Local teens to get taste of international soccer

Paul Califano, Hunter Smith and Marvin Kloss were united by a love for soccer and a dream of one day competing at the highest level. Even now, the local teenagers still play the game in the safest possible place — their hearts and minds.

Rest assured, all of that will stay the same. What may not, however, is the way they play the game.

Califano, Smith and Kloss were selected after a tryout session in the fall to travel with the United Soccer Academy on its Gothia-Dana International Tour to Germany, Sweden and Denmark from July 11-31.

Kids under the ages of 11 and 19 will compete on four boys teams and two girls teams made up of about 95 players from across the country, according to Bill Fisher, director of the soccer academy. Califano and Smith will play on the U-15 team and Kloss on the U-14 squad.

The tour will begin with a four-day training camp in Hanover, Germany, before the teams head to Gothernburg, Sweden, for the Gothia Cup, which is expected to draw 1,400 international youth soccer teams from 65 different countries. More than 800 teams from 45 countries are supposed to compete in the Dana Cup in Hjorring, Germany.

With hopes of getting a soccer scholarship to Duke or Indiana, Califano is looking to learn a new style from the European players.

“It’ll be a good soccer experience to play against different kids and just learn to be more open-minded,” he says. “I think it’ll make me a better player overall.”

Courtesy photo

Marvin Kloss, left, Paul Califano, center, and Hunter Smith were selected to travel on the United Soccer Academy’s Gothia-Dana International Tour from July 11-31 to Germany, Sweden and Denmark. Califano and Smith just finished their freshman year at Barron Collier High and Naples High, respectively. Kloss will be a freshman at Barron in the fall.

Following both six-day tournaments, the academy will end with a sightseeing tour in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Califano, Smith and Kloss are not the first soccer players from Southwest Florida to travel with the soccer academy. But Fisher says each one will bring a good skill level and attitude to their respective teams.

“For us, that’s the key,” says Fisher, who has been at the academy since the tour began 18 years ago. “We’re not looking for the next professional players. We’re looking for players that will hopefully get to the next level, making varsity as a freshman, playing college soccer and maybe making a state team.”

Califano, 15, already accomplished making the varsity as a freshman at Barron Collier last season, and was the youngest player on the team. A native of San Diego, he began playing soccer at the age of 4 and moved to Naples the summer before fifth grade.

As a freshman at Naples High, the 15-year old Smith competed on junior varsity. He also gained experience playing for local youth soccer teams, and recently returned from Disney World, where he helped the Naples Sharks win a tournament.

While Smith is looking forward to the World Cup-like experience, it’s not just soccer the hometown kid is passionate about. He also is inspired by the work he does in Mexico with his church.

“We go to build houses, mainly,” he says. “We get there and the Mexican children are just like insane at soccer. No one knows how they have little (soccer) balls that are all torn up ... and this year there was a really good kid, and I had a couple of soccer balls and I just handed them over to him and they loved them.”

The youngest of the bunch, 14-year-old Kloss, displays perhaps the most enthusiasm when talking about soccer. Kloss, a native of Germany, began playing soccer when he was 3. He attended Pine Ridge Middle School and will head to Barron Collier for the upcoming school year.

For the past three years, Kloss has been playing for the Naples Sharks and is most excited about competing against the kids from Germany.

“It’s going to be huge,” he says. “I’m going a week early to visit my family and we’re going to Sweden to play a big tournament and that’s going to be fun.”