From Alachua soccer fields to international champs
By Brad Goldbach
For The Herald

Photo Provided Devala Gorrick (above in orange), was just 2 years old when his family began playing soccer here. Noew, 20 years later, he's signed a professional contract with Bayamon, a professional team in Puerto Rico, and he helped lead his team to the Puerto Rico Championship (above, celebrating)

When the Gorricks moved to Alachua from West Virginia in 1989, the first thing they did was set up a soccer goal in their backyard.

The 9-acre lot was soon occupied by a basketball court, a place to play volleyball and a trampoline. Dennis and Diane Gorrick, with six children on their hands, needed to do everything they could to keep their children busy.

“When you have that many kids,” Diane said. “You need to find a way to keep them busy or they drive you insane.”

That field of dreams was just part of the equation as the Gorricks also signed all of their children up to play in youth soccer and basketball leagues.

But the Gorricks never dreamed that the result of that equation would be seeing Devala Gorrick, just 2 years old when the family moved all the way to Alachua, playing soccer professionally one day, on a field that had a few more people watching than the one in the backyard.

The dream was 20 years in the making, but Devala finally saw the fruits of his labor in the form of a professional contract with Bayamon, a professional team in Puerto Rico, last year.

“When he was a baby, there would be 10 people on the sidelines watching him play,” Diane said. “Seeing him on a professional team was so thrilling for us. We couldn’t believe it.”

Devala couldn’t believe the opportunity of a lifetime had arrived for him either. For him, the experience was basically living a dream, one that didn’t quite hit him at all throughout that first season.

He seized the moment, playing eight games after signing his contract and recording shutouts in four of those games as the team’s goalkeeper, helping his team reach the championship round.

It wasn’t until he helped his team win the Puerto Rico championship that he finally realized how special the opportunity truly was.

Photo Provided Devala Gorrick (in center in white shirt) began his soccer career by playing on Alachua's soccer fields.

“It all happened so fast,” Devala said. “I didn’t know what to think. It couldn’t have been written out better in a movie. It was perfect.”

Like all storybook endings, this script had to begin somewhere. For Devala’s story, that place was Alachua.

Growing up on that 9-acre field and playing soccer for the city youth leagues, Devala had a knack for scoring goals as the forward on his teams. As Diane put it, with soccer, the glory comes from scoring goals.

But for Devala, his glory called to him with a little help from a huge growth spurt.

“At one point, I grew a good foot,” he said. “I was really tall, and they said, ‘OK. Why don’t you try being a goalie?’”

His mother was against the idea at first. Goalkeepers obviously couldn’t score goals, so there was no glory in that position. They also took the brunt of the opposition’s attack, so there was a good chance he could get hurt at that position.

But that wouldn’t stop Devala, who fell in love with his new position, which came with its own kind of glory.

“I loved it,” Devala said. “To me, the position is that of a natural leader. You’re the only one on the field that can do that job. You can save a game or you can throw a game away. That kind of pressure always excited me.”

That excitement led Devala to start collecting money any way he could to pay for goalkeeping camp, so he could learn the craft of the position.

He also spent much of his time going to Santa Fe High School to take part in practices and soak up any and all knowledge he could from the players and coaches, even though he wasn’t old enough to play for the team yet.

Photo Provided Devala Gorrick celebrates after he lead his team to win the Puerto Rico Championship.

Devala would never actually attend Santa Fe High School because his parents opted to home school him and each of his siblings. The family of Hare Krishnas decided upon this path when a local school affiliated with their denomination closed soon after they moved to the area.

Even without attending a day at the school, Devala’s hard work secured him a roster spot on the high school’s varsity soccer team.

Devala soon found himself starting at goalkeeper for the team at the tender age of 13. He admitted that he was a little nervous, but his hard work paid off in a big way when he helped lead Santa Fe to its first-ever district title. He also picked up the Best Defensive Player award along the way.

Devala’s performance caught the eye of Mark Dillon, a soccer scout who was forming a professional development team called Ajax Orlando.

Playing for Ajax Orlando meant Devala would have to make the 2-hour trip three times a week.

But Devala’s passion for the sport and his parents’ love for their son would not let that be an obstacle.

“I didn’t mind driving him at all,” Diane said. “It’s kind of weird not having to drive him at all. It’s like I’ve got nothing to do now.”

That decision paid off for Devala, who helped his team win several championships during his time with Ajax.

More importantly, Dillon gave Devala a chance to go to Austria and Germany to train with European teams. The experience gave Devala a different perspective on the game and also fueled him to work even harder.

Gestures like that helped Dillon and Devala form a bond that went beyond the game itself.

“I see him as a long lifetime friend,” Devala said. “Since I’ve first met him, he’s only tried to help me develop as a soccer player and as a man myself. I owe very much gratitude to him for where I’m at now.”

The exposure gained from playing for Ajax granted Devala a chance to try out with Tyler Junior College in Texas, where he brought his skills for two years.

He wasn’t able to go to a big-time school straight out of high school due to his subpar grades, so Tyler was supposed to be just a stepping stone to bigger and better things in Devala’s soccer career.

When his last semester at Tyler rolled around, Devala received interest from several colleges. Coach Steve McCrath of Barry University in Miami extended an athletic scholarship to Devala, but it came with one condition: He had to raise his GPA from a 2.75 to a 3.3.

Devala had always put in all the necessary work when it came to soccer, but he had never taken that approach to the classroom before. He knew he would have to step up his game off the field if he wanted to continue playing on the field.

“I don’t think I’ve ever studied so much in my life,” Devala said. “To me there was no option. I was going to reach that grade point average whatever it took.”

This was a true test to see how much he wanted to play soccer, and he passed with flying colors.

“He got a certificate that said he had a 4.0,” Diane said. “My husband and I kept saying, ‘Are you sure they sent it to the right place?’”

Devala’s grades meant that the 2-hour drive soon became a 5-hour drive as the Gorricks made the trek down to Miami every weekend to see Devala play goalkeeper for Barry University.

During his time at Barry, Devala decided to undergo surgery on both of his shoulders. He always had slight problems with his shoulders and felt that surgery would open his game up more than ever.

Many athletes who have to miss extended periods of time from the sport they love say it is torture, but Devala saw it as an opportunity to get better.

“A lot of times sitting on the bench,” Devala said, “I was just thinking that when I do get back, how much harder I was going to work and maybe think about how much I took for granted when I was healthy.”

When Devala finally came back on the field after six months of rehab, he found the surgery had lifted a weight off his shoulders, literally. His game was better than ever.

He soon signed that professional contract and won that championship in his first year as a soccer professional.

One day, Devala hopes to rise through the professional ranks and reach his ultimate dream of playing in Europe.

It’s a dream that he has had since the days of playing on that soccer field in his backyard.

“I started watching soccer when I was younger,” Devala said. “I would sit in Alachua and watch games over in Europe that had 80,000 people. It was amazing to me. It was something else. It was a different world.”