Landon Timothy Donovan was born on March 4, 1982, in Ontario, California. His mother, Donna, raised him with his twin sister, Tristan, and older brother, Josh, in Redlands, just about 75 miles due west of Los Angeles. She and Landon’s father, Tim, divorced when he was two. The elder Donovan eventually remarried and moved to Nebraska. (Landon now has an older step-brother, Tim, and older step-sister, Sheri.) None of the kids saw much of their father. Landon, in turn, developed very close relationships with his mother and siblings, especially Tristan.
Life wasn’t particularly easy for the family. Redlands is located in San Bernardino County, one of California’s more affluent regions. Donna worked as a special-education teacher in the Fontana school district, but didn’t make a lot of money. Most parents in the area were married and wealthy. This created a point of differentiation between Landon and other kids in his neighborhood which made him uncomfortable at times.
The youngster filled the void with soccer. He was drawn to the game from the time he could walk. Josh, a good player himself, spent hours teaching his younger brother the basics of kicking, dribbling, and trapping the ball. By Landon’s fifth birthday, he was already dreaming big. He wanted to play professionally, and bring home Olympic gold for the U.S. He begged his mother to sign him up for an organized league, and she enrolled him on a team with six and seven year olds. He scored seven goals in his first game.
Landon’s rise through the youth leagues of California had more than its share of detours. In a system where money talks, he often went unheard. Ultimately, however, his skills spoke too loudly for coaches to ignore. When Landon couldn’t afford the fees associated with select teams that traveled around the state, his bill was magically “taken care of.â€Â Such concessions were rare, and Donna knew it. She noticed how coaches disregarded Hispanic players from poor families—some of whom seemed as promising as Landon.
Donna wanted all her children to explore a variety of interests and hobbies. For Landon, a straight-A student, this meant taking violin lessons after school. In his freshman year of high school he got a job delivering newspapers. But Landon couldn’t ignore his love of soccer. A member of Cal Heat—a club based in Rancho Cucamonga—Landon received expert instruction and plenty of encouragement, particularly from coach Clint Greenwood. In 1997, when he turned 15, he was accepted into U.S. Youth Soccer’s Olympic Development Program. Donna scraped the money together for him to attend a regional camp in Montana. For the first time, Landon got a feel for soccer at its most intense and competitive levels. He knew he was where he belonged.
It was at this moment that his father reappeared. Tim Donovan, who now had a new wife and family, wanted to play a bigger role in Landon’s life. Was he feeling guilty for abandoning his kids years earlier, or did he crave a piece of the action if his son’s career blossomed? A former semi-pro hockey player in Canada, Tim undoubtedly had insight into some of the obstacles that awaited a developing athlete. Landon cautiously reopened the lines of communication with his dad.Landon’s freshman season at Redlands High School was a spectacular success. He played brilliantly and was named league MVP. By the fall of 1997, when he transferred to the superior program at East Valley High (also in Redlands), Landon was eating, drinking, and sleeping soccer. Although he played in only 10 games for the school as a sophomore, he picked up 16 goals and 12 assists.
Landon did most of his playing in 1997-98 for the U.S. national program. He made his international debut with the Under 17 (U-17) team in February of 1998. In a 2-1 loss to Mexico, Landon notched his first official international goal.
Ten months later, at the inaugural U-16 Christchurch Cup in New Zealand, Landon netted 11 goals to lead the U.S. to victory in the six-team international event. In the final against Korea, he scored three times, as the Americans won in a 5-1 trouncing. In all, Landon appeared in 27 games during 1997-98, and topped the squad in goals (23) and assists (13). The National Soccer Coaches Association of America named him an All-American.
A new season, meanwhile, had begun at East Valley. Again Landon could not make a full commitment to the team. The Wildcats nonetheless welcomed the 16-year-old with open arms. In just a handful of games, Landon collected 15 goals and 19 assists. His performance earned him a spot on the 1999 Parade Magazine High School All-American Team.
There was something special about Landon, something that went beyond his obvious skills. Soccer in the United States has been criticized in just about every way. Among the chief complaints is that the players America produces seem to lack the killer instinct other international players have, especially when they are closing in on an enemy goalkeeper. There are a number of socio-economic theories for this phenomenon, but theories don’t score goals and win soccer matches. What excited soccer people most about Landon was his intense, all-consuming desire to win.
In 1998, U.S. Soccer launched a program called “Project 2010.â€Â The goal was to capture the World Cup within 12 years. Players such as Landon, DaMarcus Beasley, and Bobby Convey were essential to this effort. All were young, immensely talented, and deathly serious about competing internationally.Landon Donovan, 2001 Soccer America
In January of 1999, with backing from Nike and the International Marketing Group (IMG), U.S. Soccer established the Bollettieri Sports Academy as a training home base for Project 2010. There, in Bradenton, Florida, players attended classes at nearby schools in the mornings, then trained and practiced all afternoon. It was a model that had worked well for the tennis players who had gone through the academy in the 1980s and 90s, including Jimmy Arias, Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras and Monica Seles. With the tennis boom subsided, Bollettieri had the space and a keen understanding of what it takes to build young bodies and mold young minds.
Another important development was that, for the first time ever, America’s U-17 team had a full-time coach. John Ellinger, whose resume included 24 years as a physical education teacher in Maryland’s public school system, had an immediate impact on the team’s fortunes. That February, Landon and his teammates scored a major upset, beating Argentina’s teenagers 4-3. Landon, who was growing into a role as team leader, had two goals.
Landon followed this performance with an eye-opening game against Major League Soccer’s Tampa Bay Mutiny. It was an exhibition, of course, but the U-17s beat the pros 2-0, with Landon scoring both goals.
All was not well with the Americans, however. In Jamaica they failed to secure an automatic berth in the U-17 World Championship, scheduled for the end of the year in New Zealand. Needing a win over the host country, the U.S. came out flat, and the game ended in a scoreless tie. Landon showed his frustration when he charged into the Jamaican goalkeeper late in the contest. The stunt earned him a red card and a one-game suspension. He admitted afterward that his actions were stupid.
Whether Landon realized it or not, just about everyone in soccer—both in the U.S. and abroad— was watching him very closely. Aside from his transgression at the end of the Jamaica match, he was displaying skills and maturity far beyond the vast majority of players his age. Already people were calling him the most promising American ever to hit the soccer scene. Some in Europe went as far as to tab him the “next Michael Owen.â€Â Owen, a teenage striker for England, dazzled World Cup crowds in 1998 and was the youngest player to make his country’s international squad during the 20th century.
