Don't ask Edson Elcock to define his duties as a Richmond Kickers forward/midfielder. He won't do it, perhaps because he can't do it.
Elcock, a swift and clever perimeter performer, may be the most versatile member of the Kickers' offensive lineup. He has four goals and four assists, two in U.S. Open Cup play, for one of USL PRO's most capable attacking units.
Scorer? Or distributor? Most offensive players slip instinctively into one role or the other. But not Elcock.
"I don't like to pin myself down with descriptions," Elcock said. "What I like to do — what I want to do — is create. Whether I'm doing it for myself or for a teammate, that really doesn't matter. If I think I can create a good opportunity for myself, I'll do it. If I think I can create a better shot for a teammate (by surrendering the ball), I'll do that. The only thing I want to do, and really I don't care how I do it, is make something happen."
This 5-foot-7 dynamo has an undeniable knack for making good things happen.
He assisted on the game-winning goal in the Kickers' recent U.S. Open Cup upset of MLS foe Columbus. He scored the game-winning goal in Richmond's crucial July 9 road victory over Charlotte.
He assisted on the only goal in Saturday's victory over Antigua.
The minutes Elcock has accumulated in league matches — 1,342, more than any other Kickers attacker — "are a reflection of how well he's playing," said Kickers coach Leigh Cowlishaw.
Not only is Elcock consistently productive, Cowlishaw said, his work ethic and unselfishness are conspicuous. And his assortment of skills enables him to occupy either a passing position on the flank or a shooting position in the middle.
"It's very difficult to keep someone like that off the field," Cowlishaw said.
Little of which seemed likely as spring melted into summer. Elcock, 26, who joined the Kickers at the midpoint of the 2009 season, encountered bad luck in abundance in April and May. He scored only once in the Kickers' first 10 matches. But seldom, if ever, did he surrender to frustration.
"I didn't change anything," Elcock said. "I tried to play and practice the same way. I tried to stay positive. That's the key, I think just stay positive. If you're not doing anything wrong from a technical standpoint, and I wasn't, why look for something to change?"
He said the Kickers' sizzling start — six victories and a draw in their first seven matches — helped keep impatience at arm's length.
"When your team is winning and picking up points every night, you never think too much about personal numbers," Elcock said. "The only thing you're thinking about is doing something to help your team win."
As the weather has grown warmer, so has Elcock. He has produced either a goal or an assist in five of the Kickers' past nine matches.
Elcock's flair for the dramatic at times borders on thespian. He has scored in each of the past two USL-2 championship games. And even when the stage is — to some extent — unfamiliar, he finds the spotlight. Or vice versa. Elcock a former first-team All-America at Old Dominion University, was born in Trinidad but moved with his family to Brooklyn, N.Y., when he was 9. He began playing basketball soon thereafter. His motivation was entirely social.
"It was an assimilation thing," he said. "It was something to share with my friends. Not many of them played soccer, but just about all of them played basketball."
He played both sports while attending Brooklyn Friends, a private high school with an enrollment of 600. In soccer, he was a dynamic scorer. In basketball, he was an undersized guard who specialized in suffocating defense. But when the most celebrated basketball game in Brooklyn Friends history — the 2003 New York Class C state final — hung in the balance, it was Elcock who delivered the big basket_ a driving layup that put the Blue Pride ahead to stay with less than a minute remaining in overtime.
Elcock said basketball was, and still is, close to his heart. But he laughed aloud when asked if he thought at any time about making basketball his top priority.
"Oh, no, no, no, no," he said. "Never. I had no delusions. As much as I enjoyed basketball, I knew it was never going to take me to college, let alone to the pros."