Senior, Ben Wilson has been playing soccer for as long as he can remember. In the past few years, he worked with a number of teams, but eventually found his home with the Fredericksburg Football Club, where he plays with 19 year-olds. During the summer, he plays semi-professionally with men almost twice his age. He even works at his club’s park maintaining the fields, spending every second he can on the grass. This past summer, he was recruited to represent the United States at a tournament that took place in Sweden and Denmark.
The team only had a few days to get acquainted with each other in the U.S. before they left for the Gothia Cup, the largest youth tournament in the world, that takes place in Sweden every year. A professional Danish team, Football Club Nordsjælland, hosted the team as they practiced in their stadium every day to prepare for their games. After Wilson’s team trained for the first week, they played five games total and had the opportunity to meet teams from over 80 different countries. Wilson considers this experience life changing, commenting, “I’m really grateful and fortunate to be a part of this.”
Wilson has a bright future ahead and will graduate a year early to focus on soccer before beginning the scouting process. He plans to gain a few credits at Germanna before choosing a university in the spring. “I’ve worked hard to get where I am, but I know how much there is left to do,” he said, while reflecting on the year ahead as he finishes his high school career. Wilson’s work ethic and raw talent will take him far in his college career, as he hopes to play professional soccer in his near future.