SoccerToday Players To Watch: Albion 2001s Arman Samimi
Southern California based Albion Soccer Club is dedicated to excellence in player development — and helping players achieve their goals is Executive Director Noah Gins focus. With a proven track record of successfully developing youth soccer players who are well prepared to go the distance — whether it be at top DI colleges or in the MLS — the coaches at Albion SC develop more than teams that know how to win.
MLS’ LA Galaxy striker Ariel Lassiter trained at Albion SC for 5 years and is a big fan of the youth club — and so are many other Albion alums. After developing over 15 US National Team players whose dream has been to represent the USA on the pitch, Albion SC has succeeded in creating training environments which help players become their best — on and off the field.
Related Article: Albion SC Making A Difference in Player Development
The 2001 U16 Albion SC team is a great example of talented players who passionately love the game and dream of making an impact — yet have learned the value of working together as a team. Led by head coach Paul Holohan whose years of experience are salted with his sincere desire to inspire greatness, these hard working players are often scouted and identified for new opportunities. The team won Albion Cup and are now playing in Cal South’s California Regional League and Coast Soccer League. Several of the players have been called up to National Training Centers.
Here is the story of one special player who has just returned from the U16 National Camp.
Youth Soccer News: Albion SC’s 2001 Team‘s players have put their skills to the test and repeatedly proven the high-quality training they receive at the San Diego based youth soccer club. Forward Arman Samimi has just returned from the U.S. Soccer U16 National Team Camp. Last year, Samimi was on Albion SC’s US Soccer Federations’s Development Academy’s U14 roster.
Earlier this month, U.S. Under-16 Boys’ National Team head coach Shaun Tsakiris — who has had his eye on Arman Samimi for a while — called him in to the seven day training camp in Davis, California.
Samimi was one of the USSF Development Academy’s top U14 goal scorers last season, scoring 25 goals in 23 Academy games. During the summer, Samimi visited Germany and trained at Borussia Dortmund, more often referred to as BVB.
Samimi certainly meets the expectations of the BU16 National Team head coach Shaun Tsakiris’ recruiting philosophy of bringing in ‘footballers’ to the federation. “We like to use the term, footballers. I look at a players’ potential and how they could develop in a few years. That’s the toughest part of being a National Team U16 coach — not only to identify current talent but to find the players who will develop into top talent for our Senior Team,” said Tsakiris in an earlier interview.
Forward Samimi has just returned from the U.S. Soccer National U16 training and was so proud when he first put on the USA jersey. “I was overjoyed and filled with a sense of honor,” said the soccer loving striker. ” It was as if all of my hard work had finally paid off.”
“The camp was extremely well organized; the coaching staff provided a lot of immediate feedback on every player, so we all knew what the coaches wanted from us. This was great. We watched video analysis after sessions which showed us what we could have done better. It was an amazing learning experience. And, the level of the other players were super high.”
“The head coach of the U16 National Team is Shaun and he notices good kids as well as good players. He wants players who are the total package and takes into consideration how players will be when they get older,” says Arman. “The hardest part of the camp was playing two 90 minutes of super intense training sessions a day. As a non MLS player, I was not used to training twice a day.”
“I became a better player at the camp. The coaches helped me in terms of my positioning on the field. I learned I need to play closer to the goal. Sometimes this is hard, but when you start to play at a higher level, a striker may not touch the ball as much and you have to be patient and wait for your teammates to get you the ball — you have to trust your teammates will send you the ball. It was extremely hard at the beginning, I found myself drifting into midfield and then I began to see what the coaches were talking about. Definitely good advice.”
“Albion SC prepared me well for this opportunity. Paul and Noah always take me aside and tell me what I did well and what I need to improve on and helped me to the drills I needed to improve. My soccer coach, Paul Holohan, has helped me develop into a mentally stronger player than I ever could have imagined, and he really cares about his players. I don’t think I will have a coach as tough as Paul,” says Arman.
“When I have the chance to work with Noah, he really pushes me and demands that I always perform at my very best — he raises the level of play every time he walks on the field. Obviously I owe my development in a large way to both Paul and Noah and thank them both for the time they have invested in me.”
“Arman has grown in his time with Albion to a level that he now can shine on a national and international level. We are very proud of his recent accomplishments and recognition with the U.S. Men’s National Team and Borussia Dortmund and believe this is just the beginning of many doors that will begin opening up for him,” said Gins.
