Month: June 2018

Our 01 Alabama FC Boys are headed to Lancaster, MA for the ENPL Playoffs. This is the first year for the ECNL program and we wish our team the best of luck as they compete for a National Championship!

What do Jasmine Greene and Brooks Rice have in common?

The Spain Park High School athletes swept the 2017-18 Gatorade Soccer Player of the Year honors for the state of Alabama, Greene winning the girls’ award and Rice capturing the boys’ recognition.

Both decorated student-athletes also have roots in the Birmingham United Soccer Association. BUSA is the largest soccer organization in Alabama and one of the largest in the Southeast.

“BUSA is thrilled for Jasmine and Brooks to be recognized as male and female Gatorade Player of the Year Award winners,” said BUSA Executive Director Andrew Brower. “Both of these young people have been the quintessence of excellence throughout their BUSA playing careers.”

Greene, a rising senior at Spain Park, has played with BUSA for the last 3 ½ years. She’s a member of the 01 ECNL Girls team. For Spain Park this season, she scored 29 goals and added 15 assists. She has verbally committed to play college soccer at Furman University starting in the fall of 2019.

“She is a tremendous athlete and an even better person off the field,” Brower said. “While she is quiet off the field, her ability to score tons and tons of goals speaks volumes.”

Rice, a recent Spain Park graduate, has been a lifelong BUSA athlete who’s played with the 00 ECNL Boys team. He scored 37 goals and added 11 assists this season for Spain Park, finishing his high school career with 84 goals. He’s signed a National Letter of Intent to play at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro starting this fall.

“Brooks started out playing with BUSA at 6, 7 years old and has progressed all the way through the organization,” Brower said. “He is very technical and polished on the ball and possesses an uncanny knack for creativity in the attack. Brooks also helps as a volunteer coach within our organization and was a great resource for our younger players.”

The Gatorade Player of the Year awards recognize not only athletic excellence but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character on and off the field.

Greene, who has a weighted 4.11 GPA, has volunteered locally helping to organize and distribute gift bags to Children’s of Alabama patients and has donated her time as part of multiple community-service initiatives through her church.

Rice, who earned a 3.29 GPA, has given back to BUSA and the soccer community by volunteering as a youth coach and referee and has donated his time to multiple community-service initiatives through his church.

As a Gatorade Player of the Year, Greene and Rice will be able to select a national or local youth sports organization to receive a grant as part of the Gatorade Play It Forward program. Every Gatorade Player of the Year state winner receives a $1,000 grant to donate and will have the opportunity to enter for an additional $10,000 spotlight grant by writing a brief essay explaining why their selected organization deserves additional support.

Good luck to our 01 and 02 ECNL Girls who are competing for a National Championship at the ECNL Playoffs in Seattle!

BUSA Executive Director, Andrew Brower, shared his excitement after FIFA announced the U.S., Canada and Mexico will host the World Cup in 2026. Brower says having the World Cup in the U.S. is going to be awesome.

“I think it will really help be a catalyst for more growth in the sport and 2026.”

Click here to see more of the interview, which also featured Alabama FC player, Tara Katz.

TANNER TESSMAN HEADS TO MNT CAMP

It has been a great week for former BUSA players. We are super proud to announce that Tanner Tessman, a former BUSA player, has just been called up to the U.S. Under-18 Men’s National Team. The U.S. U18 MNT will gather for its fourth training camp of the 2018-19 cycle from June 4-11 at the U.S. Soccer National Development Center in Kansas City, KS.

Tanner played for BUSA growing up and is now part of the FC Dallas Development Academy, registering 20 starts this season with 11 goals.

The camp marks the first time that any Men’s or Women’s Youth or Senior National Team will train at the National Development Center. Surrounded by three full-size natural grass fields and two synthetic turf fields, the $75 million education and medical center was built in collaboration with MLS club Sporting Kansas City and Children’s Mercy Hospital.

Congratulations, Tanner. We are super proud of you! Keep up the great work.

Tanner’s DA profile CLICK HERE

Merritt Mathias

Merritt Mathias will join the U.S. Women’s National Team!

The USWNT will host China in two matches on June 7 at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah, and on June 12 at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio.

Mathias played for the BUSA 90 girls team, and she was one of the top-ranked recruits in the nation according to Soccer Buzz Magazine. She was a Parade Magazine high school All-American selection in 2007 and a 2006 and 2007 National High School Coaches Association All-America.

Mathias plays for the North Carolina Courage of the National Women’s Soccer League. She was traded to the Courage in January 2018.

Chandler Hoffman

Chandler Hoffman became the fastest to 50 regular-season goals in the USL’S modern era with the winner for Real Monarchs SLC vs. Sacramento on May 29.

Chandler played with the BUSA 92 boys team. After his junior season at UCLA, Hoffman was offered a Generation Adidas contract by Major League Soccer, which he accepted. He attended the MLS Player Combine January 6–10, 2012 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He then headed to Kansas City, Missouri, for the 2012 MLS SuperDraft, where he was selected in the 1st round (as the 13th overall pick) by the Philadelphia Union. Hoffman became the first player from Alabama ever selected in the 1st round of the MLS SuperDraft.

Congratulations to these BUSA Legends!