Ian Christianson began kicking a soccer ball around when he was a little kid. His older cousins played soccer and it seemed like fun.

"At family gatherings, I'd go out in the backyard when I was 3 or 4 years old and kind of mess around with them," said Christianson, who grew up in Cedar Rapids. "It kind of just took off from there.

"I think I started playing organized soccer when I was 5. It was pretty young."

Christianson, who turns 22 on Wednesday, is still playing the game he loves, but he's come a long way from those backyard games with his cousins. His next match will be as a professional soccer player for the New York Red Bulls in the MLS (Major League Soccer).

"It's obviously a dream come true for me," he said. "I just hope to stick in the league and make some appearances this year and keep improving and stay in the league as long as I can."

The Red Bulls opened the season at Portland (Ore.) on Sunday, but Christianson did not make the trip due to a hip and groin injury. He hopes to play in New York's next game next Sunday in San Jose.

Christianson attended Kennedy High School for two years, but played club soccer and never dressed for the Cougars. He moved to Chicago when he was 16 to play for the Chicago Fire Academy, an elite club team, and lived with a teammate while his parents, Mark and Joyce Christianson, stayed in Cedar Rapids.

His next stop was Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., where he led the Hoyas to the NCAA Division I finals and was named an NSCAA third team All-American.

Christianson was the 22nd pick in the 2012 MLS SuperDraft and is excited to be a rookie with the Red Bulls, whose international roster features Thierry Henry, one of the league's top players from France; Tim Cahill, a World Cup veteran from Australia; and Juninho, a former member of the Brazilian National Team.

"Just being able to train with them on a daily basis and just talking to them as your teammates, it's something I guess I never really thought about," he said.

"It's pretty humbling and a lot of fun. You kind of dream about it your whole life. To grow up and do something you love for a living and you get paid for it, it's been a little surreal in that sense.

"I don't think it's really kicked in."

There are 24 players on New York's roster. Ten of the players are from the United States and the others are from Spain, Colombia, Australia, Brazil, Argentina, France, Sweden, Japan, Costa Rica, England and Northern Ireland.

The top stars in the league are paid millions of dollars, but a number of others make $33,000 or $44,000 per year according to various websites. "It's a little more difficult making a bunch of money playing soccer than it is in the other sports," said Christianson.

The MLS plays a long regular season that begins in early March and runs to the end of October, followed by the playoffs than can extend into December. Christianson, a midfielder, hopes to get established in the league as time goes by.

"There are a lot of stars and kind of a packed midfield," he said, describing the Red Bulls. "Right now my main goal is just to make a roster and travel out there (to San Jose next Sunday).

"Whether I play or not, that's a whole other story. I'm just hoping to take it one step at a time at this point."

The Red Bulls are based in Harrison, N.J., which is about a 15-minute ride from New York City. Christianson needs one more semester to get his marketing degree from Georgetown and plans to get started on that this summer.

Right now, he's a 21-year-old pro soccer player who's getting his kicks in the MLS.