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Eight Youth Soccer Alliance Players Make Region 3 ODP Pool


Youth soccer players have many different individual goals. Some dream of playing professionally. Others have visions of representing their country in international play. Many simply want to find a spot on a college team. An unprecedented eight players from FC Alliance took one step closer to all three of these goals by recently making the Region Three Olympic Development Pool. What is amazing about this is that since only 39 boys and girls players ranging from U14 to U18 were selected from Tennessee, over 20% were from FC Alliance. Considering there are nearly 100 youth soccer clubs in the state, these numbers are astonishing.

"We are absolutely thrilled to have eight of our players get into the regional pool," said Josh Gray, one of FC Alliance's directors, "We expected that several of our kids would get in, but to have eight is really a special accomplishment for the club."

Region Three consists of ten states, including soccer powerhouses Texas, Florida, North Carolina, and Georgia. The next step is the national pool. Three of the players will be participating in national events over the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays to continue showcasing their talents.

"It's a process," explained Gray, "These kids have done a great job getting to where they are now, but they have a lot of work ahead of them."

"The great thing about this is that many of the players have played for current FC Alliance coaches for a lot of their playing careers," pointed out Shane Moore, another FC Alliance director, "This club has a very proud group of coaches right now."

The players are: Ryan Creel, Bijan Gloston, Dalton Guzman, Ben Holt, Summer Lanter, Aurto Rocha, Austin Stone, and MacKenzie Thomas.


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