New Zealand assured him it was the right choice. And so Convey – at 16 years, 8 months, the youngest player the league has signed – is off to D.C., where stardom, after a few years’ development, apparently awaits. Nancy Convey, Bobby’s mom, sees the other side. “He is a kid, he is my middle child,” she says. “It’s hard for us having him away. … It’s kind of scary. We just hope all the conversations we had, all the talking to people … we just hope we made the right decision.” Bobby, who also fielded interest from several European clubs, is certain they have, and so is most everyone who has seen the attacker from Philadelphia play. He’s an “exceptional young talent” (U-17 coach John Ellinger) with “special qualities” (D.C. United president-GM Kevin Payne), the “best and brightest” of his age group (D.C. coach Thomas Rongen), as can’t-miss as they come. “It could be that two or three years from now, you’ll come to me and say, ‘What a bonehead move,'” Payne said after selecting Convey, a Project-40 player, with the 12th selection – the final pick of the first round – in the Feb. 6 MLS SuperDraft in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. “But we think it’s going to work out very well.” There’s plenty reason for such optimism, but Nancy Convey’s are a mother’s concerns. “I’m kind of worried about where he would be staying, if people are watching out for him,” she said on the eve of the draft. “And he has to learn how to cook, I guess.” Living away from home is nothing new – he traveled extensively with the U-17s in 1998, then spent ’99 in residency with the team in Bradenton, Fla., in preparation for the World Championship last fall in New Zealand, experiences that aided his maturation on and off the field. “He’s ready – I’ll give him that much,” says Bob Convey, Bobby’s dad. “He’s a very mature young man. A lot of people joke that he’s 16 years old going on 25.” Convey was the youngest player on the U-17 team that finished fourth in New Zealand, where he played in all six U.S. games, starting two of them. He’s been groomed for all this since childhood, when his primary goal was to be better than his sister, Kelly, a 1998 All-American at Penn State.
Varsity starter in eigth
He accomplished that before he hit his teens, was starting for Penn Charter School’s varsity in eighth grade, and was Philadelphia’s prep player of the year as a freshman. Ellinger brought Convey into his Region I team after first seeing him in December 1996, then invited him along when hired as U-17 coach a year later. “He reads the game very well, is very gifted with both feet, has a strong, physical work rate,” Ellinger praises. “You can use him as a forward, as an attacking midfielder, as a left or right midfielder – he’s very comfortable anywhere. … I think he’s going to be one of the rare Americans who can play very effectively as an attacking center midfielder.” With MLS dangling Project-40 pacts in front of the U-17s, Ellinger and U.S. national team coach Bruce Arena advised Convey to turn pro. The decision was made easy, Bob Convey says, because of a change in the NCAA’s Clearinghouse rules, which determine eligibility for student-athletes. Bobby, now a junior at Bradenton School, took high school courses as an eighth-grader, but NCAA rules would not have allowed him to apply the credits toward his degree. That scuttled plans to graduate early, work toward getting a college degree in three years and be ready to go pro, diploma in hand, when he’s 20. The new plan has him joining D.C. United right away and living with Payne and his family until a more permanent situation presents itself. He’ll likely take the GED high school-equivalency exam in the spring and college classes when he can fit them into his schedule. Nancy Convey had favored D.C. before the draft because Bobby already knew Chris Albright – a Penn Charter graduate whose brother, Sean, played with Bobby at FC Coppa – and Ben Olsen, another Pennsylvanian.
No pressure to perform
Bobby will play primarily with the Project-40 team this season in the A-League, possibly see some action with D.C., and continue to play with the U.S. U-18 squad, which he captains. The stress will be nothing like that which faced basketball stars such as Kevin Garnett and Kobe Bryant, who jumped from high school to the NBA. “This is a development program,” says Payne. “The whole idea is that these guys are given an opportunity to develop at a pace that is appropriate for them. … There is no pressure in regards to performing in games for us this year. We want him to concentrate on getting better. If he deserves an opportunity to play this year, he’ll get it. … ndhdn ndmkj mkov.
by Soccer America senior editor Scott French
