GOAAAAAAL! — Marcus Tracy Garners Sportsman Of Year Accolades

By Andy Hutchison

From the fields in Newtown to the pitch in Denmark, where he is a professional player, Marcus Tracy has had success in the game of soccer throughout his life.

Tracy, a former standout soccer player at Newtown High School, is in his first season of professional soccer and is recognized with the Newtown Bee’s Harmon Award For Sportsman of the Year — named in honor of former Newtown Bee Sports Editor Kim Harmon.

Tracy plays for Aalborg BK in the Danish SAS Liga, Denmark’s top flight. The season runs from July until December and, after a break, resumes in March and continues until the end of May. Tracy and his team are in the halfway point of the 2009-2010 season. “We’re doing a lot of fitness and specific tactical and technical training to get ready for the second half of the season,” said Tracy, who has two goals and an assist in seven games started.

Tracy is coming off his final year of collegiate soccer at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C. In 2009 he was selected as the Hermann Trophy winner for the top collegiate soccer player for the 2008 campaign.

“My professional experience has been a good one thus far. There have been a lot of ups and downs in my first year as a pro regarding injuries, team performance and playing time, but it’s all a part of what I do, so I’m very positive about what still lies ahead for me,” Tracy said.

Although drafted by Major League Soccer’s Houston Dynamo in 2009, Tracy chose to go overseas to continue his soccer career because, the 23-year-old says, players are more likely to have success in Europe when they are younger. “If I were to go straight to the MLS from college, I wouldn’t have been free from contract until I was about 27 or so, and it’s much more difficult to make it to Europe at that age unless you become a really, really exceptional player,” Tracy said.

He adds that MLS is a very good, growing league, but that it is still viewed as a very small league to the rest of the world. Tracy said he wanted to get different training and learn the nuances of the game that help some athletes become world-class players.

“If I learn and improve like I know I can, hopefully another team from a bigger and more established league in Europe will ask for my signature,” said Tracy, a 170-pound, 6-foot-1 forward.

The hardest part of moving to Europe to play was adjusting to life outside of soccer, says Tracy, adding that, unlike in college or when studying abroad, things are not set up for him. Additionally, he is adapting to life in another country. When his team was playing in the UEFA Cup, Tracy traveled to Spain to face Deportivo la Coruna, England to face Manchester City, and Bosnia to face Serejova.

Tracy has scored two game-winning goals — against FC Midtjylland and FC Kobenhavn. “The eruption of the crowd after a goal is scored is something that you live for as a striker,” Tracy said. “I hope to score many more important goals in the years to come.”

The Newtown product was invited to train with the US national team for a three-week camp in January in Carson, Calif., at the Home Depot Center, which ended in a match against Honduras. “It was very exciting and such an honor to be selected, but I had to head back to Denmark early because of knee tendonitis. It was disappointing to not be able to showcase myself, but I’m confident more opportunities will come where I’ll be able to put on the red, white, and blue,” Tracy said.

During his days in Newtown, Tracy was selected as a NSCAA/Adidas All-American in 2004 and named a first team All-American by StudentSportsSoccer.com. He was also named the 2004 Connecticut Player of the Year. Tracy, a captain during the 2003 and ‘04 seasons at Newtown High, finished as the school’s all-time leading goal scorer with 100 tallies. He also won a state championship with Newtown High.

Outside of soccer, Tracy plays piano and produces music as a hobby in a group called “nonymous” with his brother Ryan and friend Anthony Santella. His parents, Donald and Marguerite Tracy, still reside in Newtown. Tracy is described by Tom DiNicola, of Church Hill Physical Therapy, who has worked with him on conditioning throughout the years, as both a great athlete and a great person.

“It’s very exciting for the young kids of Newtown to have someone to look up to like Marcus Tracy,” DiNicola said.