Jeb Brovsky’s first exposure to soccer came when he was an infant, strapped to his father’s back while dad roamed the sidelines coaching the Colorado Rush. Brovsky grew up a fan of Rapids stars Marcelo Balboa and Carlos Valderrama, and one of his youth coaches was Rapids great Paul Bravo.
So the thought of playing against the Rapids in his hometown tonight is a little overwhelming for the Green Mountain High School grad, an MLS rookie out of Notre Dame who has gotten considerable playing time with the expansion Vancouver Whitecaps.
“I couldn’t be more excited,” Brovsky said. “To have my friends and family in the crowd, to have 20,000 watching me play … I can’t wait.”
His father, John, is thrilled his son’s childhood dream of playing pro soccer has come true. He may be more proud of his son’s other passion, though.
While at Notre Dame, Brovsky founded a not-for-profit organization called Peace Pandemic that uses soccer to promote peace and nonviolence around the world. For that work, Brovsky was named the MLS humanitarian of the month for June.
“We couldn’t have asked for more,” said John Brovsky. “He’s graduated, he’s got his own nonprofit. He’s really a go-getter. I’m so proud of him.”
Peace Pandemic organizes youth soccer camps in North America, then uses funds generated to put on other camps in areas overseas that are affected by conflict, human rights abuses and poverty. In November, he’s going to Tanzania with some teammates.
“It really meshes my passions of international peace and soccer,” Jeb Brovsky said. “Kids are funding other kids’ camps. Kids (overseas) get the chance to write letters and thank you notes to the kids who funded their camps. They create friendships across the world.”
A youthful dream
Brovsky got his sense of social responsibility from his parents. His attraction to nonviolence also was shaped by the Columbine tragedy, which happened when Brovsky was 10.
“I really started to internalize a lot when I was little,” Brovsky said. “I started to look outward and say, ‘Why am I on this earth? Why are we here? What do you want to be remembered for? What do you want your life’s message to be?'”
Founding a nonprofit while playing soccer and majoring in business and peace studies at a major university may have been exhausting at times, but Brovsky was driven.
“I have this passion, I have this idea,” Brovsky said. “I’m not the type of person to wait for something. I think if you have a dream, if you have something you want to do, there’s no better day than today to do it. It’s just my passion and my life’s goal.”
So is soccer. He had a couple tough years just before high school, when he was coming off a badly broken leg and was the smallest kid on the team, but he was determined to succeed.
Bravo, now the Rapids’ technical director, coached Brovsky when he was ages 12-14.
“He had a great passion for the game,” Bravo said. “He always had a great work ethic, and even when things weren’t going his way, he was always very positive. We always felt that once he grew into his body, he was going to be a pretty darned good player.
“He was always around the ball. He was always the first one to practice, the last one to leave, always looking for any sort of insight into how he could make himself a better all-around player.”
In Vancouver, Brovsky is rooming with teammate Bilal Duckett, a defender who played with him at Notre Dame. From the 24th floor of their apartment building in downtown Vancouver, they had a bird’s eye view of the rioting following Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals.
“My apartment was one of the apartments that was quite vandalized, windows were shattered,” Brovsky said. “Bilal and I were on our balcony watching the whole thing. It was a crazy but sad scene to see. Most of those people weren’t from Vancouver, yet they were trashing a beautiful city.”
Ups and downs
Brovsky has been Vancouver’s most effective rookie, starting nine of the team’s 19 games in midfield, including four of the last five.
“It’s been a whirlwind,” Brovsky said. “I look back on the past six months and it’s been just a dream. Coming in as a rookie your whole psyche is, ‘I’m going to do anything to make this team.’ Then, ‘I’m going to do anything to get into the lineup.'”
Brovsky was happy to be drafted by an expansion team, believing he’d have a better chance to earn a spot on a team without a set lineup. But the Whitecaps have won only two games and are on their second coach.
“It’s been a rough battle all year,” Brovsky said. “We’re learning a lot about what it takes to win, especially on the road, in this league. But I feel great, because it’s almost as if the team and I are learning together.”
John Meyer: 303-954-1616 or jmeyer@denverpost.com
Brovsky bio
Height, weight: 6-foot-1, 170 pounds
Born: October 3, 1988
High School: Green Mountain (2007), where he played soccer, football (wide receiver, safety, and kicker) and basketball. Also was a standout on highly successful Colorado Rush U-18 teams.
College: Notre Dame (2010), graduated in 3 1/2 years; All Big East first team selection his senior season. As a senior, won ND’s Christopher Zorich Award, which recognizes contributions to the university and the community, and the Byron V. Kanaley Award, given to senior athletes who have been most exemplary as students and leaders.
Drafted: First pick in the second round (19th overall) of the 2011 MLS SuperDraft.
