CARSON, Calif. -- The LA Galaxy Reserves will play their final Reserve League game of the season on Friday against the Vancouver Whitecaps FC Reserves for a chance to win the West Division championship, but while a title will be a nice reward for the club's reserve squad, their true reward has been measured in the development that they have experienced this season.
Among those that has developed immensely this season has been rookie midfielder Kenny Walker. Drafted with the second round of the MLS SuperDraft with the 38th overall pick, the 23-year-old rookie from the University of Louisville has seen considerable time for the club's reserves this season appearing in all nine games this season. The Reserve League showings have been a boon for Walker, who has also made one start for the first team as well as two appearances in CONCACAF Champions League play.
During his time with the Galaxy Reserves, Walker has formed a solid midfield partnership with rookie Rafael Garcia, whose ability to go forward at times, balances Walker's defensive abilties.
Although his career is still in its beginning stages, Walker admits it has been a "blast" and a "dream come true" playing with the Reserve League squad.
WALKER: "Development wise, learning the speed of play and from the first team guys and building a team with the second team guys has been a blast and a dream come true pretty much...I've grown in the speed of play, it's a lot different from college because you have to know what you're going to do before you get the ball and your first touch has to be 10 times better than it was in college and even thought you work on it everyday, it takes a little bit to develop it. So getting into [Reserve] games as well as going against the first team everyday and comparing yourself against some of the best players in the world-- guys like David [Beckham], Robbie [Keane] and Landon [Donovan] is good."
(On the chance to win a Reserve League West Division title...)
WALKER: "It's been a long couple weeks, just training so it's nice to have a game to look forward to so it's just fun being able to get ready for something and play for a championship. It's just the Reserve League, but it's big to us so it's going to be fun...it's been excellent coming out here and playing with these guys in training and building up with the Reserve team. We've done very well so we'd like to cap it off with a win.
