FC GESP Woodstock?

[Guest]

GESP FC GESP-Woodstock is playing in the NEP New England Regional Cup. Curious to leann more about them. It looks like the GESP is a service for placing sports playing kids in prep schools and Woodsotck is a prep school., Anyone know more about them?

[Guest]

Kokoszka runs the Global Education & Sports Partners which helps pair foreign student-athletes with American schools and he was working with Woodstock Academy on the formation of the new program.

“Coming from the college game, you coach in the fall and you don’t have any contact with your athletes in the winter and spring. Here (at Woodstock Academy), I’m going to be able to coach from late August until early June. It’s the ideal for anyone who coaches soccer. In college, the actual on-field stuff is probably 10-15 percent of the job. That will be the reverse here. I’m really excited to be here,” Cherackal said.

There will be no titles or championships to play for, just showcase events to do just that, showcase the individual players skills.

“We’re here for the holistic experience,” Cherackal said. ”I am here to get them to maximize their ceiling, theoretically, from their freshman year to a post-graduate year. Wins and losses at this time don’t matter because (the players) are not fully developed yet.”

For the most part, the new Centaurs soccer team will be playing prep school programs such as Pomfret School, Northfield-Mt. Hermon and others on the road this fall.

There will also be some showcase events such as one at South Kent School.

Cherackal is also hopeful that the Centaurs will be able to hold a showcase of their own in early November so the school community can see the team play.

In the spring, he is hoping to pick up games with Major League Soccer-affiliated academies as well as play in some large tournaments and travel to places like New York City and Maryland.

“It will function like a prep team in the fall and will then shift into a more club schedule in the winter and spring,” Cherackal said.

There is a lot of work to be done.


There are a lot of questions that will have to be answered.

But Cherackal is convinced the product will be highly successful.

The program currently has 24 student-athletes on its roster, with the possibility of adding one more, and 21 of those currently are international students.

The majority of the international players, 13 of them, will hail from Spain with Bermuda, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, St. Lucia, Brazil and Portugal also represented.

Only three players come from the U.S., one from Pittsburgh, another from Brooklyn, N.Y. and the only Connecticut product hailing from Guilford.

[Guest]

Hi!
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What?
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Chika-chika
Slim Shady

[Guest]

Thanks I thought is was something like this.

[Guest]

Kokoszka runs the Global Education & Sports Partners which helps pair foreign student-athletes with American schools and he was working with Woodstock Academy on the formation of the new program.

“Coming from the college game, you coach in the fall and you don’t have any contact with your athletes in the winter and spring. Here (at Woodstock Academy), I’m going to be able to coach from late August until early June. It’s the ideal for anyone who coaches soccer. In college, the actual on-field stuff is probably 10-15 percent of the job. That will be the reverse here. I’m really excited to be here,” Cherackal said.

There will be no titles or championships to play for, just showcase events to do just that, showcase the individual players skills.

“We’re here for the holistic experience,” Cherackal said. ”I am here to get them to maximize their ceiling, theoretically, from their freshman year to a post-graduate year. Wins and losses at this time don’t matter because (the players) are not fully developed yet.”

For the most part, the new Centaurs soccer team will be playing prep school programs such as Pomfret School, Northfield-Mt. Hermon and others on the road this fall.

There will also be some showcase events such as one at South Kent School.

Cherackal is also hopeful that the Centaurs will be able to hold a showcase of their own in early November so the school community can see the team play.

In the spring, he is hoping to pick up games with Major League Soccer-affiliated academies as well as play in some large tournaments and travel to places like New York City and Maryland.

“It will function like a prep team in the fall and will then shift into a more club schedule in the winter and spring,” Cherackal said.

There is a lot of work to be done.


There are a lot of questions that will have to be answered.

But Cherackal is convinced the product will be highly successful.

The program currently has 24 student-athletes on its roster, with the possibility of adding one more, and 21 of those currently are international students.

The majority of the international players, 13 of them, will hail from Spain with Bermuda, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, St. Lucia, Brazil and Portugal also represented.

Only three players come from the U.S., one from Pittsburgh, another from Brooklyn, N.Y. and the only Connecticut product hailing from Guilford.

Great way to perpetuate the myth that youth internationals are somehow better than US youth at this stage. Other than being able to pull from 357 other counties there is nothing at this point to suggest the US needs to import talent aside from the flashy MLS signing or two. Doing so actually hurts US Soccer at the top of thr pyramid because the secondary pathway through college mens soccer is clogged with players who will graduate and play in their home country on the second or third team.

I hope they do set up a few matches with MLS to set this example for all. Problem is other than this self-post no one knows about this team or cares.