Alpharetta, GA…Several boys from the Alpharetta Ambush Soccer Club attended the first stage of try-outs for the prestigious Empoli Youth Academy, part of the Serie A Empoli FC developmental youth program. These boys, who are between the ages of 10 and 16, traveled to Italy from December 4th through 10th to train with Empoli youth players and be evaluated by the Empoli coaches.

This initiative was a result of a summer camp conducted in July 2006 at the Alpharetta Ambush Soccer Club by two trainers from the Empoli program:  Mirko Mazzantini and Simone Bombers.  Several promising Ambush players from that camp were invited by Empoli to take part in the December try-out. The collaboration between the two parties will continue with a team from the Ambush visiting Empoli in spring 2007 and the Ambush Club hosting another Empoli camp in the summer of 2007.

For the Ambush Soccer Club, a program of Alpharetta Recreation and Parks Department, this is great opportunity for our players to learn from one of the top soccer academies in Italy and expose their coaches to some of our better players. The boys who attended the try-outs included Darion Copeland, Jeffrey Degen, Stewart Abrahart; Andres Morales, Jordi Landburg, Peyton Ericson, Josh Cohen, Mike Fiorello, and Janadi Landburg (these boys are shown in the attached photo). The group was escorted by Gavino Asteghene.

For additional information, please contact Nick Bogle