Callender rose to the occasion as Inter Miami keeper in 2022, aims to build on success

Did you want to see me broken?

Bowed head and lowered eyes?

Shoulders falling down like teardrops,

Weakened by my soulful cries?

You may shoot me with your words,

You may cut me with your eyes,

You may kill me with your hatefulness,

But still, like air, I’ll rise.

From Maya Angelou’s poem, Still I Rise

Inter Miami goalkeeper Drake Callender, who writes and performs poetry in his free time, is a big fan of Maya Angelou. Her well-known poem, “Still I Rise,” resonates with him, and inspires him.

Her words were particularly appropriate during the 2022 Inter Miami season, when one of the team’s most uplifting stories was Callender’s transformation from longtime backup to finalist for MLS Goalkeeper of the Year.

The 25-year-old native of Sacramento, California, spent his first two pro seasons toiling with the club’s reserve team. Then, during the 2022 preseason, when he had a chance to showcase his skills with the first team, he struggled through a scrimmage against CF Montreal.

That setback would have crushed the confidence of many young keepers. But Callender remained unshaken.

“Drake had a game in preseason where he struggled quite a bit and if anyone had watched that game, they might have said, ‘OK, this is it for him,’ ’’ said defender Aime Mabika, one of Callender’s best friends on the team. “But knowing Drake and talking to him after that game, he remained positive. He was like, ‘I’m going to get through this,’ and nine months later, he was a candidate for Goalkeeper of the Year.

“So, that’s the best way to describe Drake. He’s very serene in his thinking. He’s cerebral. He went through a lot.”

And still, he rose.

Callender, who enters this season as the expected starter, is known for his calm demeanor. He is among the Inter Miami players who meditates and practices grounding, a therapeutic technique that involves doing activities that “ground” or electrically reconnect you to the earth, such as taking barefoot walks or wading in the ocean.

That serenity kept him on course, and when starter Nick Marsman, the veteran Dutchman, went down with an injury in late-April, Callender stepped in and was so impressive, he wound up keeping the starting job.

He made 24 regular-season starts, was named to MLS Team of the Week on three occasions, including a Week 12 performance in which he kept a clean sheet against eventual Eastern Conference leaders Philadelphia Union and he made an ESPN “SportsCenter” Top 10 save.

Callender came up huge in the final stretch of the regular season with game-winning saves against Columbus Crew and D.C. United, followed by a clean sheet against Toronto FC.

“A lot of people don’t understand how hard it is to be a goalkeeper and go through what he did, essentially two and a half years where he wasn’t playing,” Mabika said. “You’re doing everything you can in training but only one can play. So, for him to finally get that opportunity and run away with it, I was really happy for him.”

Callender said he is “content” with how far he has come but will not settle.

“I want to keep building on how I’ve grown the past couple years,” he said. “Every day I show up to get better, guys are pushing me to get better. I see myself continuing to grow and excel in this position. I want to be a leader and more vocal in the locker room.”

Another focus is footwork, an area in which Marsman excels.

“We want to maintain possession, so the ability of a goalkeeper to be used in possession, hit accurate passes, is huge,” Callender said. “It gives everyone confidence. It’s definitely a part of my game I’ll keep improving.”

Notes: Forward Leo Campana, who was sick earlier in the week, was back at training. … Newly signed Argentine players Nicolas Stefanelli and Franco Negri are awaiting their visas and expected to join camp later this month. …South American powerhouses River Plate (Argentina) and Millionarios (Colombia) play a friendly at 7 p.m. Saturday at DRV PNK Stadium. Among the players on River’s roster is former Inter Miami center back Leandro Gonzalez Pirez, who is on loan there for the second season. Tickets for the match are available at intermiamicf.com