Announcement

Boys Soccer: College ID Camp Returns to Lakeland

Posted by Tim Hourahan on Aug 07 2021 at 01:16PM PDT
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Boys Soccer: College ID Camp Returns to Lakeland

By MIKE SABINI

SHRUB OAK, N.Y. – After not having it in the summer and holding it in the winter at Mamaroneck High School last year because of the pandemic, the fourth annual Hudson Valley College ID Camp returned home July 9-11 to Lakeland High School.

A total of 32 college coaches, which included a combination of Division 1, Division 2, Division 3, and junior college coaches, attended this summer event.

“I was happy to be able to put something together in the winter for our 2021 grads, but the summer is the best time to run this ID camp and last winter was a one-off due to the pandemic,” said camp director and founder, Lakeland coach Tim Hourahan.

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Hourahan said that the camp has really been a great success story over the past few years. The idea of the camp was the brainchild of Hourahan, Somers coach Brian Lanzetta, and Mamaroneck coach Rich Becker, who also help run the camp.

The idea for the camp came about to try and get the area’s best soccer players in this region on one campus, in front as many college coaches as they can get to attend, Hourahan said.

“The idea was that this area really has a ton of high-level soccer players that now don´t have to travel far or pay a lot of money to get some exposure to college coaches,” said Hourahan, a 1996 Somers graduate. “And now because of the success of players from previous camps, we are now drawing more college programs. We are even attracting players from out of state, like New Jersey and Connecticut, to attend and compete with our best players. Over the past few years, 61 players who attended the camp have found a college roster spot, many of which was a direct result of this camp. For that, I am proud to have been able to help these players.”

Lanzetta concurred.

“There are so many great soccer schools out there, it’s a great way to help these kids find soccer homes and get a good education,” Lanzetta said.

One of those kids is New Rochelle’s Johan Valez, who now plays at Manhattan College and, in a text to the camp coaches, acknowledged how important the camp was to him.

“Thank you for looking out for the youth of our communities,” said Valez, who played in all of Manhattan College’s six games this spring as a sophomore and started in four of them. “If it wasn’t for this ID clinic, I probably would not have come across Manhattan. Thank you again.”

Yorktown players who took part in this year’s camp were rising senior forward Peter Tinaj, George Popovic, Jack Prybylski, Ryan Tomeny, Anthony Spina, David Beitler, Mason Murphy, and Chris Coppola.

“The experience was nice, it was fun to compete against all the top players in our area,” Tinaj said.

Rising junior Liam Healy, Dylan Ingraham, Jack Van Tassel, and Chris Goncalves attended from Somers.

“These boys worked hard, showcased themselves and basically tried to get seen by anyone that would have interest,” Lanzetta said. “Liam works very hard on and off the pitch, emailing coaches and training. He is pushing himself to play at a good level and get great academics, as the rest of the boys who attended.”

Lakeland players participating were Michael Rodriguez, Connor Daly, Chris Ciraco, and David Pinkowsky.

Hourahan feels they and the other participants were able to get a feel of what a college training session may feel like, sound like, etc. Coaches from Marist College, SUNY Brockport, and Clarkson University put the campers through a 90-minute training session.

“Our kids were able to see the pace of these practices,” Hourahan said. “I also think it provides a great opportunity for players to compete with the best players in our area and see where they stack up. As for coaches, I know having spoken to many of them since camp ended that they have already made direct contacts with some of our players in hopes of getting them up to campus for a visit. So, they are already working on getting commitments from our prospects.”

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