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Derrick Etienne Jr. remembers the exact moment he knew he wanted to be a professional soccer player. It was 2002, and his dad, Derrick Etienne Sr., had just won a championship playing with the Long Island Rough Riders. "I remember sitting in the stands and just hearing kids, like, 'Oh, he's good, he's good,' " Derrick Jr. says. "Like, 'Yeah, that's my dad.' " Today, Derrick Jr. is a 22-year-old forward for Major League Soccer’s New York Red Bulls. He’s also the bright, young star of the Haitian national team. For the Etiennes, soccer is more than just a game. It’s the family business. "That's pretty much our family mantra: faith, family, and football," Derrick Sr. says. I caught up with the Etiennes after practice at the Red Bull’s training facility. The two men operated as one — finishing each other's sentences and teasing each other with inside jokes. Derrick Etienne Jr. and Derrick Etienne Sr. laughing during the interview. (Arlo Moore-Bloom/WBUR) To start the interview, I asked Derrick Jr. what his dad was like as a coach. "Oh ... madman," Derrick Jr. says. "'Intense' is more of a better word,' " Derrick Sr. says. I asked Derrick Jr. for an example. "Oh, he knows what time I'm going to talk about," Derrick Jr. says. "We were playing indoor at Teaneck Armory." Derrick Jr. was playing terribly. After the game, he found his father in the stands and asked how he had done. "He said, 'Yo, you sucked out there!' " Derrick Jr. remembers. "So, I was like,'Wow, OK, cool.' And then, next game, I went out there and played better, so I didn't have to hear his mouth again." Turns out, not having to hear his father's mouth was a big motivator for Derrick Jr. "Yeah, I think when I was younger, I was like, 'Yeah, just go out there and play well so you don't have to hear this guy yell at you,' " Derrick Jr. says. 'Chip Off The Old Block' After a successful youth career playing for the Red Bulls Youth Academy, Derrick Jr. was recruited to play Div. 1 soccer for the University of Virginia. One problem… Dad had played for Virginia Commonwealth University. One of UVA’s biggest rivals. Derrick Jr. knew it would be a big moment for the family when the two schools played each other in September 2015. "I already had that in my mind," Derrick Jr. says. Derrick Jr.'s sister was at the game. She was a cheerleader for VCU. "And then, her friend, I had a huge crush on," Derrick Jr. says. "So I'm like, 'Yo, I got to go out there and ball out.’ " But, again, Derrick Jr. wasn’t playing well, and his coach briefly subbed him out in the second half. So when he went back in, his mindset was like... " 'Yo, next time I get the ball, I'm just going to dribble as far as I can with it,' " Derrick Jr. says. Derrick Jr. got the ball and started dribbling.

"It was just like the Red Sea, just like a little split, and I just kept running." Derrick Etienne Jr.

"It was just like the Red Sea, just like a little split, and I just kept running," Derrick Jr. says. "It was crazy, because I realized 'Yo, you dribbled past seven players and chipped the goalie — like, in front of your dad and your sister.' Her friends got mad at her because she went like this, put her pom-poms up. They're like,'Yo, that's not our school.' " "I was, like, you know, first reaction was, 'Yeah!' " Derrick Sr. remembers. "Then I was like, 'Oh, this is VCU.' You know, this is my alma mater. So it was bittersweet. As a VCU alumnus I was, you know, crushed, because it was the game-winning goal. But as a dad, it was a big moment. "And I'm like, he's a chip off the old block — scoring the big goals in the big games." "And did you get the girl?" I ask. "Nah, I'm still working on it," Derrick Jr. says. Haiti After one season of college soccer, Derrick Jr. turned pro with the Red Bulls. And one year after that, he got his first senior call-up with the Haitian national team. But to understand what this moment meant to the family, we have to go back in the timeline. "Yeah. Well, you know, my dad," Derrick Sr. says, referring to Derrick Jr’s grandfather, "he was the oldest of, I think, six siblings. And when a father is not in the house, the older brother is the dad. So he had a responsibility. He used to play soccer — was playing professionally in Haiti — but wanted to try to get a better life for the family. And so that's how he ended up coming to the States with $19 in his pocket." Derrick Sr.’s father sacrificed everything to build a family in America — including his professional soccer career. "We kind of get emotional about it when we think about it, because everyone tells us how great of a soccer player he was," Derrick Sr. says. "And he sacrificed his dream, to play and wear the colors for Haiti for the rest of the family."

"That's pretty much our family mantra: faith, family, and football." Derrick Etienne Sr.