#1 Biography

[siddhus]

Daan Wouters, a recent addition to the SSL Academy league playing for Stockholm IK, does not have to travel too far for his transfer from the Ajax Academy. Wouters was a pretty early bloomer which helped him be able to play many different sports while growing up with his tall height. And while he would eventually setter for football with that being both his favorite and what he was best at, learning to play sports like basketball and cycling helped build his physicality and cardio up which was very directly translatable to football. With Netherlands having more of a total football game engrained into their system, Wouters learned to play many different positions and transitioned into a pretty well-rounded player. He settled on a traditional number 10 role due to how much he liked helping and setting up his teammates and his close friendship with the striker on his team. When he joined Ajax it was in more of a Mezzala type of role, where he drifted wide even as a Central Midfielder into open space so that he could cross the ball into the box and try to exploit any weaknesses in the opposition defense.

While he could have been content to keep working in Ajax and trying to get promoted to their senior team, he realized that he could have more opportunities and join a fairly newer established league the SSL. While the draft would be coming up in a few months, for now he is ready to show off his talent and prove to teams that he deserved to be the first overall pick in the draft. He is most excited to get the chance to work with Bonnibel Bubblegum the striker on the Stockholm team, and try to make Bubblegum the academy leader in goals scored.

Either way, Wouters will never forget his time in Ajax or in Netherlands where he learned a lot about how football should be played, and he hopes when the WSFC come around, maybe he could get chosen to represent his country to show his appreciation for them.

[DarkViper2]

Scott Newman was born in Los Angeles and fell in love with soccer from a young age. As a kid he would play street soccer with the other neighborhood kids and he loved acting as if he was a central attacking midfielder. He loved the idea of being able to help dictate the attack, set up his teammates, and potential score goals. During the summer he played soccer just for the fun of it. It was here where Scott learned the value of good teamwork and sportsmanship, something that he prides himself in to this day. In middle school he played on his schools modified team as a CAM and CF. The high school varsity coach was impressed with Scott's game, but didn't call him up to the varsity team once he started high school

Instead Newman played on his high junior variety team as a freshman and broke the state record for goals scored in a JV season. Having seen enough, Scott was called up to the varsity team as a sophomore. It was also during this time that some of the pro teams from both the MLS and European leagues started to take notice of the young prospect. Scott's initial plan was to graduate from high school and then sign a development contact with an English Premier League team. As his senior year was coming to a close he found out about the SSL and decided that he was going to change course and join that league. During this time he also represented the United States at the youth level and help the national youth teams win some CONCACAF youth championships

After graduating from high school, Scott committed to the University of Michigan to continue his career. His main goal was to get his game more well rounded before making the jump to the pros. While at Michigan, he was a starter for 4 straight seasons and won a couple of national championships. Now with Port Royal FC, some 2,800 mi away from home, Scott is looking to impress the SSL team scouts and begin the next part of his journey