Upon graduation, all students hope to find jobs. They go to college hoping to develop and refine skills that will make them valuable. Valuable enough that a company will hire them, pay them a salary, offer them benefits and allow them to make a living. Saint Louis University alumnus Tim Ream is just like all of these other students. Like thousands of other college students, Ream’s recent graduation in December 2009 began his search for a job. Fortunately for Ream, the search did not last long.
On Jan. 14, a company showed interest in the skills that Ream had gained while at SLU and offered him a job. That company was the New York Red Bulls of Major League Soccer, and the position they offered him was a spot on the team’s roster.
“I’m very excited. I think it’s every kid’s dream to play a professional sport, and for me it has always been soccer. It’s what I have always wanted to do,” Ream said.
Ream was selected as the 18th overall pick in the 2010 MLS SuperDraft, and was the second player taken in the second round. He was the third pick of the New York Red Bulls, who selected University of Virginia midfielder Tony Tchani and Wake Forest midfielder Austin DaLuz second and fourteenth, respectively, in the first round, before taking Ream.
Ream watched the draft live with a group of friends and family at Humphrey’s Restaurant and Tavern, adjacent to SLU’s campus.
“It was a lot of fun and really nice to have everyone close to me be there for [the draft],” Ream said.
Ream was the recipient of several awards during his college career, including being named to the National Soccer Coaches of America’s All-America Third Team this past season. He is the reigning Atlantic 10 Conference Defensive Player of the Year and tallied 24 points over his SLU career, 17 of which (six goals and five assists) came this past year.
“[Ream] was a major impact player for us, and we look forward to following him as he embarks on the next stage of his playing career,” SLU head soccer coach Dan Donigan said of his former defender in an official press release from Billiken Media Relations. “While it is a tough transition from college to MLS, [Ream] is a player who has the qualities and mentality to make a quick transition. He has a great competitive attitude with the right character and right personality.”
Donigan has coached 13 players to the MLS since joining SLU in 2001. 2010 was the sixth straight year that a Billiken was selected in the SuperDraft. Ream will be joined by seven other former Billikens playing in the MLS.
“Most of those other guys are close friends. I really look forward to the chance of competing against them and just getting to play with them again,” Ream said.
Ream also expressed his excitement about living in the Big Apple.
“Absolutely, I’m pumped about [living in New York]. It’s a great city that always has something to do, something to be excited about.”
Ream traveled to La Manga, Spain with the team on Jan. 20 for two-week preseason training camp. There, the Red Bulls will face off against UEFA Champions League qualifier CSKA Moscow. Ream, who is one of a few draftees to have already signed a contract with his new team, will be working to prove that he is worthy of significant playing time in his first season.
Drinking a few Red Bulls shouldn’t hurt his chances.
“I love Red Bull. I drank them all the time during finals and midterms. They really helped me get through those, so I’m sure they will continue to do so,” Ream said.
