HANDED A WHITE jersey with the Los Angeles Galaxy crest over the heart, navy blue sash across the chest, No. 5 on the back, and "Waldeck" stitched across the shoulders, Bodey Waldeck felt like a superstar.
His name announced, Bodey walked onto the stage to applause and the clicking of cameras. His smile could not be contained.
Of the four Waldeck boys, Bodey, born with disabilities that left him so small and thin he was classified as "failure to thrive" as a baby, seemed the least likely to receive such attention athletically.
But as Derek, the second-oldest of the Waldeck boys, acknowledged, "Bodey's the first to go pro."
Derek Waldeck, a Stanford midfielder and member of two NCAA champion soccer teams, couldn't be at the stadium that April day to see his brother Bodey sign with the Galaxy. But Bodey had plenty of support -- mom and dad, brothers, cousins, and friends.
This ceremony, at the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, announced the members of the L.A. Galaxy Special Olympics Southern California Unified Team, a group that includes those with and without intellectual disabilities who compete together as equals. The Galaxy's Unified team played in a pair of matches on either coast against other teams affiliated with Major League Soccer.
"There is no difference in the significance of Stanford's national championships that Derek was a part of, or one of Bodey's gold medals when he plays Special Olympics," said their father, Steve Waldeck. "Inside of our family, they're equally celebrated. One isn't greater than the other."
But at Stanford, Derek's contributions have been significant to a No 2-ranked program seeking its sixth consecutive Pac-12 championship, and fourth NCAA title in five years. Waldeck does everything he's supposed to, and more. That's not an empty statement. Waldeck is dependable ... so dependable that "you can set your clock to it," in the parlance of Stanford coach Jeremy Gunn. Every team needs some flash, but it also needs some substance, and that's where Waldeck comes in.
One might not see goals, but will see Waldeck covering "every blade of grass," on defense, setting up teammates with accurate passes, taking set pieces, providing leadership, and setting an example of selfless, hard-working play to his young teammates.
There was a point, when Waldeck was growing up in Ellensburg, Washington, thought he did provide the flash. In seventh grade, Waldeck dominated play and his prolific scoring continued at the state Olympic Development level and earned him a spot at the youth national-team camp. There, Waldeck was moved from the middle to the left for his strong left foot.
"I had enough ability going forward that I could work to overlap, get crosses in the box, stuff like that," Waldeck said. "I also knew it was a position where I wasn't going to be the main guy out there anymore. That was the year I started to fall in love with the simplicity of soccer.
"I learned there always are people better than you. I'm a kid from a small town … I was one of the best soccer players in that small town. You expand to the national level and, all of a sudden, there are so many people that are far better. I needed to settle in where I can to compete. I'm not going to score all these goals, but I can be successful."
GUNN WASN'T LOOKING for the spectacular when he recruited Waldeck. He was looking for the simple.
"This is the style we play," Gunn told him. "We want to be a high-octane pressing team, to go at teams for 90 minutes." That suited Waldeck perfectly.
"That's the type of soccer I love to play: covering ground, getting into people, causing turnovers," he said.
"Opposing coaches won't always notice how valuable he is," Gunn said. "But when you're inside the program, you truly value someone with his unbelievable drive, unbelievable humility, and unbelievable skill set. Those come from being so honest, so hard-working, so dependable, so accountable, so positive that he's just somebody that you never have to worry about."
Down in Santa Clarita, California, where the Waldecks moved during Derek's high school days, Bodey dons Stanford gear on the days the Cardinal plays, and heads to school at Valencia High. In the afternoon, he trains with a workout plan that Derek created for him.
After a series of tryouts, Bodey made the Galaxy's Unified team. But Bodey may have been even more thrilled at the presence of one of the Galaxy players at the ceremony, former Stanford star Tomas Hilliard-Arce.
Derek received a text from his dad: "Tomas is here. Bodey's freaking out."
Upon seeing his brother's former Stanford teammate, Bodey embraced Hilliard-Arce with a familiarity bred on fall nights and Sunday afternoons at Laird Q. Cagan Stadium.
The thought of it made Derek smile. Waldeck soccer celebrations, after all, are a family affair.
Photos by Jim Shorin/Stanford Athletics.