LACROSSE THE POND!

Blues’ US loan star admits: I had to bargain with with my brother to play football. I’d have to play lacrosse with him then he’d play soccer with me

TRUSTY by name, trusted by nature.

If Arsenal fans are wondering how their Yank import Auston Trusty is doing on loan at Birmingham City, the answer is above.

One dozen games for John Eustace’s side and the 24-year-old has adjusted just fine to the demands of Championship football. Real fine, in fact.

This should come as no surprise, given the Philadelphia native’s back story. Growing up, he had to barter with his brother to even practice.

In what may be a first, his love of the game across the Pond was inspired by his sister’s brush with stardom with the US national team.

He said: “I’m the youngest of six, my eldest sibling is 18 years older than me, but all of them played sport.

Inspiration

“But not the same one. The oldest did basketball. The next one, track, and then there was my sister Onnie where I got my inspiration for the game from.

“So I grew up in a backyard playing different sports at different levels because of the different ages.

“I had to learn playing with three brothers and two sisters. As kids, we had a sibling who was a buddy. Mine was my brother, Ethan, who was two years older than me. I had to bargain with him to play football.

I’d play lacrosse with hm for 30 minutes and then he’d play soccer with me.

“Getting my friends to play was insanely hard. It was impossible. So, I ended up taking a ball and dribbling it around my backyard.

“The problem was, it wasn’t flat. It was full of roots and shoots, the ball was constantly bouncing off my shins. I had to do my own thing.”

Trusty, who will play for the Blues today at Hull City, had been savvy enough to see for himself the doors that could open after his sibling got a taste of success in the sport.

He said: “I got my love for the game from my sister – she was a high-level player – on the national team. When I was younger, I’d see she was travelling all over the place.

“I’d ask: ‘Where’s Onnie’ and my mom would say: ‘Oh, she’s in Paris, playing soccer.’ I thought: ‘That’s a way for me to see the world.’

“She knows all of the national team players, Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe... Unfortunately, she broke her hip and that stalled her career.

“But what I saw was that through soccer she went to college for free. I didn’t grow up in a wealthy family but I saw I could do something I love and not pay any student loans, for example, it showed me a path I could follow.”

Trusty said that his parents forced him to play all sport with kids who were two years older than him. He is convinced it helped his development from MLS side

Philadelphia Union to the junior US ranks.

He was given the chance to turn professional, telling his college coach through his tears that he was not able to take up a place at the University of North Carolina.

He added: “I was doing my thing in the MLS, I knew that if I kept doing it, that opportunities would come. But Arsenal? What are you going to do if club like Arsenal comes into the picture?

“There were other teams but they are a dream club. I couldn’t ever turn that down.

“They wanted me to go on loan. And we thought Birmingham would be the best for me. I heard John Eustace was coming in and that just made my mind up. I didn’t know him personally but Arsenal have connections and they know John’s a really good coach and a good person.

My backyard wasn’t flat. It was full of roots and shoots. The ball was constantly bouncing off my shins. I had to do my own thing

Mindset

“Birmingham have been beaten down in the past couple of years. But the mindset has shifted now. Everything has changed.

“I came from a team in Colorado that was in a similar position. It was looked down upon, it had an underdog mentality. I feel that people still think that. But Colorado, we won the most games in the western conference last year.

“I’m really happy I came here. I remember tasting what I did in Colorado, here in Birmingham.

I can feel something building. I get chills talking about it.

“Birmingham are treated similarly to how we were in

Colorado – a good place to be

– you can shut people up.”