We live in a hyper-transient society, but Scott Gallagher SC defender Michael Robson is getting a lot of mileage out of home.

Robson, a 2009 graduate and one of the best of his recruiting class nationally, has given a verbal commitment to hometown school St. Louis University. He also found much of his early soccer inspiration at home from older brother Kevin, who also played at Gallagher and just finished a solid career at Indiana University.

In fact, the younger Robson just likes home in general.

"He likes being closer to home," his mother, Patty, confirmed. "He likes it when everybody's home and doing the family thing. He's not a big party kid but kind of my quiet one, my homebody."

Michael agreed that this played into his college choice.

"I had a few schools in mind besides SLU.  SMU and UCSB were interested and after I went down to Disney with Region II ODP I started hearing from some places," Robson said. "But that's when I really started talking to SLU and they gave me a pretty good offer in mid-January. So it ended up being a pretty short recruiting process for me. I've really always wanted to go to SLU. It's my hometown school. They've had a lot of great players come out of there and this way I could stay close to home."

Michael said his older brother Kevin has been a big influence.

"We've had some battles in the backyard over the years," he said. "He's pushed me a lot because I always felt I had to stay with him. He's been a big influence on me."

Patty Robson confirms this.

"Michael's always wanted to be like Kevin. He used to follow him around like a puppy dog. Anything Kevin did was awesome to Michael," she said. "But Kevin is the same way now, he's very supportive.. The age difference is good so they're not so competitive with one another. They really root for each other and are like best friends."

Michael, who cited Chelsea's John Terry as a role model defender, has a 2nd family of sorts with his Gallagher team.

"There are 8 kids who have been together since they were 9, and 4 or 5 of us came in a little later, " he said of the U16 squad. "We can really play well together because we know each other so well. We've been coached to stay together and spread everybody out."

Although he can perform the physical duties required of a center back, Michael brings some added benefits due to his high skill level. He attributes this to the coaching he has gotten at Gallagher from first Kevin Kalish and more recently Tommy Howe.

"I believe I'm a smarter player now, I can adjust and pass the ball, " he said. "If you can keep the ball your team's going to do better. The attack starts in the back and that's what you need to do to win games."

Kalish said Michael's family influences are definitely helpful.

"He comes from a soccer-oriented family. His brother was a good player and his background is very high-quality," he said. "From a personality standpoint, he's a competitor and a winner and you can see that in how he plays."

Kalish said Michael makes a great teammate, and also thinks Michael's versatility will serve him well in college.

Michael is going to be a guy who can play a lot of positions, whether it's center back, wide back or midfield," Kalish said. "It's a testament to his skill level and versatility. By being such a skilled player it will allow him to play multiple positions."

Michael is not looking too far down the road but admits he'd like to play professional after studying something business-related in college. He adds that he isn't necessarily interested in playing overseas however.

After all, that's an awfully long way from home.

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