My name is Drew Hartell and I’ve been asked to tell you a little bit about myself. I am 15 years old and have lived in Virginia Beach my whole life. I started playing soccer when I was 4 years old with the NYSL club. Up until recently, I attended Norfolk Christian School . There, I started for the Varsity soccer team as an 8th grader in the center mid position. Primarily, I played forward for my premier travel team named Beach FC Red (“Fire”). The “Fire” has been in the State Cup Championship Final 4 all four years we have played, and have won the State Cup Championships 2 out of the 4 times. We were runners up in the Region I Championships one year and semi finalists the other year. The Fire is a great team to play for! This past fall I also was chosen to the State ODP (Olympic Development Program) team along with 6 other Fire teammates.

But my dream happened a few weeks ago. I was on my way to a tournament in North Carolina with the State ODP Team when about halfway there I got a call from my mom saying that I made the U17 National Team!!! I was so amazed that I almost woke the kid sitting next to me. What I had to realize was that I had to end my life as I knew it here in Virginia Beach , and move to Florida to live with 40 other players on the US National team that I had never met before. I had to take some time to think this through and then I thought about how hard I have worked and how badly I wanted just a chance to play for National Coaches and this team! I also learned how much of a great opportunity this was after a couple of the coaches sat down with me and talked to me about it. But there were two things that just made my day and those were when I got an email from Coach Hall, one of my former coaches, where he said, "It couldn’t have happened to a nicer kid or a nicer family." And the other was from the kids on my team when they said, "out of all of us here, you deserve this opportunity most of all." To hear that come from friends, and a guy that I admire and respect, was one of the best moments of my life.

Well, I got my dream and not only that but I also have the opportunity to train with the top players in the United States. I get some of the best training in the entire country. It’s not easy, that’s for sure. We work very hard here! You have to play your hardest all the time and can never let down or else you risk someone else possibly taking your spot on the team. Along with the great training, and quality players, we have the opportunity to play teams that you can only imagine playing! Since I have been here, we have played MLS Teams such as, DC United, Kansas City Wizards, Columbus Crew, and the Chicago Fire just to name a few. Soon we will have the opportunity to play some Division I colleges as they come to Bradenton to train; colleges such as Notre Dame and the University of Maryland . These teams come to Bradenton to do their spring training and while they are here we have an opportunity to scrimmage them. The US Team will also take a 10 day trip to France this March to play in a tournament against 8 other national teams.

I am now at Bradenton on the National Team and it one of the best things that ever happened to me! I scored my 1st goal on my first day here against the other half of the Team and I haven’t looked back since. Sure, I have gone through some hard times, and I continue to. But it doesn't matter to me because the kids aren't the ones that say "you aren't good enough;" the coaches are! No matter what the kids say I just keep on going because this has been a dream of mine ever since I was about 7 years old, and I’m not about to give it up now.