Another Choate Rosemary Hall alumni has made it to the big leagues. D.C. United, one of the 14 teams that comprise Major League Soccer, recently drafted Dane Murphy ’04. D.C. United has won the MLS cup four times, more than any other team.
Murphy started playing soccer when he was about nine. At Choate, he played center mid-field for the Boys’ Varsity Soccer team for three years, during his Third, Fourth and Sixth form year. He spent his Fifth form year at IMG Academy for soccer. IMG is a multi-sport training facility in Florida for students who want intense, professional instruction in athletics. Returning in his Sixth form year, Murphy helped the team win the Western England Championships in 2003. Besides Choate’s team, Murphy was selected to the Parade All-American Team and the Youth National team. He started out in smaller, more local teams, like the Redding Soccer Club in the area where he grew up, and rapidly advanced to more intense and professional teams, eventually making his way to D.C. United.
John. Ford, who coached the Boys’ Varsity Soccer team while Murphy was at Choate, still remembers him. Describing him as “laid-back, but very passionate,” Mr. Ford said that though he was “not the captain of the team, he was certainly one of the main players that led the team.”
After graduating from Choate in 2004, he attended the University of Virginia, where he played for the highly-ranked soccer team. Murphy started at midfield at UVA for three years. The team reached the final four of the NCAA Division I tournament in 2006. He graduated from the University of Virginia early in December, and is one of the six people from UVA drafted by MLS teams. Murphy is now spending his first season with D.C. United, where he aims to earn as much playing time as possible in his rookie year.
