Augusta United Football Club has been operating in Columbia County for about eight weeks, setting the foundation for fervent local support.
“We’re hoping to build a fanbase, a following,” said Ryan Hodgson, head coach and CEO. “We’re hoping to embed ourselves in the community and create an event every weekend that we have a home match, both in the fall and in the spring.”
The Pre-College Development Academy is the wing of Augusta United Football Club specializing in training high school graduates in a rigorous program to prepare them for collegiate level soccer and, via the program’s professional development soccer team, perhaps even the professional level.
A network of scouts recruits from all over the country, and often beyond, searching schools and elite soccer clubs hoping that that the young players might be a little patient in where they choose to go after high school. Players participate in the residential soccer academy for one or two years in order to develop to their next level.
Hodgson notes the program is based on the National Collegiate Athletic Association Hockey model. That program gives high school graduates a grace period to mature and advance their skills before playing in the college hockey system.
“We’ve just done that with soccer,” said Hodgson. “We recognize that 17- and 18-year-old kids right out of high school are not ready to go play collegiately; so let’s develop them emotionally, psychologically, physically, technically, tactically and then in a year to two years, we preserve their eligibility, and they go on to their next level.”
The training is demanding, but the players themselves have been inspired by the degree of improvement and the quality expected of them.
“I think it benefited me most by giving me the opportunity where another team might have not,” said Sam Danner, 18, originally from Berlin. “That’s really helped me especially in terms of dealing with recruiting, so I have a lot of interests right now. It kind of gave me the platform for exposure.”
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Nick Cenek, 19, of Peoria, Ill., has been playing since he was three. He was recruited after his father researched the program and contacted Hodgson.
“I feel like it’s super competitive; it’s helping me get to the next level,” said Cenek. “In the weight room, especially, and my dieting. And the coaching is probably the best I’ve ever had.”
Jason Redmond Jr., 19, of Kernesville, N.C. had been in contact with Hodgson for years, and was even scouted to play in England. He notes the challenge of competing against older, more experienced players sharpens his and his teammates’ abilities over time.
“For me and few of the other players have still got to get used to the physicality and just the pace of the game,” said Redmond. “But I think we’ve adjusted well as a team. Every week we’re getting better.”
The ultimate goal for Augusta United is a professional or semi-pro soccer team in the area, complete with a stadium and housing for young players in training. Hodgson says the development program is pushing toward that aim by attracting fans both locally and regionally, which was one of the reasons for starting in the CSRA.
“Demographically or geographically you’ve got Columbia you could get fans from,” he said. “Atlanta, arguably, we could pull fans from; Savannah, Charlotte, Charleston. It’s a corridor from the Carolinas all the way down to Florida.”
Hodgson also notes, however, that priming the team to be the best they can be for potential fans is paramount. Though the fall season has already started, the soccer club has waited to push the games, hoping to get Columbia County and surrounding areas involved in the January-February cup and the spring season.
Hodgson remains confident, however.
“A lot of these guys coming into this academy didn’t have any offers from college coming out of high school,” he said. “But we’ve got a few of these guys that in the next four to eight weeks will likely commit to a couple of the top 25 NCAA Division 1 programs. So we’ve done well so far.”
Augusta United F.C. will have its next home game at 7 p.m. Oct. 30 against Kalonji Pro-Profile at Blanchard Woods Park in Evans. For more information visit https://precollegeda.com/georgia/.
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter covering Columbia County with The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
