Wednesday, August 8, 2001
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Wednesday, August 8, 2001 |
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Local soccer player heads to training program for Under 17 national team
By MICHAEL
BOYLAN
Many Fayette County youths will head back to school this week but Eric Vogl has a few weeks of summer left. Vogl, a freshman at Fayette County High School last year, will be attending the Under 17 National Residential soccer training camp in Bradenton, Fla. this fall. He is a member of the rising Under 17 team, which is training for the world championships that will take place in Finland in 2003. The team will live and go to school in Florida until then, training daily. Vogl was one of nine players in the United States to be selected for the honor of entering the program early. Later this year Vogl will be reunited with the rest of his teammates from the Under 16 national team. To be selected for the early admission, the players attended several camps all around the country and were selected by John Ellinger, the coach of the Under 17 national team. Vogl began playing soccer in North Carolina at the age of five. His family moved to Fayetteville four years later and Vogl has been playing with the Lightning program since then. He has most recently been a member of the Under 18 Lightning Gold team, the state and regional Olympic Development teams, the Fayette County High School varsity soccer team and the Silverback Junior soccer team. He was voted the offensive player of the year for the high school team, scoring 16 goals for the squad during the season. Though an offensive threat for the Tigers, Vogl is expected to play center and right back for the national team. "I'm very excited about this opportunity," said Vogl. "We have classes from 8 a.m.-12:30 p.m. and practice from 3:30-5:30 p.m. each day, plus we'll be able to do homework on the internet while we're traveling." There is some traveling in his future as the current Under 17 team will be competing in the world championships in September and the group is planning on going to Mexico in October. Like many young athletes, Vogl dreams of going pro and so far he is following the right path. Many soccer players have moved on from the Under 17 national team and found themselves playing for Major League Soccer teams. One such athlete is Landon Donovan, a favorite of Vogl's, who recently lit up the opposition in the MLS all-star game with a number of goals. Vogl is realistic though and knows that if he can't step up to the big leagues immediately he can play soccer in college. His current choices would be Clemson or the University of North Carolina. His advice to young players who would like to rise to the highest levels of their game is to keep at it. "Don't slack off and work to where you want to go," said Vogl, who estimated that he practiced at least an hour a day by himself and often with teams for two hours, two to three times a week. His father, Eric Vogl Sr., thinks his son was being humble saying that he "lives with the ball." Vogl certainly has an exciting time before him and, as focused as he is, should continue to excel as a player and as a young man. |
