Members of recent winning State Cup, President’s Cup and Soccer Village programs — hundreds of players in all — will be honored at halftime of Saturday’s Louisville City FC match.
On “Night of Champions,” players for organizations such as United 1996 FC and the Kentucky Fire Juniors, among many other teams, have been invited to parade on the pitch during the 7:30 p.m. home match against Wilmington Hammerheads FC.
Kyle Smith, a rookie member of LouCity’s roster, wouldn’t be surprised to see some of them one day suit up for the United Soccer League club.
“It’s like a goal that they can set for themselves, and to watch quality soccer in the area is great for all the kids,” Smith said. “They can relate to how when they get older, that’s what they want to do.”
A regular starter on LouCity’s back line, Smith is a Cincinnati native who grew up playing for Ohio Elite. He attended Transylvania University in Lexington before making it as a professional.
Smith credits his youth club experience for getting him to Louisville City FC.
“I think it really helped my technical ability because I had great coaches, and the training at every practice was really high-quality,” he said. “I think it really helped me get to where I am as a soccer player today.”
Louisville’s William Frentz, a member of the United States Deaf National Team, will lead the youth champions out to the field. Frentz grew up a member of club teams with Mockingbird, United, and Javanon. He’ll travel to his third World Deaf Football Championship later this month in Italy.
Members of the Deaf National Team are required to raise $5,000 toward their trip. Frentz has reached his goal, though proceeds of tickets purchased through LouisvilleCityFC.com for Saturday’s match with the promotional code “USDMNT16” will be donated to the team as a whole.
