Schulz Academy’s Shawn Barry comes back with a lot of valuable experience from 2 trips with the U18 US National Team.
6 weeks ago he was for 2 weeks in Portugal at a very prestigious tournament, where he faced tough competition like the National Teams of Finland, Norway and Portugal.
He played in all 3 matches either as right back, or right center back.
"These kind of matches give you a lot of experience. The speed of play is on a different level than at the normal games, and especially you have to think much faster. The most impressive part of this trip was the fact that all the European players are extremely tall, and playing high balls is almost impossible without loosing the ball. In these matches I realized that if you want to be a professional soccer player in Europe, the first thing to improve is the soccer fitness. They can run 90 minutes without getting tired at all", states Shawn Barry.
Only 2 weeks after his return from Portugal Shawn traveled with the U18 US National Team to Brazil to the Pan American Games. Highlight of this trip was the game vs. Mexico at the famous Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro.
"I played the whole game on the right side in the midfield. The Mexican team, which won the U17 World Cup last year, was very strong. Although we had almost the same percentage of ball possession, and some good chances they won 2-0. When I came back, I learned that this game was on TV all over world at ESPN Deportes. It’s good that I heard about this after the game, because otherwise I probably would have been more nervous.
All in all I think I played very well, and I learned a lot in the games in Portugal and Brazil", mentions Shawn.
"We can teach our players at the practices only so much. The experience Shawn got the last 6 weeks playing in international tournaments with the U18 National Team like this is invaluable. I am already looking forward seeing him play the next Super Y League game for us. With the unbelievable athletic abilities Shawn has, and the experience he gets in these kind of events, he has a good chance in the future to become a professional soccer player", says Dr. Josef Schulz.
"Since I am 8 years old my dream always was to become a professional soccer player. I think with experiences like these, and constant training, my dream can become reality. I definitely want to reach a college degree though no matter what", explains Shawn.
"Last year Shawn was part of our U17 Schulz Academy team playing the prestigious Mega Card Cup in Europe. He not only was the best defender in this tournament, he also scored the winning goal vs. Ado Den Haag. At the tournament all the scouts were very impressed of the extraordinary speed and athletic ability of Shawn, and some big time professional clubs wanted to sign him immediately after the tournament. He is young, and still needs to learn a lot, and he will definitely after or during finishing his college degree end up with a big team in Europe", is Dr. Josef Schulz convinced.
Shawn doesn’t have too much time to think about the last 6 weeks and all the impressions he got in 2 different continents. After the Super Y League game with Schulz Academy on July 28 vs. Sarasota, which the team won 2-0, and 3 practices with the U17 Schulz Academy team, Shawn is heading to Japan on Saturday, August 4th, with the U18 US National Team again, to participate in a tournament against Japan, Ukraine, and S. Korea.
