During this past offseason, he had several conversations with former FC Dallas player Ted Eck, who currently resides in Hawaii. Eck told Hashimoto oftentimes veteran players influence younger guys' playing time. Eck said if you're consistently putting yourself in good positions defensively during training and practice, the senior guys will notice and will be more inclined to approach the coach on your behalf and say you deserve a chance.

That was a big reason why players like Kevin Novak and Willis Forko were able to break through last year. They made an impression not only on their coach, but their peers as well.

Hashimoto has a pretty cool head on his shoulder and isn't too concerned with playing time right now. He knows he's still young and his opportunity will come. For now, he's simply interested in helping Real Salt Lake get into the playoffs.

"If you're a reserve player, you've just got to keep working, because either you're going to get better to the point where you're going to get to play, or you're going to push other people to get better to where the team needs to be," said Hashimoto.

---

E-mail: jedward@desnews.com