LEWISTON — The McG United Soccer Academy for this coming July 22-26 and will be located at the new fields behind Lewiston High School.

Boys and girls ages 5-16 are invited to participate in a great atmosphere of fun, fundamentals and competitive play. There will three groups of players organized. The morning program is made up of 5-7 year olds. They are from 9-11:30 a.m. The 8-11 year olds are from 9 a.m.-2 p.m.. The Elite players who are of middle and high school age up to 16 years old will participate from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.. Included in this program is Butch Dow’s Goal Keeper School that include middle school, high school and even early college level players who will train from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Butch has coached no less than 10 players who have become all conference and all state level keepers.

This year’s session will include coach Eric Wagner, men’s soccer coach at Swarthmore College located outside Philadelphia. He also returns to the US after spending a semester in England on sabbatical. His experiences there with professional level clubs and academies in Great Britain will certainly add to the McG United curriculum. In addition, Don Plourde will return bringing his brand of dynamic coaching and teaching to younger players in the program. Working with the Elite’s will be Dan Gish and Abdijabar Hersi. Both are invaluable assistant coaches for Lewiston High School whose team had won three state championships in four years. Chris Albert is a long time teacher of the game specializing in skills with the ball. He is a former high school coach. He will be the director of activities. There will be varsity high school and collegiate players also working with the players and are considered excellent role models for young players.

Leading this group of coaches will be Mike McGraw. He is a two-time US Regional coach of the year. He is a three time Maine coach of the year.

Should players need a brochure and did not pick one up at there school they could contact Mike McGraw at mmcgraw@lewistonpublicschools.org or  call 207-782-4339. Brochures can be obtained at both the Lewiston Recreation Department at its website and through LAYSA on their website.