By MICHAEL BOYLAN
mboylan@thecitizennews.com

When it comes to soccer in the area, there should be very few surprises. However, 13 year-olds Katie Schulz and Kari Quinn, both of Peachtree City, were very surprised and honored by their most recent accolade.

The two girls, both inside midfielders on the Peachtree City Lazers and the Georgia Olympic Development program, were selected to the Olympic Development Region Pool and will head to the national trials camp next week.

The pool is made up of 45 players from state olympic development pools. Ten of the girls on this year's squad, including Schulz and Quinn, came from Georgia.

The purpose of the team is to identify potential youth national team players and to have them face the top programs in both the country and the world.

Each player is expected to serve as a role model for young players who aspire to improve their game and someday make a World Cup team. The entire process serves to strengthen the level of play on all national level teams.

This year's camp will be held at the University of Montevallo in Alabama. After working out for a full week, the girls will have a break until the Thanksgiving holiday. Over the holiday, the four region pool teams will meet in Orlando, Fla. for more games and instruction.

The girls are excited to be selected to play at a higher level. They were also excited at the $600 Nike package that each region player receives to bring to their region events.

Making it to the region pool also serves as a credit to the Peachtree City Lazer program. Lazer coach Jose Rivera was the USOC Development Coach of the Year last year, and has a long history of helping players maximize their potential on and off the field.

“Both Kari and Katie are can compete on the national team level,” said Rivera. “They are capable players that learn as they go. They will continue to get better as they play at higher levels.”

Rivera has a good nose for talent. His current Lazer team has seven state pool players and should have several more this fall. The team has been together for five years and has won numerous championships and titles, often playing up an age group. They have won seven of eight Athena A-Division Championships and recently defeated the U-14 Athena Champs in the Pensacola Pensacola Invitational.

“Kari and Katie's strength is the same strength that all of the girls on the team have — it is their dedication to the game,” said Rivera. “They are tenacious, they work a lot on their own and they are all extremely coachable.”

After coming back from the national trials, Schulz and Quinn will join their Lazer teammates to defend their title in a tournament in Greenville. There is obviously a bright future for all of the players on the Peachtree City Lazers and that means a bright future for all the local soccer fans as well.

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