The kids are getting a kick out of this.
Wrexham AFC, the Welsh soccer team made famous by celebrity owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac, is running its first-ever youth camp in the US — and picked the Long Island soccer hot spot of Massapequa to hold it.
“You can clearly see that they’ve already had some coaching — and it’s great seeing their ability,” said Josh Evans, Wrexham’s longtime program officer, of the local talent at Burns Park in Nassau County.
The Massapequa Soccer Club and Long Island Junior Soccer League helped score the world-class team for the special camp, which includes some of Wrexham’s top trainers, such as former star Ben Tozer.
“It also shows these players that, ‘Hey, that could be me,’ said John Fitzgerald, the sporting director for the Long Island Junior Soccer League.
Grace Robson, 10, who loves the team’s docuseries “Welcome to Wrexham,” said her dreams have gotten bigger after seeing and learning from her heroes up close in person.
“I was so excited, I couldn’t sleep the night before,” she said of the camp. “And I get to hear their accents and stuff like that — I thought that was kind of funny.”
Evans is playing along by teaching the kids some Welsh colloquialisms, such as how “bore da” translates to good morning.
“Oh, they’re loving it,” he said, adding that the staff has been recognized by fans all over since their flight touched down in Queens.
Pitching in
Getting Wrexham stateside was the work of a bit of magic from Paul Bigilin, Massapequa Soccer Club’s director, along with Fitzgerald and town soccer icon Jim Kilmeade, the brother of Fox News host Brian.
They connected with Terry Barton, CEO of the UK-based soccer development program the Coaching Manual, who had relations with the fellas at Wrexham.
“They know we have a long history of soccer and the local and national stage in Massapequa,” said Bigilin, whose son Nick is a coach with the men’s team at Long Island University.
Aside from fun and games for the kids, each day brings a different theme of soccer fundamentals.
Fitzgerald, who is the head coach of the Long Island-based American Soccer Club, a k a the Fighting Tomcats, added that he may be assessing his future roster these next few days.
“The majority of our team is local,” he noted of the National Premier Soccer League group.
Fitzgerald said events such as this, plus excellent coaching, can be pivotal in seeing through a child star’s development for future careers on the island — or perhaps on a bigger stage across The Pond some day.
“That’s why and how players stay in the game,” he said.
Kilmeade — who played as a kid in Massapequa and later for nearby Hofstra University and is now American SC’s general manager Wrexham — said the camp continues to put the area on the soccer map.
“This initiative reflects one of our Fighting Tomcats’ core values — making Long Island and the metro New York area a true epicenter for American soccer development and excellence,” he said.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
