The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

A TRIO of local soccer players continue to capitalise on the opportunities provided by the partnership between Youth Empowerment through Soccer International and Rush Soccer as the groups provide an avenue for young Bahamians to gain increased exposure in the sport.

Sean Waller, Elliotte Bain and Danial Shahidi were named to the Rush Select under-14 and under-15 sides respectively for the upcoming President’s Day and Desert Classic tournaments in Phoenix, Arizona, this month.

On the under-14 side, Waller and Bain represented the second largest number of selections for any state or country, behind New Mexico with three selections.

The players are scheduled to leave for the tournaments on February 11.

The three players were among a group of approximately 700 players who began the qualification process in July 2013 when they participated in “Rushfest Colorado.”

They were then selected to participate in the Rush under-14 and under-15 boys Select ID Camp in Casa Grande, Arizona.

The camp featured 28 players in each age group from states throughout the US in addition to the group from the Bahamas.

“It speaks volumes about the growth of the programme in just over two years and it is an amazing accomplishment for these boys,” YESI/Rush founder Happy Hall said.

“This was always our goal. When YESI started we had the fundamental goal in mind of just getting kids more opportunities to play soccer and in turn use the game to create opportunities for themselves. We have so much talent in our country that has never been seen because the kids are never really given the opportunity to showcase their talents.

Waller and Bain will be coached on the under-14 side by Eric Rudland and Nik Penn of Michigan while Shahidi will be coached by Juan Castallenos of Georgia and Marcus Chambers of Hawaii.

Locally, each of the three are members of the YESI/Rush Soccer Club, coached by Hall.

Bain, a ninth grader, plays centre midfield.

Waller, an eighth grader at the Meridian school, also plays centre midfield.

Prior to joining YESI/Rush he was a member of the Chelsea FC ETC, Reading FC Academy (both junior programmes of English Premier League clubs) and the Western Warriors.

Shahidi, centre defence/midfield, is a ninth grade student at St Andrews and was also a member of the Western Warriors and Tambearly clubs prior to joining YESI/Rush.

A good showing at these tournaments can lead to further opportunities for the players, including club visits to Spain, Italy and Holland.

“It speaks volumes of the strength of the local development programmes here because these guys have participated in the BFA Centre of Excellence programme which shows that we have a lot of talent here,” Hall said.

YESI’s major sponsors include Ports International, Mahagony House and Round Table Offshore Management.

Rush soccer represents over 34,000 youth players in the US with 28 clubs currently affiliated with Rush Soccer in Denver, Colorado Springs, Virginia Beach, Albuquerque, Houston, Kansas City, Anchorage, Honolulu, Detroit, Boise, Memphis, Lexington, Philadelphia/Trenton, Bend (OR), Southern California, Orlando, Seattle, Atlanta, Des Moines, Little Rock, Madison, Bowie (MD), Atlantic City (NJ), Phoenix, Akron (OH), and New York City.

International Clubs include Nkomazi, Gambia, Senegal, Cameroon, Ghana, Togo, Kenya, Nigeria, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Uruguay, Brazil, Thailand, New Zealand and now the Bahamas.

For Rush, the Bahamas is the first step of a project intended to expand to other Caribbean countries, including Haiti, Trinidad, Aruba, Jamaica and Dominican Republic.