varsity.roanoke.com

Photos by KYLE GREEN The Roanoke Times

Hidden Valley's Parker Walsh (right) battles for a loose ball with Michael Breske of Blacksburg in a game played last week and won by the Bruins, 5-1.

KYLE GREEN The Roanoke Times

Hidden Valley soccer player Parker Walsh (right) heads the ball in front of Blacksburg's Daniel Hiller.

At least once a game it happens. Hidden Valley goalkeeper Mark Bixler will be standing in front of his net, looking downfield, when teammate Parker Walsh takes command.

Walsh will collect a pass and start making those moves near midfield, weaving the soccer ball through traffic, dribbling deftly toward the opposing net.

"Uh, oh," Bixler thinks. "There he goes."

There he goes.

And rarely does Walsh stop.

A tireless juggler of high school and elite-level travel soccer, Walsh has dazzled spectators from Venice to Vinton, Paris to Pulaski, Berlin to Blacksburg.

In the past three years, the Hidden Valley sophomore has played in nine European countries as well as Japan and Argentina. He's represented his Roanoke club, his state, the eastern United States and the nation as a whole.

But for a few more weeks, he's a Hidden Valley Titan, making perhaps his final push for a Group AA championship.

"Wow, I hadn't thought about that," Walsh said, when asked whether his sophomore season will be his swan song as a prep athlete. "It could be. I'm not saying it is 100 percent, but it could be."

He's not trying to be mysterious. It's just a fact: His schedule is about as predictable as the Mega Millions draw.

Walsh is one of 80 members in the pool for the under-18 U.S. national team. He's also an active member of the Olympic Development Program on the state and regional levels. That means he never knows when, or from whom, the next phone call will come.

Photos by Kyle Green | The Roanoke Times

"It's extreme, but I enjoy it. I enjoy the travel. ... Sometimes it does get a little ridiculous, but it's fun," says Parker Walsh, on playing around the world.

Hidden Valley soccer player Parker Walsh (right) heads the ball in front of Blacksburg's Daniel Hiller.

Hidden Valley's Parker Walsh (right) battles for a loose ball with Michael Breske of Blacksburg in a game played last week and won by the Bruins, 5-1.

Maybe it's the national coach inviting him to a camp. Maybe it's the regional coach asking to join the team for a tournament overseas. Maybe it's a travel opportunity granted by his local club, the Roanoke Star.

Or maybe it's all three at once, forcing him to choose.

"It's extreme, but I enjoy it," said Walsh, adding that sightseeing is limited on most trips. "I enjoy the travel. I enjoy visiting other places. I enjoy playing here, playing with Roanoke and playing for the high school. Sometimes it does get a little ridiculous, but it's fun."

Next year at this time, Walsh could be playing full time in Germany or the Netherlands. It's something Star executive director Danny Beamer is trying to arrange and something Walsh would like to do -- provided he can convince his mother it's a good idea.

"I have to consider everything," Walsh said. "A lot of it depends on the school and how they would work with me. Education is vital. You can't do much in the world without it. ... But those [overseas programs] have helped people in the past, and I think it would help me."

Walsh's brief high school career has featured a series of conflicts. Just this month, he returned from a 10-day trip to Italy -- his second visit to that nation, this time with the Region I ODP team -- and suited up two nights later for a critical River Ridge District match against Blacksburg.

Last year, he missed a significant chunk of the high school season while playing in France for the U-17 national team. It was well worth it, particularly when he scored late in a match against Scotland to help the U.S. forge a 1-1 draw.

"I'll take him whenever I can get him," Hidden Valley coach Sean Pratt said. "I don't care how long his trips are. If he's back once a week, we'll take him once a week. These games are big locally, but I know he's playing bigger games where there's a little more at stake for his future than beating Christiansburg 4-0.

"But yeah, the team's different without him. We have to come up with a whole different strategy with or without him."

Whether he's playing in Timesland or Tokyo, Walsh approaches the game the same way -- with focus and intensity. That's one of the main reasons his teammates have no problem with his frequent absences.

"Whenever Parker leaves, we never hold a grudge on him," said Will Hare, a freshman midfielder for the Titans. "He's not cocky at all. He takes pride in what he does, especially at the high school level. That shows good character."

It's a different feeling pulling on a U.S. jersey to play the English national team than it is preparing for a River Ridge District match, but Walsh takes pride in representing his high school, as well.

"You have to," Walsh said. "You can't do it halfway. When you do it, you've got to do it 100 percent. If I just come out here and lollygag, it does me no good and it does my teammates no good."

This sort of uncompromising dedication has made Walsh a national-caliber player with dreams of one day representing the U.S. in the World Cup.

Walsh, who was born in Florida and moved to Roanoke at age 6, comes from an athletic background. Both his father, Mark, and grandfather, George, played football at Illinois, but neither played soccer. Parker's interest in the sport began in the back yard, as he emulated his older brother Taylor.

Taylor Walsh played baseball and soccer, so Parker did, too. And when Taylor started gravitating toward soccer full-time -- he's now a junior midfielder at Virginia Tech -- Parker followed along, steadily improving each year.

"He's got all the tools," said Beamer, who's watched Parker Walsh excel for the Star the past six years. "He's got a great left foot and can play just about any position. Technically and tactically, he's extremely good. He can place a ball pretty much wherever he wants it."

Walsh plays left back, a defensive position, for the national team. But he's a center midfielder for the Titans and has already scored 15 goals in limited action this season. He's scored key goals in both of Hidden Valley's victories over William Byrd and had three-goal games against Christiansburg and Salem.

Even if Walsh doesn't go to school in Europe next spring, the injury risk and slew of other commitments might force him to give up high school soccer. Like many of his globe-trotting peers, he fears burnout and is careful to take a day of rest after long trips. But he'll continue to do as much as he can with a dreamer's eye on every elite soccer player's goal -- the World Cup.

"I think he can be as good as he wants to be," said Bixler, the goalkeeper. "He has the talent. If he keeps working hard, he can go as far as he wants."

Whatever happens, Bixler will watch Walsh with a familiar thought in mind:

There he goes again.