Wayne County United Soccer quintet picked for England Academy

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on December 3, 2014 1:48 PM

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

Not many American soccer fans, or players for that matter, get to see the hallowed pitch -- Old Trafford -- that Manchester United calls home.

David McIver will.

And Aaron Seate, Lauren Smith, Haley Martin and Connor Piwowarski. However, Piwowarski will not make the trip.

The quintet, who compete on different Wayne County United Soccer Club squads, have earned an invitation to the 2015 Wolves North American Academy Elite camp next spring in England.

An avid Man U fan, McIver finally gets the opportunity to see where Wayne Rooney and teammate Robin van Persie thrill standing-room-only crowds in one of the world's premier soccer leagues.

"Our partnership with Wolves is barely a year old and we have five players invited to England to practice with the Wolves Academy," said Steve Ellis, director of coaching for WCUSC.

"This is well deserved by the players for the effort they have put in both on and off the field. This opportunity also shows how the far club has come in a short space of time. The players selected for this opportunity range from our academy program to our U16 team, which shows the strength of our programs across the board."

The quartet participated in the Wolverhampton National Academy held in Rome, Ga., this past summer. Each excelled in different aspects of the tryouts.

"It was a pleasure working all of the players from Wayne County United at our Wolves National Camp this past summer," said Gareth Prosser, Wolves Academy manager.

"The players showed a real appetite to learn from our staff, and performed very well throughout the National camp. We look to continue our working relationship with the staff and players at Wayne County United -- and we hope to see the players we identified on the Wolves Elite trip next year."

McIver plays on the WCSUC U-14 boys elite team and is a student at Norwayne Middle School. Smith plays for the WCUSC U-14 squad and is an eighth-grader at Norwayne Middle School.

Another Norwayne student and sixth-grader, Martin started playing soccer at 5 years old in a recreational program. She plays on the WCSUC U-12 team.

A sophomore at Wayne School of Engineering, Seate started his playing career with the Neuse River Soccer Association and continued to blossom as a player. He played with the WCUSC U-11 team as an eight-year-old and is now a member of the U-16 team.

Fund-raising efforts are underway to help send the four players overseas next April. A BBQ plate sale is Friday from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. at St. Luke United Methodist Church.

Plates are $8 each.