Larry Jackson grew up playing basketball and baseball in East Palo Alto. Then he was introduced to soccer.

“When I was 10 or 11, my godfather was the commissioner of AYSO in Palo Alto, and he was the one that got me involved in the sport,” Jackson said.

A 6-foot-1 goalkeeper who made his MLS debut with the New England Revolution in 2014, the 25-year-old is currently a member of Burlingame Dragons FC, a Premiere Development League affiliate of the San Jose Earthquakes.

That wasn’t the original plan when he went to speak with Dragons FC coach Eric Bucchere about something else. But after receiving an invitation for a tryout, the 2012 West Coast Conference Goalkeeper of the Year as a senior at Santa Clara University was signed to a contract two games into the season during the middle of May.

“The team’s talented, the coaching staff is phenomenal and it’s a great environment to be part of for myself after being away from this game for the last six or so months,” Jackson said.

In a way, Jackson has always been opportunistic.

As a teenager with the De Anza Force, his club team based out of Cupertino, he wasn’t even supposed to be guarding the cages when he caught the attention of the youth national team coaches.

“We had one event where our goalkeeper couldn’t attend because he had school exams, and so I jumped in goal then,” Jackson said. “I was about 15 or 16, and never looked back.”

Shortly after, Jackson left for a weeklong mini-camp at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., where he was further evaluated while training and competing. He performed well enough to join the program, forcing him to leave East Palo Alto.

“I was excited to go, and it was probably a little tougher for my parents to make that decision because those were my more formative years,” Jackson said. “But they were trusting of me, and they were trusting of the coaches that I had in De Anza to convince them that this was the right decision to go.”

That didn’t mean he was ready to say goodbye to the Bay Area. So when it came time to choose a college, the Broncos were on the very short list.

“From being in Bradenton for just about four years, I really wanted to come back home and go somewhere where I had a relationship with the coaches beforehand,” Jackson said. “So it was more of a homecoming for me because I always enjoyed Santa Clara, and I enjoyed being around those coaches there. I always had eyes set on that being the school I wanted to go to.”

And at every level, Jackson feels every coach understood what they had to work with.

“I’m not super-imposing, but technically I was pretty good,” Jackson said. “And I had a good understanding of the game as well, as far as what was necessary. But for me, it’s always about the work that you put in.”

Plus, a booming voice is important for goalkeepers.

“The whole thing about the yelling is you want to be clear and concise,” Jackson said. “You’re not trying to have a conversation, you’re just trying to get your point across quickly. And you want the defenders to understand what you’re saying, so that’s why you yell. If it was a quiet game and no one else is speaking, then you wouldn’t have to. But because it is loud with a lot going on, you’ve got crowd noise and other teammates speaking, you need to project your voice just a little bit more.”

With five goalies on the roster, playing time with Dragons FC has been scarce, his lone start coming June 2 in a 2-1 loss at the Fresno Fuego. Stanford redshirt junior Nico Corti was in the cage during Tuesday’s 3-2 overtime victory at Fresno in the opening round of the PDL playoffs, while Stanford midfielder Corey Baird finished with a goal and two assists to help Dragons FC advance into Friday’s Western Conference semifinals in Tucson, Ariz.

But for Jackson, it’s important to stay in shape and keep those reflexes sharp. Proof came two years ago, when Jackson was contemplating retirement before getting his shot with the Revolution.

“No matter where you are in your career, if you’ve been playing sports at really any level, it’s tough to stop playing,” Jackson said. “So for myself, I just said I was going to continue to train and luckily when they had the opportunity and needed someone to play, I was fit enough and came in sharp and earned a contract.”

Jackson plans to help out with the men’s soccer coaching staff at Menlo College and will continue to work for Tri-Valley Soccer Club in San Ramon. But wherever the next opportunity pops up, East Palo Alto will always find a way to draw him back.

“I just love being home to see what is going on in East Palo Alto and to see how I can help in the community,” Jackson said. “Which is something that, at the end of the day, I always wanted to try to give back, to provide something to the youth that I got.”

Email Vytas Mazeika at vmazeika@dailynewsgroup.com; follow him at Twitter.com/dailynewsvytas.