AFW ELITE ’19 Players Grow from International Experience in Preparation for Education and Football at Collegiate Level
Twenty-five players from the USA-AFW ELITE ’19 team that traveled to Italy to explore, grow, compete and bond together this past spring will be moving on to start their collegiate football careers later this summer. Members of this special US high school select team were brought together by American Football Worldwide to gain the educational benefits of international travel and experience the unique thrills of international competition and sportsmanship. These ambitious student-athletes utilized the opportunity to be challenged in a unique way and in that process gained valuable knowledge, improved their football skills and probably of most importance grew tremendously as people and in their own self-confidence. All these elements will help them move on to be more successful students and better players at the collegiate level.
AFW ELITE’s Italy team started their journey in Rome and Vatican City, then proceeded into Tuscany with day stops in Siena, Florence and Cinque Terra. Their week culminated in Milan and Como with a half-day excursion to Lugano, Switzerland. They concluded their week demonstrating that their talents as football players and their cohesiveness as a team defeating the national U19 team of Italy 58-0.
American Football Worldwide was fortunate to have young men who represented the USA with tremendous class on and off of the field. Signifying the strength of the team American Football Worldwide assembled, at least 25 AFW ELITE players, over 75% of the roster, will continue to grow through the opportunities and challenges that college football offers. There are 13 different states – from Maine to California – that will have AFW ELITE players attending colleges within their borders. The list of USA-AFW ELITE players graduating to the collegiate level and continuing to play at the collegiate level include:
| First | Last | High School | Hometown, ST | College (ST) |
| Elliot | Avidane | Schreiber Senior | Port Washington, NY | Brockport State (NY) |
| Jordan | Berry | The Haverford School | Haverford, PA | Ithaca (NY) |
| Michael | Boland | Huntley | Huntley, IL | Aurora U (IL) |
| Dominic | Capecci | Sacred Heart-Griffin | Springfield, IL | Monmouth (IL) |
| Bryson | Clark | Juniata | Mifflintown, PA | Juniata (PA) |
| Wesley | Cline | Littleton | Littleton, MA | Gettysburg (PA) |
| Caleb | Evans | IMG Academy | Bradenton, FL | Carson Newman (TN) |
| Josh | Evans | IMG Academy | Bradenton, FL | Carson Newman (TN) |
| Daniel | Fitzmorris | Notre Dame | Los Angeles, CA | Carnegie-Mellon (PA) |
| Zachary | Golden | Hampshire | Hampshire, IL | Augustana (IL) |
| Jonathan | Gordon | Francis Parker | San Diego, CA | San Diego State (CA) |
| Andrew | Graves | Notre Dame | Sun Valley, CA | Univ of New England (ME) |
| Bobby | Inserra | Maine South | Park Ridge, IL | Augustana (IL) |
| Franshun | Jordan | Willowbrook | Villa Park, IL | College of DuPage JC (IL) |
| Matt | Knudtson | Willowbrook | Villa Park, IL | St. Francis (IL) |
| Byron | Paige Jr | Colonial | Orlando, FL | Adrian (MI) |
| Anthony | Palmere | John Carroll | Churchville, MD | Stevenson University (MD) |
| Alexandre | Pavlov | Maine South | Park Ridge, IL | Carthage (WI) |
| Jonathan | Rice | Bracken County | Augusta, KY | Morehead State (KY) |
| Oakley | Roessler | McDonald County | Pineville, MO | Missouri Southern State (MO) |
| Eli | Samuelson | Cedar Mountain | Comfrey, MN | Augustana (SD) |
| Ryan | Sanborn | Francis Parker | San Diego, CA | Stanford (CA) |
| Joshua | Sletta | Madelia HS | Madelia, MN | St. Johns (MN) |
| Gabriel | Thomas | The Bishops School | San Diego, CA | Chapman (CA) |
| Ross | Valenti | Mount Carmel | Chicago, IL | John Carroll (OH) |
Best wishes for continued success to our outstanding AFW ELITE 2019 team members.
AFW ELITE OPPORTUNITIES FOR 2020 – For the spring of 2020, plans are solidifying for AFW ELITE to return to Italy in late March and hopefully Spain and Ireland in mid-April. If you personally or if you know of a high school student-athlete who would potentially be interested in being part of an AFW ELITE ’20 teams and tour, please contact AFW at jb@americanfootballworldwide.com.