SAN JOSE — Earthquakes goalkeeper David Bingham wears a trademark lime green uniform when taking fire off the feet of Major League Soccer stars.

But away from the field, he trades the neon for clothing the color of tree bark while firing off rounds at local shooting ranges or hunting waterfowl.

His aim is true heading toward the season opener March 6 at Avaya Stadium.

Bingham’s off-field passion of hunting and trap shooting has helped him escape the stress of trying to become America’s next great goalkeeper.

“There’s nothing worse than having a bad day of training and dragging that home with you,” said Bingham, who will join the Quakes on Saturday for a preseason game at Sacramento Republic FC.

He likes nothing more than to roam the Sacramento Valley hunting geese, duck and pheasant with his black labrador Bandit. Bingham and Bandit enter hunting competitions when time permits in the offseason.

“He’s not just shooting birds for the heck of it,” father Greg Bingham said.

Bingham, 26, eats what he kills.

Greg passed his love of hunting to his son, who learned how to safely handle guns as a child. He didn’t hunt much while developing into a soccer star.

Bingham now likes to join buddies at the Livermore-Pleasanton Rod and Gun Club after practices to shoot trap with a shotgun.

“He will shoot a clay bird and stone them,” said Greg Bingham, a retired Oakland police officer. “He has such great hand-eye coordination and fast reflexes.”

The mention of hunting can invite controversy in a country divided over gun control.

But “whether you’re a hunter or gun advocate or not, it’s great that he has something so interesting to him that he can use all that excess energy,” Quakes goalkeeper coach Tim Hanley said.

Anything to get his mind off whirling soccer balls incessantly trying to sneak past his 6-foot-2 frame.

“There is always this pressure, pressure, pressure,” Hanley added. “He can go there and he doesn’t care about soccer. It’s healthy.”

Goalkeeping family

Greg and Lisa Bingham didn’t have a grand plan to rear children to become U.S. national team goalkeepers.

It just turned out that way.

Bingham was indoctrinated into soccer while still in diapers attending his older sister’s games. Kimberly Bingham, 31, eventually went from Arizona State to the U.S. national team during her goalkeeping career.

Bingham, a talented youth forward, followed his sister’s path into the net.

David starred at California High-San Ramon before landing at Cal where he earned All-American honors before leaving after his junior season.

In 2011, the Quakes won the rights to sign Bingham in a weighted lottery. The rookie joined a team with veteran Jon Busch entrenched in the position. He played sparingly for three years.

San Jose loaned Bingham to the San Antonio Scorpions in 2014 to give him experience. He ended the season playing in the Norwegian first division. Bingham had an offer to stay in Europe but the Earthquakes had no intention of losing him when coach Dominic Kinnear took over after the ’14 season. The new regime let Busch go to make room for Bingham.

The coaches expected mistakes when Bingham essentially was a rookie. But his upside was worth the patience.

Improved play

Hanley also had a learning curve working with a talent unafraid to leave his line to bat away a threat. Just play, Hanley told him. Let the game come to you.

“He doesn’t need to make anything happen,” Hanley explained. “He just needs to find his place in it.”

His place behind talented and experienced central defenders Victor Bernardez and Clarence Goodson has been solidified after a promising 2015 season. While he showed glimpses of greatness, Bingham also made significant errors early in the year.

“You are never going to have a perfect game,” Bingham said. “Even the best players in the world make mistakes. Part of being confident is admitting your mistakes. It’s important to own up to your mistakes.”

Bingham learned to take blame when talking to reporters. But he never mentioned being hampered by a sprained meniscus tendon after slipping in practice within the first two weeks of the season.

“There was no way he wasn’t going to play,” his father said.

As the knee improved, so did the performances. He tied San Jose’s single-season record of 12 shutouts.

The stellar play led to his first start for the U.S. national team three weeks ago in Carson in a 1-0 victory over Canada. He flew Kimberly to the game from Atlanta, where she is a firefighter/paramedic.

Now that Bingham got a taste of the spotlight he wants more. But the keeper realizes the best way to become part of the 2018 World Cup conversation is play even better for San Jose.

“He is so simple in what he does,” Hanley said. “He is so fit. He comes in here and he does his job.”

Kinnear and staff think so much of Bingham they have prepared for the possibility of losing him to the U.S. national team this summer and beyond. It helps explain why the Earthquakes took Clemson goalkeeper Andrew Tarbell with the No. 8 pick in the MLS draft last month. They won’t have to desperately hunt for his replacement should Bingham eventually leave.

“Boy, oh boy, is he playing good right now,” Hanley marveled. “In five years you are going to see something.”

Contact Elliott Almond at 408-920-5865. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/elliottalmond.