Throughout the team?s championship run last season, Baltimore Blast veteran Tarik Walker stood with his teammates on the bench sweating. Walker?s perspiration wasn?t coming from his work on the field, though. He was in a suit and tie, barking out directions as an assistant coach. After a pair of ankle surgeries, he had stepped off the field for a season to recover.
“As a player, it gave me time to heal,” he said. “As a coach, you stand back and get a different perspective of the game. It gave me a lot of time to think about where I could inject myself into the game. I think that?s where I got a little bit of an advantage coming back this year.”
Walker, 35, is at the end of a 15-day/five-game contract he signed at the end of training camp. With his play of late ? a goal and an assist Saturday night in a 22-6 win over the visiting California Cougars ? he is making a case for a longer stay.
“Tarik brings leadership, a wealth of experience,” Blast coach Danny Kelly said. “He knows how to play the game.”
Walker is second on the franchise?s all-time scoring list with 561 points, behind only Denison Cabral, who assisted Walker?s third-period goal Saturday.
“It?s been awhile since we?ve been able to hook up,” Walker said of Cabral, who missed most of the last two seasons with knee injuries. “It?s been a long time coming, I think.”
Walker, who said he is about 90-95 percent right now, is trying to stay consistent in his game. He credits the Blast fan base for pushing him when he?s on the floor.
“In the fourth quarter, you feel like you might be dragging a little bit, but you hear the fans, and it kind of pushes you and urges you on,” Walker said.
His goal has been to improve with each game he?s played this season. Walker must be signed to another contract in order to play at California Thursday.
“The fifth game now is just each game building on each other,” Walker said. “I hope that they can see that.”
The Walker file
» Age: 35
» Position: Forward
» Did you know? Walker has played in the Major Indoor Soccer League for 12 seasons, including 10 in Baltimore ? He has scored 219 goals for the Blast, and 288 overall, in 421 games. Of those games, 324 have come in Baltimore ? He also spent time in Harrisburg and Milwaukee after beginning his career in Baltimore.
