Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, January 7, 1993 TAG: 9301070123
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: CHRIS STEUART STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
YOUTH LEARNS EUROPEAN SOCCER'S A FAST GAME
Italy was a learning experience for Blacksburg High School soccer player Chris Evans.He learned about Italian driving:
"There, you walk across the street and you get flicked off and honked at," Evans said. "And if they hit you they don't even stop. I know first-hand one of the players on the girls' team got hit."
He learned about life in Italian hotels:
"Hotel life's not that great there either," Evans said. "The luxuries you get here, you don't get there - like hot water. You get tired of taking cold showers pretty fast."
He learned about Americana:
"After experiencing another country, you realize how lucky you are to live here," Evans said. "The people were pretty friendly, but the cultures vary so much from city to city."
And he learned about Italian soccer:
"Soccer over there is a lot different than American soccer," he said. "They play so fast that it is hard to hold on to the ball. It's like one-touch soccer. They make us look like we are standing still."
So, now that he's back, what's he going to do with all that he learned?
"It showed me some things I need to do so I can get to the level I want and then be able to help others get there too," Evans said.
"I'd like to teach the things I learned to the kids in the summer camps I work and then it will be like a string, they'll teach other kids and so on."
This past summer Evans, 17, became one of 15 high-school players chosen from five Lanzera summer camps around United States and Canada to make the roster of the Lanzera National Select Soccer Team. The team returned Sunday from the nine-day tour of Italy and Germany.
"We didn't know they were selecting people from those camps to make the touring team," Evans said. "They called up one Sunday about two months ago and basically said, `You are on our roster and if you have the money to go to Italy you are on the team.' A couple weeks later I got an equipment pack."
Evans said the team stepped off the plane onto the playing field with virtually no practice time. They lost three games and tied one.
After a 2-0 defeat in their first game they tied Salerno, 0-0, in four overtimes.
After each match the host teams invited the Americans to a reception.
"To them, tying us was the biggest disgrace ever," Evans said. "They wouldn't even talk to us at the reception. I walked downstairs and there were five of them standing there and they just hung their heads. We played unbelievable soccer. It was an even match."
After a 2-0 loss in the third game, the team finally scored a goal and held a 1-0 halftime lead.
"But with five minutes to go we thought we had it won and gave up and they took advantage of it," he said. "That was our biggest upset."
Evans said he didn't do anything spectacular. His biggest feat was nailing the crossbar once, which when you consider the Americans weren't even expected to score and only managed one goal, isn't too shabby.
"The coaches over there said we had improved a lot over the American teams they had seen in the past," Evans said. "But we have a long way to go."
Evans said he was tired after the long trip back to his Blacksburg home, but Monday night he said he was going to do his schoolwork.
"I'm going to school tomorrow," he said. "I hate making up work."
That's a lesson he learned in America.