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HANOVER, N.J. — His Major League Soccer career started about as far as you can get from Hicksville, N.Y., on Long Island.
But three years and 3,125 miles later, Tim Parker is home, acquired by the New York Red Bulls in a trade with the Vancouver Whitecaps FC last Friday. And no one is happier about it than the self-professed “old-school defender.”
Well, that is with the exception of his mother, Kathy.
“Every mom when their son moves away wants them to come back, so my mom was really happy about it,” Parker said.
Before the Vancouver Whitecaps picked him 13th overall in the 2015 MLS SuperDraft, Parker always stayed close to home. He went from Hicksville High School to nearby St. John’s University, where he played in 79 of 80 total matches in his four years there.
He was close. He was comfortable. And then he was in Vancouver.
“It was good for me, to be honest. It was good for me to get away from home for a little bit and develop as a person, but also as a player,” Parker said. “It was good to go to a place I knew nothing about and I don’t think they knew anything about me. It was good to go there and step into my own shoes.”
Parker earned a first-team spot midway through his rookie season with Vancouver and remained in the starting lineup the next two full seasons, establishing himself as one of the league’s top young American centerbacks.
Former United States national team coach Jürgen Klinsmann took notice and invited him into his January camp in 2016. Red Bulls goalkeeper Luis Robles was there, as well. Robles said he kept an eye on Parker from that moment on.
“He is a player, for the last few years in this league, [who] has been one of the most promising young centerbacks,” Robles said. “Not only has he made a difference for the Vancouver Whitecaps, but he’s the sort of guy the national team should bring in consistently and help develop internationally because I think he has this pedigree to help propel his team forward defensively.”
Also taking stock was Red Bulls brass. Coach Jesse Marsch said the athletic, physical and heady central defender was at the top of his wish list for two years.
“I think Tim fits what we do — from a mentality, a soccer perspective, a physical perspective — almost perfectly,” Marsch said.
The chance to bring Parker, 25, back home arose late in the preseason when he reportedly grew unhappy with Vancouver contact talks and requested a trade. The price for the Red Bulls was steep — midfield linchpin Felipe and $500,000 of Targeted Allocation Money paid over two years.
“He’s strong, he’s a good one-v-one defender,” Red Bulls sporting director Denis Hamlett said. “I like to say he’s an old-school defender because he takes pride in defending. From that standpoint, we were excited that we had an opportunity to get him. On the flip side, to get a good player, you have to give up a good player.”
Parker flew from Vancouver to Tijuana, Mexico, to meet up with his new team Sunday. What followed was a crash course in how the Red Bulls play, taught by Marsch with assistance from fellow central defender Aaron Long.
Less than 48 hours later, Parker was thrust into the Red Bulls’ starting XI at Estadio Caliente for the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals against Club Tijuana — a historic 2-0 win for the Red Bulls.
He made quite a first impression with a crunching tackle on Xolos defender Damián Pérez at the top of the box inside the opening 10 minutes. Tijuana changed tactics from what Marsch expected and constantly thumped long balls up field, playing right into Parker’s strength.
“He was able to win a lot of aerial duels, a lot of physical duels and that helped us a ton on that day,” Marsch said. “He’ll get better, that’s for sure. I think his first appearance was obviously a very good one and it’s only up from here.”
Parker feasted on the physicality, loving every minute of the chippy affair in Tijuana, in part because of his soccer DNA.
“I’m an old-school defender,” Parker said. “One of the best things that I love doing is defending. It’s easy to be pretty on the ball, to do that kind of stuff, but not everyone wants to get stuck in tackles, block shots and do the intangibles, from what I’ve been told.”
Growing up in Hicksville, Parker said he closely followed the only MLS team in town: the New York Red Bulls. And he watched the professional career of a fellow Long Island central defender, Carlos Mendes, who played for the team from 2005-11.
Now Parker is in Mendes’ shoes, playing for the team he watched as a kid.
“I’m really happy,” Parker said. “It means a lot to me to come back home, back to New York and obviously play for this organization. It’s not easy to put into words.”
Team Parker used to come out in droves when Vancouver played in the New York area.
Now, their boy is home.
“I used to be able to come back once a year and play either here or in Yankee Stadium and they’d always have that weekend marked on their calendar,” Parker said. “Now it’s just special that I get to be here every weekend.”