Shalrie Joseph was a 2009 MLS MVP finalist and seven-time MLS All-Star during his length career. (Gail Oskin/Getty Images)
Growing up in Grenada, and then moving to Crown Heights in Brooklyn, N.Y., the youth soccer scene Shalrie Joseph experienced was drastically different than what many of his New England Revolution teammates developed in.
As a teenager, the four-time MLS Best XI selection clashed with seasoned veterans on hard-scrabble fields.
“Brooklyn was more of a war zone,” Joseph recalled last week. “In the Caribbean Cup, all the islands organized and played against each other. Those games were very tough. A lot of people from the Caribbean would come to support you, they were screaming at you and there were fights going on in the stands. The games were rough and refs didn’t officiate like now, they didn’t call a lot of things.”
