Jersey Shore Boca U17 Team Headed To Argentina
April 10, 2003
The Jersey Shore Boca U17 team has finalized their plans to travel to Buenos Aires over the Easter holiday for an eleven day Player and Team Development Tour and will begin their 2003 Super Y-League preseason training with the club’s fabled namesake Boca Juniors of Argentina.
Will begin Super Y-League preseason training with fabled namesake CABJ club.
Toms River, NJ (April 10, 2003) – The Jersey Shore Boca U17 team has finalized their plans to travel to Buenos Aires over the Easter holiday for an eleven day Player and Team Development Tour with the club’s fabled namesake the Boca Juniors of Argentina.
The team will depart from New York on Friday April 18th and return on Monday April 28th.
While in Argentina, the Boca U17s have a full itinerary planned that includes daily training with the full adult Boca Juniors team, several friendly matches, a tour of the historic “La Bombonera” Stadium and attendance at two Boca Juniors games.
“This will be the first international trip for this group of players. I am excited to have them experience the rich soccer history of CABJ in an environment that will allow them to actually live the history. The opportunity to train and meet not only the up and coming Boca Jr. stars, but to also train and partake in the full adult team’s training sessions, will be an opportunity these kids will not soon forget” mentioned Bill Carroll, head coach of the U17 Boca team.
Carroll, who holds a United States Soccer Federation “B” coaching license, has been the Boca U17 head coach for several years. He is a 1983 graduate of Rutgers University and resides in Ship Bottom, NJ.
The Jersey Shore Boca Player and Team Development Tour was organized by The International Academy of New York with help from David Vaudreuil, the new head coach of Jersey Shore Boca’s Premier Development League team.
“I am sure the guys will not regret the trip to Argentina. I have been coached by two players from Boca Juniors during the time of Maradona and you immediately understand the privilege it is to be associated with that club'” mentioned Vaudreuil.
“The world class standard of play and the rich tradition will make for an unforgettable experience” Vaudreuil finished.
Vaudreuil who is a seven-year veteran of Major League Soccer was appointed head coach of Boca’s PDL team on January 8, 2003.
Just recently, the MetroStars of Major League Soccer completed a tour in Argentina having played against the Boca Juniors in preparation for their 2003 MLS season.
The Jersey Shore Boca U17 team is hoping their trip will benefit them in preparation of their 2003 Super Y-League season which will kick-off on May 17th, just a few weeks after the team’s return.
“This is a tremendous opportunity for our Boca U17 players to experience an atmosphere unlike anything else. They will be training with and playing against some of the best soccer talent in the world” said Al Schwartz, the President of Jersey Shore Boca who will be among the travel party for the trip.
“We hope this can develop into a longer-term relationship with CABJ and eventually enter into a youth player exchange program with them. Some groundwork has already been made and I’m going to try and finalize some items while I’m there” Schwartz continued.
Members of the Jersey Shore Boca U17 team who will be making the Argentina trip include Colin Jennings (Wall, NJ – Wall HS); Kyle Zupancic (Middletown NJ – Middletown North HS); Nick Raspanti (Middletown NJ – Middletown North HS); Rob Galante (Parlin, NJ – Sayreville Memorial HS); Eric Hostnik (Spring Lake, NJ – Burton Academy); Phil Kaiser (Manalapan, NJ – Manalapan HS); Gregg Arenson (Manalapan, NJ – Manalapan HS); Scott Gross (Manalapan, NJ – Manalapan HS); Patrick Gee (Spring Lake Heights, NJ – St. Rose HS); David Nicholson (Clarksburg, NJ – Allentown HS); David Novak (East Windsor, NJ – Hightstown HS); Chris Zullo (East Windsor, NJ – Hightstown HS) and Jara Habib (Marlboro, NJ – Marlboro HS).
Habib was named the USL Super Y-League U15 “National Player of the Week” on July 3, 2002 for his 2 goal effort against the South Jersey Barons in SYL action.
Jersey Shore Boca will compete in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United Soccer Leagues elite Super Y-League for the third straight year in 2003. Boca is the only soccer club from Monmouth or Ocean County (NJ) that is a member of the Super Y-League.
The Super Y-League is the only North American youth soccer league designed for the top one percent of elite youth players in the United States and Canada. As a national affiliate of the United States Soccer Federation, the Super Y-League provides the national league structure to develop players and helps identify elite players for National Team programs through ODP status programs such as the SYL Finals and Regional Select Team weekends.
Several professional teams from Major League Soccer, A-League and ProSelect League, including MLS’s, DC United and MetroStars have entered youth teams in the Super Y-League.
DC United also competes in the SYL’s Mid-Atlantic region and similar to last year, will play a home and away series against all Jersey Shore Boca SYL teams in 2003.
Jersey Shore Boca will field four boys’ teams for the 2003 SYL season; U-14s, U-15s, U-16s and the U-17s.
Jersey Shore Boca is also the newest member of the USL’s Premier Development League and will begin play with their PDL team on May 4, 2003.
The Premier Development League is the only national men’s U-23 amateur league in the United States.
Designed to help develop players for professional careers, the PDL allows elite high school and college players to compete in a “pro”-like environment without losing their college eligibility. The PDL was also granted Olympic Development Program status by the United States Soccer Federation in 2001.
Jersey Shore Boca has been a fixture in the soccer community since 1978 and is one of the most respected soccer clubs in New Jersey. The club is celebrating its 25-year anniversary during 2003.
The club is based out of Toms River (NJ) and in addition to their PDL and SYL teams, programs include youth level teams from U11 to U19, a U23 team and men’s “open” team.
Jersey Shore Boca alumni include several former National and Olympic Team members as well as numerous collegiate DI –DIII players, coaches and former local high school standouts.
One of the most recognized Boca alumni is current U18 United States Men’s National Team & University of Virginia Coach George Gelnovatch who played under Boca Coach Walt Pericciuoli while also staring at Wall High School in the 1980s.
Gelnovatch is also a former member of the US National Team and played professionally with DC United of Major League Soccer.
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