Garald Hylkema at the age of 19, completed Del Campo High School in Sacramento and in one season at American River College playing soccer for both schools. He spend his sophomore year in high school playing abroad, in Holland, his father's native country. Since he didn't play for a high-profile club team, so he wasn't seen by a lot of college coaches, and was not recruited. His father was a gifted, dedicated professional player in the 1970s in Holland, Mexico and the America Soccer League and later a coach.
"I had one contact, by UC-Davis, when I was a senior at Del Campo," Hylkema said. "They just said it would be nice if I'd come and play there. They didn't really offer me too much." Hylkema said he knew UC-Davis was "a really good school," but it didn't appeal to him because it was too close to home. In 1984, his father, also named Gerald, began coaching the soccer team at the California State University in Sacramento. So, he enrolled at USF, without an athletic scholarship, to play for the veteran coach Steve Negoesco. And, after the Dons lost top forwards Inge Klevburg and Anthony Medina and midfielder Tiberiu Marinescu to knee injuries, Hylkema was thrust into the starting lineup at a spot up front.
He has responded by tying for the team lead in scoring with 15 points in 13 games - six goals, which came on only 23 shots, and three assists. One of his goals beat Loyola Chicago, and three others came against nationally ranked teams.
"We're all pleasantly surprised," said Dons Assistant Coach Erik Visser, who had known Hylkema's father since the early 1980s. "When the opportunity was presented to him, he grabbed it with both hands. For a young man, he has great poise in front of the goal, the ability to shoot with either his right or left foot, and obvious speed. He has room for improvement, and defenses are going to be preparing for him now. But if he proves to have the athleticism and enormous dedication of his dad, he's going to be ahead of the game."
Hylkema worked out a package of limited (non-athletic) financial aid, and has settled in well on the Hilltop. "Everything has gone very smoothly," he said. He credits his dad, who in 1999 began coaching in the Mexican Third Division, and that year in Holland for much of his soccer development. "From as far back as I can remember," Hylkema said, "my father trained me and my sister (Brittany, 20, who's now enrolled at Pacific). He's always been behind me, and he helped me a lot with my technique.
"And the year I spent with him in Holland, when he went back to get a higher coaching license, was very important, too, because soccer is a different game there, much more physical - and much more the main sport than it is here."
Hylkema also has been aided by his rapid growth. In the last three years, he's added 3 inches in height (to 6-feet-1) and gained 15 pounds (to about 160) (SFGate).
