York's link to Major League Soccer star
FRANK BODANI (ydr.com)05/05/2008 09:35:34 AM EDT
One of the best soccer players in the country spends quality time in York.
So it was a bit of good fortune when Quavas Kirk, the solid Major League Soccer player, was recently traded from the L.A. Galaxy to the D.C. United.
Now, his friends and family in York are a whole lot closer.
But most around here still don't know about Kirk, the 20-year-old outside midfielder who makes a pretty nice living playing soccer.
That's because he only lived here until he was 10. His father was transferred to Illinois, where his soccer career quickly took off. He won a club national championship, attended the prestigious IMG Sports Academy in Bradenton, Fla., and turned pro at 16.
He's been to more countries than you can imagine.
He's played with Beckham.
He even has his own interview clip on YouTube.
And York is still important.
His aunts and uncles and cousins still live here. So does his sister. And now that he plays for the D.C. United he only lives only a couple of hours away.
He was just in town the other week.
And this is where he got his soccer start, especially with the York United. It's also where his father, Sylvan Kirk, got his second start.
Sylvan grew up in Trinidad, leaving when he was 20 to find a better life. Some family members, including his sister, Cheryl Parker, already were living here.
He joined them, then joined the Army. He came back a few years later, got a job at Caterpillar Inc., met his wife and stayed for 25 more
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years. He raised his family on Harding Court in the city and taught his kids about soccer.
Quavas attended Jackson Elementary; older brother Colin, another standout soccer player, went to Hannah Penn Middle School.
"It was a good beginning for the kids," Sylvan Kirk said. "York has been my foundation."
But when Caterpillar left York, the Kirks followed to Illinois.
Only six years later Quavas was playing pro soccer in Los Angeles.
He was barely old enough to drive when he was touring the country and beyond, playing everywhere from Brazil to Guatemala, from Jamaica to France to Ireland to Japan.
"It's everything you wish for when you're a kid," he said. "Ever since I was young I wanted to play professional soccer and I never thought it would happen."
He's still only 20 now - old enough to pull in about $80,000 a year, but not old enough to buy a beer.
He laughs.
Life is fun, and he has so much in front of him.
He wants to earn a starting spot with D.C. United. He wants to make the men's national team, maybe an Olympic team.
And it's nice, he said, to be doing it all so close to his first home town.
Where so many of his family and friends still live that he couldn't come close to seeing them all during a recent day trip.
So he'll be back soon enough.
Reach Frank Bodani at 771-2104 or fbodani@ydr.com.
Quavas Kirk, who plays for D.C. United, lived in York until he was 10 years old and still has family in the the area. (Submitted)
