Chris Agorsor cares about the Baltimore Casa Mia Bays U-18s, his club soccer team.
So as the 2007 Gatorade National High School Player of the Year prepared to play in the finals of the inaugural U.S. Soccer Development Academy, likely his last tournament with the team, he wanted everything to be perfect.
Recommended Stories
Agorsor originally planned to train with a professional team in Belgium and meet the Bays at the eighth-team tournament, which begins Friday at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. But when the McDonogh graduate found out the pro team was doing its preseason conditioning program in the days leading up to the tournament, he flew home four days early.
“They were running so much,” said Agorsor, who has committed to Virginia but will continue to weigh his professional options until Aug. 15, when the Cavaliers begin preseason camp. “I knew in my mind I could do it, but I knew my body was going to give out on me, and I wouldn?tactually be prepared for [the tournament], which was my original intent.”
The Bays need Agorsor at full strength if they are to prove they are the top team in the Development Academy, a 64-team league comprised of the nation?s top club teams. The Bays qualified for the final tournament by handily winning the Mid-Atlantic Conference during a 30-game regular season. They will play three round-robin games in the next week, hoping to earn a spot in the league final on July 18, which will be televised live on ESPN2.
“Chris is the influence for the team,” said Andrew Bulls, Agorsor?s McDonogh teammate who will play at UMBC in the fall. “He comes out here and works hard everyday, and we just kind of follow him. Seeing him want it so bad just kind of makes us all want to fall in behind him.”
But the Bays, coached by former Blast player and McDonogh coach Steve Nichols, boast more than just the nation?s top high school player. The team won a national championship in 2006 in the under-16 age group before losing in penalty kicks in the regional semifinals last season. They haven?t lost a game since May, and with most of the players ready to begin their collegiate careers, they?d like to finish the season by winning their first Development Academy title.
“We always say we have more fun than the other team, and we?re such a close group,” said Steven LeVine, a Loyola grad who will play at Towson next season. “I think the team?s very dedicated to winning nationals again and sending this team off right to college.”
