FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – As a young soccer player, Scott Caldwell had only a passing knowledge of his father’s background in the professional game. Even now he doesn’t know many of the details.

Larry Caldwell played locally for the Rhode Island Oceaneers (American Soccer League) in 1974 and the Hartford Bicentennials (North American Soccer League) in 1975, but that’s about all Scott’s ever been able to dig up, no matter how hard he’s tried to tease out the particulars.

“Every time I ask him – because he only played a year or two – I don’t know,” Caldwell said with a smile before trailing off. “He was a good player from what I’ve heard. He stopped playing now, but he likes to kind of keep that out of it, I guess.”

Scott knew from a young age that he wanted to be a professional soccer player, too; he just wasn’t fully aware that he was following in his father’s footsteps. He didn’t listen to his father’s instruction because he was a former pro player – he listened because he was Dad.

“I didn’t really know growing up,” Caldwell said of his father’s playing career. “I just thought of him as one of my coaches, as my Dad. He was just always at the field with me or my older siblings, coaching our town teams.”

Larry Caldwell must’ve passed on plenty of knowledge to Scott and his siblings – brother Keith and sisters Andrea and Amy – and perhaps some soccer genes, as well, because the Caldwells have earned a reputation as one of the most athletically-gifted families in the New England region.

Scott Caldwell, now an everyday starter for the hometown New England Revolution, developed much of his game in the basement of his family home in Braintree, Massachusetts.

Scott Caldwell with his older sister, Amy.

It wasn’t a big space, Caldwell recalls – “It’s tiny,” he said – and he can’t remember if they had miniature goals or simply mats pushed against the wall to serve as targets. But he does remember the battles he had with his sister, Amy, the closest to Scott in age at just two years older.

Amy Caldwell is one of the most decorated women’s players to come out of Massachusetts in recent history. After registering 112 goals and 58 assists while leading Braintree High School to back-to-back Division 1 state titles, she made 82 appearances in a four-year career (2007-10) at Boston College.

The 2005 NSCAA Player of the Year and Gatorade Player of the Year in Massachusetts, Amy also spent time with the U.S. Women’s Under-16 National Team. She wasn’t your average athlete.

Similar as youngsters in not only age, but size, Scott and Amy often competed against each other in one-on-one basement games. And it wasn’t always just about having fun.

“It was very competitive between us two,” Scott said. “She was really good. It usually ended in one of us losing and running upstairs, and either crying or running away yelling. It was really competitive.”

Scott also spent plenty of time in that basement with his oldest sibling, Keith. The brothers are almost eight years apart so there wasn’t the competitive nature that Scott had with Amy, but Keith was more a mentor and teacher to Scott as he learned the game at a young age.

Scott Caldwell with his older brother, Keith.

Keith was a pretty decent player himself. After playing collegiately at Brown University – alongside future (and now former) Revolution midfielder Jeff Larentowicz – he was drafted in the 2006 MLS Supplemental Draft by the Colorado Rapids. Although he didn’t make the Rapids’ roster – returning to school to finish his degree after spending preseason with the club – Keith’s brush with the professional game simply made Scott’s desire to reach that level even greater.

“At the time, I don’t remember me thinking [Keith was going to be drafted],” Caldwell said. “But when he really did, being in touch with him throughout their preseason, saying he was doing well, I thought it was really cool and awesome for him.”

Scott’s other sister, Andrea – who’s five years older – also played collegiately at Simmons College, giving him three older siblings who were constantly playing soccer throughout his childhood. And that meant Scott – the youngest – was always at the field, even when he wasn’t there for his own competitions.

“I kind of got dragged along my younger years, so I was always watching soccer, kicking the ball on the sideline, juggling,” he said. “I would jump into their training sessions once in a while.

“I was always trying to be like them, trying to get to their level. Each and every year as they got better, I tried to get better.”

Those formative years are critical for young athletes, and Caldwell benefited from having three older siblings always pushing him to raise his level. If he wanted to play with them – and he did – he would have no choice but to get better, and quickly.

“I think it speeds up the development, definitely,” Caldwell said. “Being around bigger, faster (players), even though it’s your siblings, it’s always competitive. You’re trying to be the best one.

“Just in general, always being around the game and watching the game, I think that helped a lot.”

Scott Caldwell was around lots of games as a youngster. Soccer was always what drew the most attention, but his parents encouraged both him and his siblings to try as many different activities as they could to find what truly made them happy.

In addition to traditional sports like baseball and basketball, Caldwell also remembers taking tennis lessons as a child, and he was always involved in gymnastics – his mother, Ginger, owns and runs the Ellis School of Gymnastics along with her brother, David. Seriously, they’re all athletic.

Scott owes much of his athletic prowess to his family genes – he also has cousins who played college basketball and competed in collegiate gymnastics – but he also realizes the commitment it took from his parents simply to make sure he and his siblings were always where they needed to be.

Every weekend. For every sport.

“That was a big part of our lives, traveling on the weekends, going to everyone’s games,” Caldwell said. “Our parents, it took a lot of effort out of them to get us to each game and practice. There was a lot going on.”

Perhaps that’s why it was so difficult when Scott was offered the chance to move to Bradenton, Florida, following his freshman year in high school, to play soccer at the IMG Academy. His parents and siblings had always been there, at every game, and now as a teenager he was moving away unexpectedly.

But, for everyone involved, it was simply a sacrifice that had to be made.

“It was definitely tough. I think it was tough on my parents more so than me, just because it was kind of unexpected to have their youngest leave at a young age,” Caldwell said. “But the opportunity presented itself to me and it was too good to pass up.

“It was always my dream to play professional, and this gave me a good opportunity to get better and train with the best players. It was just something that would help me get to my end goal, or one of them.”

While Caldwell was still at IMG, he joined the New England Revolution Academy and became the first-ever captain of his hometown team’s youth program. He caught the attention of current Portland Timbers head coach Caleb Porter, then at the University of Akron, and spent four years with the Zips, scoring the game-winning goal in the national title game in 2010 against Andrew Farrell’s University of Louisville.

In 2012 he became the second Homegrown signing in Revolution history. Although he’s since moved out, through the start of his professional career he continued to live with his parents at his childhood home in Braintree. Family is, and always will be, a big part of Caldwell’s life.

A Caldwell family beach trip means only one thing - more soccer.

Larry and Ginger Caldwell are making up for the two years they missed while Scott trained in Florida. Less than 20 miles from Gillette Stadium, they come to every Revolution home game. They were at MLS Cup last year in California. They were even at Providence Park in Portland, Oregon, last weekend.

Scott’s siblings make it to as many games as they can, too. Amy currently lives in San Diego but plans to move back to the Boston area this summer. Andrea, married and with a child on the way, is an assistant principal at a local school. And Keith just began a new job working at Boston Consulting Group.

There was an outside chance Keith could’ve met Scott on the field this summer, but it didn’t pan out. Keith, who Scott says “still plays a little bit when he can” and at one point founded and directed his own soccer schools, played in the first round of the U.S. Open Cup with Global Premier Soccer (USASA).

GPS took an early lead over Seacoast United Phantoms (PDL), but ultimately fell 2-1.

Watching his brother from the stands will suffice for Keith, as it will for Scott’s sisters and his parents. And even though they all have the experience and pedigree to offer Scott advice, just as they did when he was younger, they don’t attend the games to be mentors. They’re not there to find teaching moments.

Now, they’re simply spectators. Even Larry, a former professional soccer player and at one time Scott’s youth coach, just wants to enjoy watching his son play the game.

“He stays out of it,” Caldwell said with a laugh. “He’s just there as a Dad. And a little bit of a fan.”