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Community Sports
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Friday, July 04, 2008, 9:14 AM
King gets one more shot at a championship By Paul Durham | Sports Editor When the Fike boys soccer team was denied in the state championship match last November it seemed like Austen King's season -- and career -- was finally over. But, in reality, the real soccer season for King -- and another title quest -- was just getting started. Shortly after Fike's 4-2 loss to Lake Norman in overtime in the N.C. High School Athletic Association 3-A championship, King's club soccer season began. Playing with the Capital Area Soccer League's '89 Elite Under 18 boys squad, King has gone on to play another 30 matches. Next week, King and his CASL '89 Elite teammates will compete for the U.S. Soccer Federation's Development Academy national championship. Now hang on, this is where you have to pay attention. The Development Academy is an offshoot of US Youth Soccer, which recently held its Region III championships in Wilson and Raleigh. This year, the USSF decided to create an even more elite level than Premier which is where all teams reside that compete for regional and national titles. Thus, 62 Academy teams were selected to compete in the U16 and U18 boys divisions. Additionally, the U.S. Youth National teams at those age levels were added to the regular-season mix. The National squads are not eligible for the championship tournament, however. King's CASL squad, coached by U.S. soccer legend Bruce Murray, ruled the Atlantic Division, one of eight divisions nationwide in the U17/18 Academy league. Now the CASL '89 Elite are headed to the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif., next week. They are one of eight division kings that will participate in the Academy championship tournament, which starts July 12. There will be three days of play within the two pools followed by four placement matches. The U17/18 championship match will be televised live on ESPN at 11 p.m. EDT on July 18. So, yeah, this is a very big deal. "It is sort of like a second chance," he said in a telephone interview Wednesday evening. "I feel very fortunate to participate in both. "But really I'm just a player behind the scene and it speaks a lot about the guys I play with. Going into nationals, I hope I can use some of the things I learned going to the final with Fike." The truth is that whatever King brought to the Fike soccer team probably was the result of his commitment to club soccer. After playing for the Wilson Youth Soccer Association until he was 13, King spent a couple of seasons playing for a team in the Jacksonville Area Soccer Association. He joined CASL two years ago, about the time he ended his Fike basketball career after two seasons on the junior varsity to focus on playing soccer year round. That dedication helped King land an athletic scholarship to Elon University and a spot in the prestigious N.C. Coaches Association East-West All-Star Game in July. King estimated he travels to Raleigh about four times a week for practice, which is no easy feat in this day of skyrocketing fuel costs. "It's worth it," assured King. "It's probably the best thing that's ever happened to me and it got me into college." Because the Academy teams can only play each other, travel to matches became more complex. Besides playing teams in Greensboro, Charlotte, Richmond, Va., and Charleston, S.C., King and his '89 Elite mates took trips to Illinois, Texas, Michigan, Indiana and New York to fulfill USSF requirements for Academy teams. King said at most of those tournaments, each player is responsible for his own airfare and hotel costs but CASL paid for car rental and meals. At the national tournament, everything will be covered by U.S. Soccer. While the focus will be squarely on playing soccer for a national crown, there might be time for other activities in Carson. One such activity, King suggested, might be meeting David Beckham, whose Major League League soccer club Los Angeles Galaxy calls the Home Depot Center home. "In all honesty, when we go on these trips, you don't get to sightsee all that much," King said. "You see a soccer field and you play and you see the inside of a hotel room." But this will be the ultimate travel soccer trip and one that King is glad to make even though playing on an Academy team cost him something rarer. Last year, the CASL '89 Elite reached the Region III championships in the U17 boys division and would have been a good bet to repeat the feat as U18s. But instead of getting to play in the Southern Regionals in his hometown, King gets one more shot at a championship on the other side of the country. After admitting minor disappointment upon the realization he would not compete in the 2008 Region III tournament, King said: "Now that I've played an entire season and we've ended up qualifying (for Academy nationals), I'm pretty happy with how it's worked out." paul@wilsontimes.com | 265-7808
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