Shoreline teen selected for International Soccer tour

Logan Calpito of Shoreline has been selected to participate in the US Club Soccer 2018 id2 National Selection International Tour for the second consecutive year.

He and 17 other youth soccer players were all hand-picked around the nation and will travel to Spain March 22 – April 3. 

The group represents 11 U.S. states and 16 top youth soccer clubs in America. Historically, US Club Soccer has competed against top LaLiga clubs including FC Barcelona, Valencia, Villarreal and Espanyol. LaLiga is a technical partner of US Club Soccer’s Players First initiative.

Logan Calpito was raised in Hawaii and played for the Rush Hawaii club. His family moved to Shoreline for better opportunities for Logan to play.

Officially beginning March 28, the tournament concludes with the championship round on April 1. Prior to this, the id² National Selection team will begin its journey in New Jersey with a domestic camp, March 22-24. After an expected arrival in Barcelona on March 25, the team will transfer to the city of Girona for training sessions over the following two days. While in Girona, the squad will scrimmage Girona FC’s top youth academy team on March 26, which will also compete in the MIC. Finally, on March 27, the group moves on to Platja D’Aro for the MIC competition.

The id² Boys Program director Gerry McKeown will lead the team in the id² Program’s ninth trip abroad. Logan Calpito (formerly of Rush Hawaii) returns from the 2017 id² National Selection team. Last year’s team advanced to the quarterfinals of the MIC – the best tournament finish by a U.S.-based team, according to MIC officials.

“It is a unique opportunity to expose our players to games that have consequence,” said McKeown. “At this age, our young players do not play enough elimination games. It will be challenging for them playing against great international clubs when the performance actually counts. In this tournament, if you underperform, it will result in an early departure or more beach time.”

Consistent with US Club Soccer’s philosophy that identification and development should be free to players, the organization is fully funding the trip in conjunction with strong support from Nike. The id² Program is an Olympic Development Program approved by the United States Olympic Committee and U.S. Soccer Federation.