No rest for Safford star

By Brian Wright, Sports Editor

The uniform has bold, eye-catching colors — red, blue and yellow and looks nearly identical to the one the professional players wear for Real Salt Lake.

Jacob Williams sports his Real Salt Lake jersey before playing in a game Wednesday in Phoenix. He has an even busier soccer schedule when the high school season is over. Williams plays for three other teams: an Olympic Development team, the RSL Arizona U-16 team and the Tucson Soccer Academy. Photo by Brian Wright

Jacob Williams, a junior at Safford High School, donned the jersey Wed-nesday afternoon before heading to Phoenix to play another game.

Williams was already a sensation at the high school level, but he knows being from a small town means he needs to go above and beyond to be recognized.

Real Salt Lake is a professional Major League Soccer team. This is the first year it has had youth development teams associated with the professional team.

RSL has a youth development team in Arizona and one in Utah. Each team has a 16-year-old and 17-year-old squad.

More than 200 youths participated from across the Grand Canyon state during the tryout process, but only 24 made the final roster (and six reserves).

Williams was one of the final 24 for the U-16 Arizona squad.

The team’s first game was July 6, and it beat RSL (Utah) 2-1. On July 7, the RSL Arizona team beat the Colorado Rapids 3-0, and Williams scored his first goal.

RSL Arizona played an over-30 team named Big Ballers in Phoenix on Wednesday.

RSL Arizona is in first place in the Rocky Mountain Division, and Williams is getting some great experience with the MLS youth team.

“This takes soccer to another level,” RSL Arizona U-16 head coach Harry Demos said. “This allows players to feel the professional environment.”

Williams, a 5-10, 160 lb.-forward, also plays on an Olympic Development team. That squad’s season just ended but will resume play in October.

The Tucson Soccer Academy is Williams’ regular club team. TSA plays August through May, but athletes can’t play during their high school season.

Williams said he enjoys playing for the OD team the most because of the level of competition and the travel.

His OD team plays in Region 4, which plays teams from California (north and south), Washington, Oregon, New Mexico, Idaho, Hawaii, Alaska, Montana, Colorado and Nevada.

Other club teams Williams has played for include Arizona Rush Nike, the Fort Lowell Gunners and F.C. Calcio.

He was named the Player of the Year during the 2004-05 season for F.C. Calcio.

In his high school career (only two seasons) Williams has been named first team All-State, Region Player of the Year and has scored 66 goals.

He led the Bulldogs to a state runner-up finish in his freshman year (2005-06) and to the state semifinals as a sophomore.

Williams started playing soccer at 7 years old, and he was a varsity starter his freshman year in high school.

It appears that now, as much as ever, he continues to stay one step ahead of the competition.

This is the first year the Bulldogs’ scoring machine is eligible to receive scholarship offers from colleges around the country. The mailbox at the Williams house will be overflowing soon enough.