Four girls from Oakland County have been selected by the United States Youth Soccer (USYS) Olympic Development Midwest Region Program to attend an international event.
Kayla Mannino of Bloomfield Hills, Nicole Read of Orion Township, Megan Siebert of Troy and Anna Sieloff of Troy will be traveling to Europe March 17-26 with other girls selected from the Midwest Region to compete against teams from Germany and Holland.
The four girls, age 13-14, were selected during competition that began with their district, progressed to state selection and eventually the Regional Team.
They represent the top 72 players in the United States in their age group.
‘This is a tremendous honor for these girls and their communities,? said Dianna Jiminez, Region II Administrator for the Olympic Development Program. ‘The trip is an experience of a lifetime, playing the best competition and a fantastic cultural experience as well.?
The Olympic Development Program was established as a method to identify and train talented soccer players for the next level.
The program has helped the United States gain respect at the highest level of world soccer competition in recent years.
All four girls play club soccer for the VardarStars Soccer Club and are coached by Demir Muftari.
Read is the daughter of Gary and Karen Read and is a ninth grade student at Lake Orion High School.