Corey Baird

Some San Diego kids pray for sunny days in February so they can hit up the beach, but for SD Surf’s Corey Baird and Justin Fiddes, a selection on to US Club Soccer’s id2 National Selection International Tour beats any sunny day at the beach. The two Surf BU14 Academy players will take a week off from school, Feb. 5-14, to travel throughout the Netherlands and Germany competing and training with the best.
 
In the first time of the id2 program’s history, Baird and Fiddes are among 16 other regional players from across the United States who have been selected for the trip. The no-cost program, id2, began in 2004 and identifies the nation’s top youth talent with the hopes of integration on to the US National Team program. Club and USSF National Team coaches scout players, who upon further evaluation are invited to id2 regional training.
 
The trip grants the boys the opportunity to play in three international games against youth teams trained by top-professional Dutch clubs Ajax FC, PSV Eindhoven and Germany’s academy team Borussia Dortmund. Aside from training daily, the boys will also get the chance to watch a few professional matches. 
 
A midfielder on Paul Currie’s Surf BU14 Academy squad, Baird has competed with the US BU14 National Team since an identification camp in Concord, Massachusetts, this past summer. Baird also participated in the US Youth Soccer Olympic Development Program Interregionals in Orlando, Florida, this past Thanksgiving, the id2 camps in Carson and Arizona and the Cal-South and Region IV camps. He recently came back from a prestigious week-long trip to Guadalajara, Mexico, with the BU14’s National Team.

Justin Fiddes

National Team Head Coach Manny Schellscheidt plans the trip to Mexico annually for the BU14 National Team. The training in Mexico provides an opportunity to experience international travel, train with the top players from throughout the United States, train with national team coaches and play against teams from several different academies in the Guadalajara area. Surf teammate Eric Holt and Carlsbad Lightning’s Esteban Reyes joined Baird in Mexico this past week.
  
“I’m always excited to participate with the National Team,” Baird said “Each time I am invited, it is a chance to prove that I belong.”
 
Fiddes’ journey with the id2 program began in 2008 after he attended a camp in Carson. The outside midfielder and forward then participated in a second id2 camp in Phoenix, Arizona, this past December. Aside from his spot with the id2 program, Fiddes has also competed with ODP for a combined two years. Like Baird, Fiddes competed in Florida with ODP before attending the ODP Regional Championship over the MLK weekend.
 
The Netherlands are familiar territory for Fiddes, whose mother is a native of the country and where his grandparents and other family members currently reside. Fiddes has dreamt of playing professional soccer in Europe and his trip with id2 brings him just one step closer to his goals.
 
With a week off from school, the two eighth graders will make sure to keep up with their studies. The flight from the West Coast to Amsterdam should give the boys enough time to finish any study packets assigned by teachers so that they can hit the ground running when they land in Amsterdam.
 
When the boys return from their trip in Europe, they’ll reconvene with their Surf teammates to prepare for the Far West Regionals spring season and the Cal South National Cup.