Ever since he was a 12-year-old prospect still learning the game, Derrick Etienne has dreamed of starting his professional career as a member of the New York Red Bulls. That dream became a reality last week as Etienne formerly joined the club he has always seemed to call home.

As part of a sweeping Homegrown signing period that saw the additions of six local players, Etienne signed his first professional contract with the New York Red Bulls on Dec. 21. With that signing, the attacking midfield prospect opted to depart the University of Virginia after just one season in favor of fulfilling a lifelong goal of kickstarting his professional career.

“I really just feel good about it. I felt that it’s been a long time coming,” Etienne told SBI. “I’ve been in the academy since I was 12 years old, so being able to sign with the club that you’ve grown up with was one of the best feelings in the world, you know? Just reflecting on it, it was basically just a long time coming.

“When I first came to Red Bull, there was a lot of talk about Homegrown signings because they had just started doing it. It has always been a dream of mine to be a professional soccer player, and the aspect of going to an MLS club and seeing the games and seeing and training with the first team, it has just always been a goal to make that jump into the professional ranks, but especially with the Red Bulls.”

That process started, in earnest, this past summer. Shortly before arriving at Virginia, Etienne featured prominently as a member of Red Bulls II in the USL. Etienne appeared in 14 matches while contributing three goals and three assists in what proved to be his coming our party against professional players.

Under the tutelage of Red Bulls II coach John Wolyniec, Etienne was informed quite quickly that he had plenty to prove. Etienne was competing against first team regulars as well as USL stars, and was tasked with finding his niche and asserting himself within the team.

He did just that while developing the confidence it takes to understand that it was time to make the jump to the pro ranks. Although leaving Virginia was admittedly difficult, Etienne knew his best chance at becoming the best player he could be would come as a member of the Red Bulls.

Now a week into his professional career, Etienne says that little has changed. Since the arrival of head coach Jesse Marsch and Sporting Director Ali Curtis, Etienne says the Red Bulls’ first team and academy system have developed into one singular well-oiled machine that has felt more in-tune than ever before.

As a result, Etienne doesn’t feel like a newcomer or an outsider because he never was one. Rather, the 19-year-old has always felt a part of a team and academy that he considers among the best in the country.

“Dax (McCarty), Sacha (Kljestan), Lloyd Sam, Bradley and Shaun (Wright-Phillips), all of those guys, learning from them is only going to help my game,” Etienne said. “With Lloyd, yeah, you can take a guy one-on-one, but you have to know when to play it. Sacha tells me to stay active and moving around.

“The biggest one has been Bradley Wright-Phillips. He came up to me because there were a couple of plays back-to-back where he thought I should have done something different. Being with the first team, you try not to make a mistake, but he said, ‘If you’re up here, they obviously like the way you play. That’s why they asked you to come up here, so just do what you do and do it with your team’. I thought that was very helpful: just to be welcomed into the team without criticism, but with constructive criticism. ”

As the son and grandson of former Haitian internationals, Etienne knows what lies ahead. His father, Derrick Sr., established himself as a member of the Long Island Rough Riders while instructing his son on the work ethic required to compete as a professional. The younger Etienne admits that, for him at least, a day off from training does not mean a day off from working, as fitness and skill are aspects that need to be refined and re-trained each and ever day.

Like his father before him, Etienne has represented the Haitian national team on the youth level, but remains eligible for the U.S. due to his roots in Paterson, N.J. In making the move to the professional ranks, Etienne understands that he may someday have the chance to compete on the international level for either of the two nations he calls home.

“I’ve been to a couple of U.S. camps, but due to the fact that they weren’t calling me into any camps and Haiti called me, (I’ve represented Haiti),” Etienne said. “Of course, I was very eager to play for Haiti because my dad and grandfather played for them, but I’ll really have to see what’s better for my career.

“If the U.S. called, I would have to sit down with my family. If Haiti calls, I’ll have to sit down with my family to see what’s better for my career.”

For now, Etienne remains solely focused on his budding career at Red Bull Arena. In particular, the attacking midfielder is hoping to score more goals in the games ahead while setting an ambitious target of 10 goals, 10 assists at whatever level he finds himself playing at next season.

Etienne is part of a six-player Homegrown signing haul the Red Bulls are hoping can produce more players like Matt Miazga, who rapidly rose from little-known youth prospect to U.S. Men’s National Team defender in the span of a year. It is a path Etienne hopes to follow.

“It’s very good to know that it works,” Etienne said. “To see that you have a platform in front of you and, if you’re doing what you’re supposed to be doing and the coaches feel that it’s the right think, you’ll be rewarded with playing time. Hopefully that’s what I do and I can be able to become one of those like Miazga or Sean Davis or Connor Lade.

“(The Homegrown players) are always going to have that in common, and now that we’re on the professional stage, it’s just one more thing to add on to the tale of knowing each other.”