'Whiz kid to hone skills in U.K. Alex Lee, 11, off to one-week camp with Southampton Kerry Williamson Calgary Herald - Friday, February 10, 2006

While kids his age are spending their Saturday mornings watching cartoons, Alex Lee is tuning in to watch heroes of a different sort. Depending on the matchups on any given weekend, he watches and dreams of being at Old Trafford, or Stamford Bridge, or Goodison Park. He can name the players, tell you what teams they play for, tell you how many goals they have scored. He can also tell you how they scored, what skills they needed to do what they did. And then, later in the day, he can show you what he saw just hours ago. With a ball at this feet, the kid's got game. "I would like to play professional," says the 11-year-old soccer protege, regarded as one of the best young talents in Calgary and, indeed, Canada. "I know it's hard, but I would like that. I've wanted that for a long time. I eat, sleep and breathe soccer." Lee, who plays locally with the Foothills Saints U12 team, will fly to England on Saturday to take part in a week-long soccer camp with Southampton, one of the best clubs in Britain. He is the first young player in Calgary - perhaps, the country - to gain all six stars at the internationally recognized Soccer Star Challenge, a graded program regarded as the best way to assess a young player's ability. Kids who get all six stars - for skills in heading, shooting, dribbling, running with the ball, turning, and speed and change of direction - are considered as the top one per cent of players in their country. In England, Lee will train with Southampton's junior program, practising with and playing against some of the U.K.'s best young talents. Lee is already being pegged as a player to watch. "He is one of those kids we see that have got a high natural ability level, but he's got more than that. He practises and practises, and he's got a great attitude," says Tommy Wheeldon Jr., who coached Lee at the PASS soccer academy and helped set up the camp with the British club. "He's quick. Quick and tricky. Every time he gets the ball, he is competitive. That's a good thing, because you can't teach competitiveness. And he has these nice fancy feet. "He is very, very good, and he is willing to improve." Lee used to like soccer because of the snack break at halftime. Now, he just loves the game. He hopes to improve his game in England, and perhaps turn some heads. "I want to learn what I am good at, and what I'm not so good at," he says. "I want to see what it is like at Southampton compared to here, the aggressiveness, the skills, all that stuff. "And I want to learn a lot." For now, though, his priority is tracking down a Saints shirt. He knows wearing the strip of his favourite team - Manchester United - would be a bad idea at St. Mary's Stadium. "I can't wear that," he says. "I have to get a Southampton shirt. I know they got relegated last year, but they are doing pretty good this season." Lee also has another soccer trip on the horizon. In June, he will travel to Germany with his dad, Chris, to see a World Cup game. "He's got a good vision for the game," says Chris. "When we are sitting down watching Premiership games, I'll be asking him what's going on. And he likes it, he has fun and that's all that matters. "But no word of a lie, he would play 14 hours a day if he could."