COLUMBUS –The Columbus Crew announced today Homegrown Player Wil Trapp is set to spend two weeks of his Major League Soccer offseason training with Dutch Eredivisie side PEC Zwolle. The 20-year-old midfielder is departing for Holland today and will train with the former club of Crew Sporting Director and Head Coach Gregg Berhalter, the team with which the Black & Gold boss began his professional career in 1994.
“Wil was anxious to continue his development as a player. He’s not a guy that’s happy standing still and being stagnant, and he wanted this experience to train abroad and keep improving,” said Crew Sporting Director and Head Coach Gregg Berhalter. “A natural fit for him is Holland. It’s a league with a lot of young players that is known for development, and in Zwolle we are sending him to a club that has clear-cut style of play, tradition and a track-record for developing quality players.”
In his 2013 rookie season with the Crew, the Gahanna, Ohio native made his professional debut, made 16 starts in the midfield and recorded one assist for the Black & Gold, earning the club’s Breakout Performance of the Year award. Last week, U.S. Soccer named Trapp as its 2013 Young Male Athlete of the Year, becoming the 16
th
player to earn the award after it was first distributed in 1998 to Crew Assistant Coach Josh Wolff.
Internationally, Trapp has earned 15 caps as a member of the U.S. U-20 National Team, helping the side qualify for the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup, where he made three appearances in group play in 2013. The midfielder earned a 2013 CONCACAF U-20 Championship Best XI selection, scoring one goal in the tournament. The Crew Soccer Academy product also competed with the U-14, U-15 and U-18 National Teams.
The Crew begins the 2014 season at D.C. United on Saturday, March 8. Before then, the club continues preparation for both stages of the MLS Re-Entry Draft, the 2014 MLS SuperDraft and preseason training.
