It’s not often a high school athlete gets a call from ESPN.
However, Douglas County High School’s incoming senior Dustin Berg knows what that is like now that ESPN Rise Magazine, the network’s periodical devoted to prep athletes, has flagged him for not just a feature but the cover of a coming edition.
With a photo shoot for the magazine in the can, where he was told the feature would be the cover story of possibly Rise’s October edition, or around it. Berg was driving home when he received a phone call from a Rise reporter who had seen him play with his club soccer team and was interested in doing a spotlight on student athlete. The photo shoot took place at Douglas County High School in Castle Rock.
Since last high school soccer season, Berg has been playing a massive amount of club ball, sticking to his workouts and of course watched much of the 2010 World Cup. He plays for the Real Colorado academy team, a U11 Academy program he’s been with for two years now.
With his team’s success this year, Berg got to play in that national league’s playoffs in Greensboro, N.C., which included the top 32 teams in the country. His team was ranked No. 2 by Top Drawer Soccer. For the incoming senior, those playoffs included playing on a stadium field for one of the semi-professional team’s in the area in front of tons of college scouts and exposure to U.S. National team coaches, he said. And of course, the level of competition was amazing.
With college choices looming, Berg is having small discussions with University of New Mexico and West Virginia about his soccer future at the post-secondary level, as well as others.
As a Huskies in his final year, he aspires to help County make the playoffs in 2010.
“We have a pretty good chance of going,” Berg said. “We’ve been wanting it for so long, and we have mainly returning varsity players this year.”
Berg got his start in soccer at the age of 5. A childhood friend of his once asked him to kick the ball around, and after some practice, the footman started to get the hang of it. Eventually, Berg joined a Bombers recreational team and scored 15 goals in his first game.
Since then, his favorite moment of soccer has been playing with the academy team against their rivals, the Colorado Rush. Real Colorado was up 1-0, and the Rush came back to tie up. Later, Berg was credited with the game-winning goal.
“[We] got a break on the left and crossed it to me, and I buried it,” Berg said. “It was one of the biggest goals I’ve ever scored.”
Berg feels he is most comfortable in the center midfield position. Playing for his Huskies team allows him the freedom to roam.
“I can sneak up, or I can play outside,” he said.
The senior is known for his versatility, being able to play forward, back, middle and outside. Even as a child, he’s got minutes under his belt as a goalkeeper.
Berg has also been fortunate to not have to deal with a lot of injuries over his youth soccer and club career. About 6-7 years ago, he had surgery that kept him off the field for only a mere two weeks, but other than that, he said he’s remained pretty healthy.
Of course, every student athlete keeps hold of a dream, and Berg’s is to play in the Spanish Premier Division, specifically with Barcelona, his favorite team.
“I’d do whatever it takes,” Berg said. “In a heartbeat, that would work for me.”