It's not a job at this age, at eight or nine years old. “It was kind of shocking for me because he was a football player growing up.”His parents finally relented once Kellyn reached the seventh grade.

Signed as a homegrown player in 2012, he debuted for Dallas during the 2013 season as a … Growing up in football-mad Texas, Kellyn Acosta took up a different discipline. Every kid wants to be the next big gridiron star, with dreams of one day playing in front of packed high school stadium, and eventually maybe even for the Dallas Cowboys. He knows what we have to do to take our talents to the next level.”“Everyone has their own journey and that just happened to be mine,” Kellyn said. It’s easy to get pulled into the football craze when you grow up in Texas. Kellyn Acosta came up to the professional ranks through the FC Dallas developmental academy. The kids had fun, and when they're young and they’re not having fun, forget it because they'll quit.”Like many families of active kids that played sports, the Acostas at times were challenged in meeting all of life’s demands, with work schedules and travel distances being obstacles.Up stepped the da Silva family. He has ambitions to play in Europe, become a mainstay on the National Team and to play in a World Cup. Coached by a former Brazilian pro, Acosta ascended through the FC … While still young, Acosta’s 17 caps make him somewhat of a leader among the many next generation players that have earned their own senior team debuts since last November. Despite excelling at soccer, basketball and track from a young age –– every year Kellyn would beg his parents to let him play football. “He's a coach that, to him it doesn't matter how old you are. Kellyn watched soccer on TV all the time and naturally gravitating to any Brazilian on the screen, checking in with Zee on what to watch for that could help his own game.“For one, they were always smiling, just enjoying themselves,” Kellyn said of watching players like Ronaldinho and Robinho. So until that point I was playing soccer like wild, without too much guidance.“I like my kids to get out there and have fun - the game is the best teacher. Kellyn was joining the FC Dallas Academy.
“And the first day that I saw Kellyn, I was very impressed.

He was too driven and too competitive, but there just weren’t enough hours in the day or days in the week to make it to every practice, every game, and every meet.
Looking back on it, I wouldn't change anything because that's shaped me into the player that I am and the person I am today, so a lot of credit goes to the people that were there, that helped me along the way.”He’s seen first-hand how cyclical the game is. “That's what I had growing up, playing for fun,” Coach Zee said.

Acosta had been identified by U.S. Soccer youth coaches, he had even placed second in a national grassroots skills competition organized by Major League Soccer called Dribble, Pass and Shoot. Now, FC Dallas came knocking on the door. He knows he’s not the only with those goals.

The U.S. Men’s National Team saw its talented central midfield pool become that much more crowded on Thursday night, as Kellyn Acosta capitalized on his opportunity to play by turning in a solid shift that included an impressive and timely goal. Kellyn also immediately grew close to their son, Joao, who was similar in age and also without a sibling.Of course, soccer was in the da Silva’s DNA, and Kellyn was now part of that family. “He’s an example for the other kids.

“I was pretty upset.”  It’s not like he made the decision on the spot. Acosta debuted for the senior squad in 2016.2018: Subbed on against Brazil on Sep 7 and Mexico on Sep 11. Pareja and Dir had remained close despite each overseeing separate youth clubs. “This kid was always in every practice. “He told me, ‘I know you have aspirations of becoming a professional.

Upon retirement, he made the Dallas area his home, and by the early 2000s he started own soccer skills school.Rec soccer was fun, but it had become too easy for Kellyn. That was not an easy thing for me to just leave behind.”The next year, Acosta joined the FC Dallas Academy. “Zee encouraged me because he said the journey isn’t here with him,” Kellyn said. A father of a school friend encouraged the Acostas to meet ‘Coach Zee.’He soon did and the relationship quickly grew. Started against Colombia on Oct 11 and Peru on Oct 16. He was here.

If you're good enough, you're old enough.“He's more of a player's coach than the most coaches are.

“The range that he had in those few first trainings, it was amazing,” Pareja recalled of the then 13-year-old.