Perry soccer goes international with Trent Torres’ commitment to i2i Academy

PERRY — Perry soccer is headed overseas after Trent Torres committed to i2i International Soccer Academy on Wednesday.

i2i is based out of England and has two campuses in Newcastle and Leeds. Torres’ new home will be the Newcastle campus, which is partnered with Northumbria University where he will pursue a degree in sports management.

Torres’ father, Robert Torres, first heard about the program when looking for soccer camps.

“When he was coming up in the ninth grade I was just looking for [soccer] camps, saw a camp for him to go to with i2i, it was down in Florida,” Robert Torres said. “We went down there and he was pretty sold after that…After his freshman year he spent a week over there, seeing how he liked it and everything. This past summer he spent 30 days.”

The interest was immediate for Trent Torres, who didn’t need much convincing after a couple of trips across the pond.

“I think I was probably sold after I went during my sophomore year,” Trent Torres said. “But then [my parents] told me to go for the month just to make sure. I loved the entire thing the whole time I was there. I really made my final decision after the summer.”

The biggest draw for Torres is the opportunity to carve out an international soccer (or in his case, football) career. According to their website, i2i offers a pro-level Soccer Development Program alongside the academic degree. Simply put, they follow a professional training regiment five days a week with classes scheduled in tandem.

The coaches have real professional experience in Europe, too. The main coach Trent Torres has been in contact with, Ian Bogie, played midfield for Newcastle United, Preston North End and Port Vale.

Corey Roper, head of recruitment for i2i, attended Leeds United’s Academy starting at 7-years-old and eventually signed a deal with Wrexham Football Club in 2015.

Both made Trent Torres feel at home, and like his addition meant more than padded numbers for recruiters to throw around.

There’s also tangible promise of breaking into the professional scene, bringing comfort to both he and his mother, Daniela Torres.

“A couple people have already gone pro out of their program,” Trent Torres said. “The coaches were professional, [so] they have connections to different clubs. It’s a lot easier to get a trial or a chance with one of them after.”

“They can go to multiple different tryouts,” Daniela Torres said. “There was one person that’s graduating this year from Leeds Beckett…He’ll trying out for a team in Spain.”

His parents weren’t on board immediately. The normal college drop-offs are hard enough, much less when the distance home is over 4,000 miles.

“We were reluctant at first, and he laid out what he thought, his reasoning, and [we] feel like he is correct in how he plans to approach it,” Robert Torres said.

Daniela Torres is put at-ease by the involvement of both i2i and Northumbria University.

“He’ll have two support systems there, really. The university and also i2i,” Daniela Torres said. “They’re very involved, especially i2i, all their coaches and all their staff, they’re very, very much involved in every student-athlete that they have over there.”

Perry soccer head coach Nathan Dooley sent one of his seven seniors off with some high praise.

“He goes out as being one of the most successful seniors for the Panther soccer program,” Dooley said. “Being a three-year region champ and also part of the team that won the first back-to-back region championships in school history this year.”