Dan Laroche is living his dream.

He works in New York City. His office is Yankee Stadium. Professional soccer is where he applies his skills.

It is a destination that the Lewiston native worked diligently to reach, and it’s a journey he doesn’t forget.

All he has to do is look at his arm to be reminded.

“I remember when I got my first paid position with a professional sports team, I actually got a patch on my arm that’s French,” Laroche said. “That’s my heritage. It’s French-Canadian. I got a finished quote that I kind of came up with in French. It means, ‘Remember your journey here.'”

Laroche is the equipment manager for Major League Soccer’s New York City FC. He’s been with the club since late last year. It’s been a long journey for the 2004 graduate of Lewiston High School but ultimately a rewarding one. And he doesn’t forget where he came from or what it took to get where he is now.

“I try to keep myself guarded and remind myself that it took awhile to get here and how long I sacrificed to get to this point and not take it for granted,” Laroche said.

When he graduated from high school, he had no idea exactly what he wanted to do for a career. That led to a nontraditional journey that eventually resulted in a career in professional soccer.  He handles all facets of the team’s equipment needs. He makes sure the coaching staff and players have what they need to be successful in training and in games. From uniforms and soccer balls, he makes sure the team is prepared properly. His team’s home games are at Yankee Stadium while road trips take him all across the country and beyond.

“It’s been quite the experience the past six months,” Laroche said. “After eight years of just trying to get somewhere where you wanted to get and being able to work like this, I remember getting the job and being on cloud nine. That’s one of those things you never forget.”

Getting into the professional leagues in any sport is a goal of many but few ever experience it as reality. Laroche wanted to work with athletes and wanted to see how far he could go. He also knew how hard it would be to reach that goal.

“Like with any job, I assume, you learn a lot of hard life lessons along the way,” Laroche said. “They’ll be a lot of mistakes that come along. You can let it derail you. It’s a matter of how bad do you want it. There were times when I thought, ‘You’ve come this far, it would be terrible to give up now.’ So I stuck with it. I kept believing I’d find the right door, and luckily enough, the right door opened.”

He credits his family, especially his parents Gerry and Sue Laroche, for their encouragement and belief in him. Between him moving home or venturing to jobs and school as far away as Utah, his family remained behind him.

“My folks have really stuck with me,” Laroche said. “I appreciate that. They were really supportive. When I moved home and they saw how unhappy I was, they knew what I wanted to do, and they really supported me.”

After graduation

Laroche played soccer and ran track while at Lewiston. He says deciding not to play hockey back then is still one of those things he regrets to this day. After graduation, his future was a question mark.

“When I graduated, I wasn’t even sure what I wanted to do,” Laroche said. “I didn’t want to commit going to college and not having an idea of where exactly I wanted to go in terms of a career field.”

He worked various jobs and waited for inspiration and opportunity to come. He realized he had an interest in a sports-related field. He considered sports physiology and massage. He even aimed high, thinking such a career could take him to the professional levels. It was something he decided to pursue.

“If I stayed in Maine, I knew I wouldn’t be able to get into professional sports like I wanted to,” he said.

He decided to attend the Utah College of Massage Therapy. He became a full-time student in a program that lasted seven months and 800 hours of schooling.

“At that time, I’d never really been anywhere else,” Laroche said. “I didn’t know anyone in Utah. So I ended up packing up everything I could into two suitcases and moved.”

He was just turning 23. It was the age most kids are getting out of college to pursue a new career. Laroche was seeking his future but taking a sizable leap in the process.

“At the time, it was terrifying,” he said. “In all honesty, it was terrifying. But it’s important to be able to go outside of your comfort zone.”

He began volunteering for the Real Salt Lake soccer team, another MLS club. He was an intern there for six months.  He worked various jobs and sought opportunities to volunteer and work as well, including working with Special Olympics athletes.

After the completion of school and the end of soccer season, Laroche returned to Maine. It proved to be a brief stopover before his dream lured him back again.

“Coming back to Maine, I wasn’t making a ton of money,” Laroche said. “It was one of those things where I felt it might be a good time to just go home. I went back home and realized that wasn’t really the case. “

He realized he still had the hunger to work with athletes and he sought opportunities to pursue.  He was hired as a volunteer with the Maine Red Claws in 2009.

“That kind of helped keep my name in the game,” Laroche said.

In 2011, he decided to return to Utah. This time he was going to attend the Structural Integration Institute. His hope was to learn new skills and build upon his experience.

“I knew I wanted to go back to Salt Lake and get more education in massages,” Laroche said. “So I went back to Salt Lake for structural integrations work.”

Within the year, he was back with Real Salt Lake, but this time he began new duties with the soccer team.

“I really started to jump in with the equipment side of it,” Laroche said. “My theory was, I learned this from a friend of mine, that you need to make yourself as valuable as possible and learn whatever you can. So you can do more than just one job.”

He was still a volunteer, juggling work with Real Salt Lake with other massage jobs. He was working constantly but learning at the same time.

“I gained an understanding of the job and I did that for a full season,” he said. “While most kids in their 20’s were partying and having a good time, I was working Friday and Saturday nights.”

He was eventually hired by Real Salt Lake and finally had a paid position in his chosen field.

“I had been there three years,” Laroche said. “So they offered me the position to be the head massage therapist, which is what I’d been working for and everything. I was really excited and I enjoyed it.”

Next stop

A trend had already been established. Players and coaches had transitioned from Real Salt Lake to joining the New York City FC team. Coach Jason Kreis changed jobs and brought along assistants Miles Joseph and CJ Brown. Trainer Kevin Christen even made the move. Former Real Salt Lake players changed jerseys as well. Midfielder’s Sebastian Velasquez and Ned Grabavoy, defenders Chris Wingert and Kwame Watson-Siriboe and keeper Josh Saunders joined their former coach in New York.

When the equipment manager position opened in New York last year, It was an intriguing possibility for Laroche.

“I enjoyed working with them so much that I wanted to go with them,” Laroche said. “I was open to the challenge of coming out here and being with people I knew and enjoyed being around. Not a lot of people get that opportunity to work with people they enjoy being around.”

Laroche was at a family wedding in Mexico late last year when the team wanted to do a follow-up interview for the position. They flew him into New York late one night and interviewed him the next day in a whirlwind of 24 hours. It proved to be an awesome and almost overwhelming experience. The wow-factor of it all hit him during the interview.

“They brought me in immediately and over to Yankee Stadium to meet the stadium ops team and go over game-day procedures,” Laroche said. “I was touring Yankee Stadium and that’s when it hit me.”

He was ultimately hired for the job and has been with the New York City FC ever since. He’s enjoying his job there and still getting used to life in New York. He’s not sure what the future holds. He’s just relishing where the journey has taken him so far.

His team plays a televised rivalry game today at 5 p.m. when the New York City FC plays the New York Red Bulls live on ESPN from Yankee Stadium.

“I’m really enjoying where I’m at right now,” Laroche said. “It’s still really fresh being here. Being in New York is different, especially compared to Utah. New York is very fast-paced. Being from New England and going down to Boston for Red Sox games, you’re used to the fast pace of life down there. To play our home games at Yankee Stadium is kind of surreal and being around such sports fans, it’s good to be around people that are passionate.”

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