Spring break will be all about soccer and sightseeing for a pair of Coast soccer players.
Gibsons' Nicholas Johnston and Pender Harbour's Parker Hohn have been invited to play with the North Vancouver Lions Gate league Capilano team that is travelling to Italy for the Como Lake Cup March 13 to 26.
Both players play for the U14 Adrenaline Rep team with Parker in net and Nicholas playing midfield. Coast Reporter first featured Parker in the June 15, 2007 edition when he was named to a Mountain WFC Vancouver Whitecaps Super Y-League team. Parker declined to be interviewed for this story.
Nicholas said he's thrilled to have been selected for the trip to Italy that he and his dad Randy are calling "the trip of a lifetime."
"[The trip] is still a few weeks away, but I'm starting to get pretty excited," said Nicholas. "To get to play high level soccer against teams from all over Europe and Asia is quite something. I went down to San Diego last year for a week-long soccer camp, but to go to Europe and play soccer is pretty cool."
Nicholas was chosen for the team through his association with the North Vancouver coach and having tried out for other teams in the past.
"I knew him through inter-provincial league play and I also tried out for a Super Y team with him," said Nicholas. "He thought I would be a good fit for the team and just called me up one day and offered me a spot."
Nicholas has been travelling several times a week to the North Shore for practices while also practising and playing games for his home team, Adrenaline.
Nicholas has been playing soccer on the Coast since he was five years old and he and his dad credit the Sunshine Coast Youth Soccer Association for developing his game.
"There is no way any of this would be possible without the local association," said Randy. "To have two kids from the Coast selected to play with an all-star team to go to Italy is quite an achievement and something the association deserves a lot of credit for."
Nicholas also wanted to thank his Adrenaline coaches Dave Brown and John Lussier for all their support.
"John's a great coach and has really helped me progress and be successful on his team," said Nicholas who has been playing with Adrenaline for three years.
"He has a great rapport with the kids - every season all the kids want to play for John's team," added Randy.
The team will leave March 13 from Vancouver and bus to Seattle where they'll fly to London and then on to Rome.
Sightseeing will take place for the first few days with the team also taking in several Italian soccer league matches including a contest between AS Rome and AC Milan on March 15.
The tournament started with qualifications games on March 21 and tournament play March 22 and 23.
