This is Part Seven in a series of articles on the players that make up the 2010 Los Angeles Galaxy.


It's never easy being Mike Magee. Some things are not granted to you, like a chance at striking it rich in Europe, or getting past a season without nagging injuries. But as a soccer player, what can be granted is the opportunity to overcome those challenges and turn adversity into mental and physical toughness and make a success of it.

Magee's life is like the winds that swirl Chicago, where he was born on September 2, 1984. Unlike many players on the Galaxy-or MLS for that matter-he went through the IMG Soccer Academy in Bradenton, Fla. and graduated in 2001 after enrolling in 2000.

At the time, teams in Major League Soccer didn't have a youth academy in place. The Bradenton Academy, founded just over a decade ago in 1999, gives the best up-and-comers the chance to train in a professional environment.

A typical day for the student-athlete at Bradenton consists of academic classes in the morning followed by sports training in the afternoon.

Students at the academy take accelerated courses and graduate high school a year early, making the players who do not turn pro immediately some of the most heavily recruited prospects in college soccer.

Magee, however, chose not to up his stock by going through the NCAA ranks. He tried to audition for the best teams in Europe, like Ajax Amsterdam of the Eredivisie.

Magee failed miserably. It was then that he realized the best things in life weren't granted, and so he chose to give MLS a try. Magee was selected fourth overall in the 2003 MLS SuperDraft by the NY/NJ MetroStars (now Red Bull New York) as part of a trade for the previous year's third overall pick, Brad Davis.

Magee became the youngest player to ever appear for the MetroStars at 18 years and 222 days on April 12, 2003 against the Columbus Crew. Two weeks later, it was against this same team where he would become the youngest to score a goal in club history. Magee went on to play in all but one game of the 2003 season, scoring seven goals. The season saw the MetroStars earn their best finish in U.S. Open Cup play, as runners-up.

In 2004, the signing of three foreign strikers limited Magee's role as an attacker, but it gave him a new one as an attacking midfielder. A tactician with great leadership, excellent passing and ball skill, Magee scored three goals in the '04 campaign, including a game-winner against his future club, the Galaxy, and also recorded four assists in 18 appearances.

In 2005, Magee tallied five goals and assists apiece, including a brace on September 17 against the New England Revolution. His importance could not have been more understated: the MetroStars were 4-1-4 when he earned a goal or an assist.

However, 2006 was one of Magee's toughest years. He only managed three goals in a campaign niggled by injuries and had season-ending knee surgery.

The surgery did little to help Magee, who, after returning as a substitute on August 12, only played seven matches after a right knee injury on September 15. Simply put, it was a 2007 season to forget.

Not so for 2008. With Magee fully recovered, he helped the now-renamed Red Bulls earn an MLS Cup appearance. Now back in his position as a striker, Magee was instrumental in New York's cause with five goals and an assist. It was his best effort since the 2005 season.

But it would be his last effort with New York. Before the 2009 season, Magee was traded to the Los Angeles Galaxy for a conditional second round SuperDraft pick. Magee finished his run at New York with 23 goals in 130 appearances.

In his first season donning the blue, gold, and white of Los Angeles, Magee made 23 starts, but could only manage two goals. The role he took in 2004 with the MetroStars was not lost on Magee, however, and as a result he led the team wth six assists.

The biggest highlight for the No. 18 of the G's was the 2009 MLS Cup. Just moments away from Real Salt Lake hoisting the Anschutz Trophy in regulation, Magee's game-tying goal would see the match go the distance.

The flashes of what his ability can do when he has space to operate and finish then are as apparent now. Case in point: the match with FC Dallas.

In the 17th minute, Chris Klein's delivery to Tristan Bowen found a trailing Magee, who drilled it past Hoops goalkeeper Kevin Hartman for a 1-0 victory.

It could have been so much more for Mike Magee. A college education, an increase in stock, something to fall back on if Europe didn't work out, proof that people will go professional in anything outside the world of sport, as the NCAA alludes to in their slogan.

But if you need proof that adversity's transformation into mental toughness and physical resilience can become a successful combination, Mike Magee is the key.

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