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| Former MLS star a Dynamite coach |
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| Written by Domingo Rodarte / Tracy Press | |
| Saturday, 08 December 2007 | |
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Professional help leads Tracy United to a fourth-in-state ranking.  Dynamite coach Troy Dayak, once a Comeback Player of the Year for the Major League Soccer San Jose Earthquakes, gives instructions to his team during an August practice. Under Dayak’s coaching, the team has earned a No. 4 ranking in Northern California in the under-12 division. Photo by Enrique Gutierrez/Tracy Press.  Teammates Marisa Sanchez (right) and Dianna Murillo take part in a ball-handling drill during a practice earlier in the year. Photo by Enrique Gutierrez/Tracy Press. The 12-and-under Dynamite have dominated opponents this year under Dayak and have even held their own in tournaments in older age brackets, taking third in a tourney in Davis for 13-and-unders. “I think that, for coming from a small community, the girls have come a long way,” said Dayak, a Walnut Creek native. “They came from not really getting any recognition, and now people are taking notice of them.” Picked in the first Major League Soccer draft in 1996 by the former New York MetroStars, now the Red Bulls, Dayak was reluctant to uproot his family and move cross-country. As a result, he was traded to the San Jose Clash, which later became the Earthquakes. He moved to live in rural Tracy on a ranch near Old River because, at the time, the community was the only place a fledgling MLS player could afford, he has said. Dayak was a solid starter for the ’Quakes, though he was plagued by various injuries, and helped lead the team to two MLS championships in 2001 and 2003. Playing through his aches and pains — including a serious back injury — earned him the MLS Comeback Player of the Year Award in 2001. In 2005, Dayak announced his retirement and took a head coaching job with the California Cougars professional indoor soccer team in Stockton. He left the team in January and soon took on the job as head coach of the Dynamite. The team has been on a roll ever since and enjoys a No. 15 ranking on the West Coast. “His kids have played in the TUCSC since they’ve been old enough to play. His wife predominantly handled the coaching to begin with, but he’d been involved in helping out the team,” said Jeff Hoffman, club president. “It’s both a positive and a negative (having Dayak as a coach). Other teams are really geared up to play a Troy Dayak team. They follow him around, asking for autographs. The girls (on his team), they see him as Troy Dayak, but after a while they look at him as just coach.”
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| Last Updated ( Saturday, 08 December 2007 ) |
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