Middle School soccer player heads to Sweden by Matt Pascarella

Go Wyatt Flibbert!

Eighth grader Wyatt Flibbert of Windham Middle School has been playing soccer almost all his life. He started playing locally in Southern Maine in the Windham Youth Soccer Association when he was three years old. He joined the Global Premier Soccer (GPS) Maine team when he was eight and has played in tournaments all over the United States from California to Florida and Massachusetts as part of the GPS Regional Maine/New Hampshire team.

This July, he and other players his age will be taking their talents overseas to play in the Gothia Cupin Gothenburg, Sweden. Flibbert will be representing GPS Maine on the 2004 GPS National team and he will be traveling with over with 16 kids from the GPS league, spending eight days in Gothenburg. Flibbert is very excited to be a part of this international competition.

Flibbert was nominated to be on the GPS Regional Maine/New Hampshire team by his coach after he played in a tournament in Massachusetts over Thanksgiving. He was selected to attend a soccer identification camp for GPS players from around New England. From there, he was chosen to be on the GPS National 2004 soccer team and play in Sweden.

The team was composed of players that attended that soccer identification camp as well as others held around the country; as the GPS organization is in 26 states, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It is a process that starts locally and ends with players being selected at a national level.

The Gothia Cup is the world’s largest and most international youth soccer tournament. In 2017, there were over 1,700 teams from 80 nations with over 40,000 participants, averaging in age of around 15, who played over 4,300 games during the course of the tournament.

Flibbert’s advice for aspiring soccer players looking to accomplish what he has is, to work as hard as you can and keep working at it, perseverance is a key factor when you want to play in these tournaments.

Congratulations to Flibbert on his accomplishment! The Windham Eagle is rooting for you!