Agoura soccer team goes to Spain

TRAVELING TEAM- The Agoura Hills Select Soccer team takes time out from competing and sightseeing to send greetings to the folks at home. The team was in Spain for a soccer competition. Front row, from left: Michael Uyehara, Cameron Kinney, Jackson Hart, Daniel Kellada, Dean Hendricks, Eric Carmi, Jeremy Nudell, Lewis Kindeleit, Jordan Levy and Ben Johnson. Back row: Coach John Carpenter, Ryan Daniels-Stock, Matt Flaherty, Sam Myerson, Steven Ford, Patrick Brennan, Sam Dodson, Patrick Snow, Emerson Wahl, Chris Kenney, Greg Stanger, Coach Walter Del Olmo and Head Coach Andrew Staiano.

Twenty soccer players ages 15 to 19 and three coaches from Agoura High School traveled to Barcelona and through Basque country to San Sebastian, Spain, for 10 days of training and competition in the Donosti Cup Soccer tournament last month.

The group consisted of head coach Andrew Staiano, assistant coaches Walter Del Olmo and John Carpenter, and players from last season's freshman/ sophomore, junior varsity and varsity teams.

In Barcelona the players competed with 262 teams from Europe, Australia, the United States, South America, China and Africa and participated in specialized training sessions with professional soccer coaches.

The Agoura Hills team won a small tournament in Barcelona against teams from England and Spain and maintained a high level of playing performance throughout the tournament.

"The trip was a terrific opportunity for the boys to bond as a team prior to the upcoming school year," Carpenter said. "Strictly in terms of soccer benefit, the trip gave the boys a window on how physically the game is played elsewhere in the world. . . . Hopefully the experience will broaden their cultural awareness, deepen their tolerance for the rest of humanity and give them an added desire to study foreign languages."

For more information about the Agoura High School soccer program, call (818) 889-1262, ext. 475, or visit the website www.agourasoccer.com.