Plainview, NY (August 12, 2010) – Junior Rough Riders players were invited to attend West Ham United Academy’s National Identification this past July.  They were evaluated with several other youth soccer players from all over the country.

The Rough Riders sent the following Junior Rough Riders:

Amanda Wroblewski (Girls Under 12)
Kayla King (Girls Under 12)
Brenda Quinn (Girls Under 12)
Kelly DiGregorio (Girls Under 13)
Jen Balzan (Girls Under 13)
Kayla Gansrow (Girls Under 13)
Ashley Wilson (Girls Under 14)
Shannon Brady (Girls Under 14)
Natasha Albaneze (Girls Under 14)
Tom Golden (Boys Under 12)
Liam McMahon (Boys Under 12)
Brendan Iris (Boys Under 12)
Michelangelo Sini (Boys Under 14)

"It was great to see the Long Island Rough Riders so well represented at our recent National Camp in Northern Virginia, where the overall standard of play was very good,” said West Hamp Representative Mike Kelleher.  “The Rough Riders are proving a valuable partner club in the West Ham United International Academy family and we look forward to more players from there attending our National Camp next year."

The camp was directed by Tony Carr and the West Ham United Academy staff.  West Ham has selected and sent out invitations to participants to attend their Elite Camp in London in 2011 for ten (10) days).  The Rough Riders will release the names of the players being invited to London within the next two weeks. 

"We are very excited about our relationship with West Ham.  They are a great club and we really like their philosophy towards player deveolpment," said Rough Riders Coaching Director John Diffley.  "Our players had a great experience at the National Camp in Virginia, and quite a few were chosen to attend the elite camp and trials in London."

For more information on West Ham Academy, please click here.

About West Ham United
 
West Ham United Football Club has one of the most respected youth academies in world football. Under the direction of academy director Tony Carr, the West Ham United Academy has produced many players who have gone on to play at the very top level of professional football. The club has established the International Academy to develop partnerships and programs in the USA and Canada that can share West Ham United Academy coaching methodology to assist the long-term development of North American players.

About the Long Island Rough Riders
 
The Rough Riders have been part of the Long Island soccer landscape since their inception in 1994.  In 1995 both the Rough Riders Men’s and Women’s teams won their first United Soccer League (USL) National Championship. Since their initial success, the Rough Riders Men’s team has gone on to win the 2nd Division National Championship in 2002 while the Rough Riders Women’s team qualified for the Eastern Conference Finals in 2008.

The Rough Riders are known for developing players including former US National Team members Chris Armas, Tony Meola, and MLS All Star Giovanni Savarese and Jimmy Rooney along with US Olympic Team Member and current Junior Rough Riders Coaching Director, John Diffley.

More recently the Rough Riders helped jumpstarted the careers of Mike Grella who is currently playing at Leeds United in England, Mike Palacio at FK Radnicki Obrenovac in Serbia, Gina DiMartino Philadelphia Independence in the Women’s Professional Soccer league and Sue Weber who has just returned to the Rough Riders after being drafted by the Boston Breakers in 2009.

The Rough Riders are also comprised of a Junior Rough Riders program, featuring elite level players from 8 to 17 years of age.  Junior Rough Riders teams compete in regional and national tournaments while teams from 13 to 17 years old participate in the Super Y-League (SYL), the youth component of the United Soccer Leagues (USL).

Article by Brian Patak