U.S. Paralympic Soccer Update w/ Nick Creasy

Nick Creasy is a Virginia Native and a member of the U.S. Paralympic men's soccer team which recently qualified for the 2012 Paralympic Games in London. Leading up to the 2012 Paralympic Games, Nick is going to be keeping VASoccerNews.com readers up to date on his progress and the progress of the team - providing guest post updates with an insiders perspective.

The U.S. team qualified for the tournament by finishing eighth among the 16 teams that competed in 2011 CPISRA Football 7-a-Side World Championships held in the Netherlands in late June. The top seven teams and host United Kingdom qualified for the 2012 Paralympic Games, to be held in late August and early September.

In the recent qualifying tournament in the Netherlands, the U.S. squad finished second in the four-team Group D, one of four such groups from which the top two teams in each qualified for next year's Paralympic Games. The U.S. team defeated Japan 4-0 on June 19 (in Assen), lost to Iran 7-2 on June 21 (in Emmen), and beat Ireland 3-2 on June 23 (in Hoogeveen), finishing with six points in group play. The victory over Ireland clinched the team's berth in the Paralympic Games. Had the Irish won, they, and not the Americans, would have qualified.


After group play concluded in the recent tournament in the Netherlands, there were three more rounds, the results of which were used to determine seedings in the Paralympic Games. Because the U.S. team lost all three of those matches (to Russia on June 26, to Scotland on June 29, and to Argentina on July 1), they will be seeded eighth.

The Paralympic Games, which provide competition for athletes with physical disabilities, always follow the Olympic Games and are held in the same city. Over the next 13 months the team will be training together frequently in preparation for the 2012 Paralympic Game in late August. They are scheduled to train three times, each week long training camps, before the end of the year on their road to the Paralympic Games.


Follow Nick Creasy on Twiter: @NickCreasey

Read More about Nick: Longwood junior competes on the U.S. Paralympic men's soccer team