CRANSTON -- Michael Parkhurst is living his dream.

When he first began playing soccer when he was 6 on the fields of Cranston, he never thought that he would play the game that he grew to love for a living.

But that's exactly what the New England Revolution defender is doing.

One week after finding out that he was selected to next week's Major League Soccer All-Star Game, Parkhurst accepted an invitation yesterday to play for the U.S. soccer team at the Beijing Olympics.

"Anytime you get called up to the national team it's a great feeling," Parkhurst said. "Everybody, no matter what nationality they are, they are striving to represent their country. That is your ultimate goal as a soccer player. Every time you make an appearance, it's a step towards completing that goal. To play for your country against another country, against the greatest players in the world is great. I'm hoping to get the call up more often this year and into next year to make the push for the 2010 World Cup."

His parents, Michael and Marian, knew right away that Parkhurst was a good soccer player. When he was 14, they sent him off to the IMG Soccer Academy, a boarding school in Bradenton, Fla., where they play soccer year-round.

"I left my family and all of my buddies, so that was extremely tough for me and for them," Parkhurst said. "Fortunately it worked out for the best. It helped my career. It was a great environment where everybody loved to play soccer all year. But sure, it was tough when I left."

Parkhurst's soccer game grew extensively in Florida and he earned a scholarship to play for Wake Forest.

Parkhurst played from 2002 to 2004 and started all 62 games for Wake Forest, earning second-team All-American honors as a sophomore and a junior. He signed a Generation Adidas contract with the MLS following the 2004 season and was selected in the first round (ninth overall) by the Revolution in the 2005 MLS SuperDraft.

"Draft day was very nerve-racking," Parkhurst said. "I wasn't sure if I was going to L.A., Chicago, anywhere really. It was a big sigh of relief when the Revolution took me."

Parkhurst grew up watching the Revolution. When he was 11, he attended the first Revolution home game.

"Coming back home and playing in front of my friends and family who I hadn't played in front of in a long time was great," Parkhurst said. "I grew up watching (the Revs). It worked out perfectly."

Parkhurst made an immediate impact with the Revolution and was selected as the MLS Rookie of the Year.

"That meant a lot to me," Parkhurst said. "I was in a great environment with the players and the coaching staff with New England and that made it easy to succeed up here. It was real easy to get along with the guys and that translated into good performances on the field. [Coach] Steve [Nicol] helped me a lot with my confidence early in my career and it helped me that as a team we were successful."

In 2006, Parkhurst anchored MLS's best defense that allowed just 35 goals in 32 games for a club record 1.09 goals-against average, and he was voted as Soccer America's MLS Cup Playoffs best XI.

In 2007, not only did he make his first MLS All-Star game, be he also was voted as the MLS Defender of the Year.

"There are a lot of great defenders in the league that I was going up against. Like the rookie award, it helped that I was playing with a great team. The defenders and goalies are not going to get the accolades unless the team is getting victories. I was also playing with a couple of veterans who really helped me have a good season."

Parkhurst had planned on playing in the All-Star game next week, but it has been reported that the U.S. soccer team will train for six days in San Jose, Calif., beginning tomorrow, to prepare for the Olympics, and then leave for Hong Kong, where it will participate in the ING Cup, facing fellow Olympic teams Ivory Coast on July 30 and Cameroon on Aug. 2.