MANSFIELD — Jesse Rider can’t wait to introduce All-American FC to the world.
Rider, the former boys soccer coach at Mansfield Christian, will take a girls team loaded with north central Ohio talent to the Dana Cup in Denmark from July 25 to 30.
The Dana Cup is Denmark’s largest sporting event, welcoming more than 1,000 teams from 45 countries annually. Since its inception in 1982, the tournament has drawn more than 900,000 participants from 117 countries to the host city of Hjørring.
All-American FC’s 15-person roster is comprised of players from Ohio, Kentucky, North Carolina and Illinois. North central Ohioans making the trip include Lexington’s Brooklyn Rider, Carliann Hughes, Claire Hammer, Audrey Wendling, Maggie Arnett and Zoe Borowicz, Ontario’s Braelyn Llewellyn, Natalie Smith and Addie Pittman, Clear Fork’s Zoe Lamp and Ashland’s Oaklynn Burns.
“For all of our players, I don’t think anybody has been to Europe,” Rider said. “It was a great chance to create a unique cultural soccer experience at an age where it will be memorable, fun and competitive.
“It kind of checked all the boxes.”
Rider and trip coordinator Tony Sonnabend were in charge of putting together All-American FC’s roster. Rider is the director of the Canton Force Soccer Club’s Mansfield site.
“Our goal was to provide girls with a unique soccer-playing experience,” Rider said. “The wonderful thing about soccer is that it’s played all over the world. We know this will be a lifelong memory, a great cultural experience and a chance to play some high-level soccer against some of the best in the world.
“It’s not just a Denmark tournament. There are teams from Europe and Asia and Africa and America. It’s such a cool multi-cultural opportunity that soccer will provide them.”
All-American FC will compete in the 14-and-younger age division. The team, consisting of players entering the seventh, eighth and ninth grades, will play three qualifying games before entering single-elimination bracket play.
“They could play up to seven games,” Rider said. “They all are pretty high-level players who come from good (club) teams. It’s a fun group to coach.”
The team will have an abbreviated training camp in early-July. They will arrive in Denmark on July 23.
For the local players, the life experience trumps the playing experience.
“I’m playing my favorite sport, but also learning new things about other cultures and countries,” said Pittman, an incoming freshman at Ontario who players club soccer for Ohio Strikers. “The experience to play in a new country and see the level of play the other players bring.
“This is something big for my age and I get to experience it with my friends and family.”
Lexington’s Arnett agreed.
“I’m excited to have this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to not only play soccer and compete against teams that are skilled but to also travel outside the country,” she said.
Rider will experience the Dana Cup with his daughter, Brooklyn.
“She has been on an airplane maybe once or twice before, so there could be some shock on just how long the flight is,” Rider said. “She has never been out of the country, so this will be a great experience for her, not just in terms of soccer, but to see some of the world.”
