Young Eastern Program & Players Making a Name for Themselves

Eastern freshman Grady Verner and Head Coach Jon Evan were afforded a unique opportunity this summer when they had a chance to attend training with USL Championship side Austin Bold on their road trip to Tulsa.

"The whole thing came about when one of my former players, Ryan Thompson who is now player / coach for Austin Bold called saying they had some injuries and were looking for some local players to help at training before their match against the Tulsa Roughnecks," Evan said.  "I was planning to watch training and attend the game to see Ryan and I knew Grady was in town and always ready to play."

The Bold invited Grady to fill in at training due to their depleted numbers.  Grady dropped what he was doing for the night and jumped in to training within a few hours.  The Bold were sufficiently impressed with the level of both Grady and Eastern as a result.  It was also a great experience for Grady and an opportunity to learn and ask questions from full-time professional players.

"I hope Grady will gain confidence from this experience and bring it back with him to his team," added Evan, "opportunities like this are a large part of why I came to Eastern to connect our program and players to seek advancement in the game and higher education.  It is a great platform for our program to be recognized and I'm sure future Eastern players will have a chance to follow in Grady's footsteps in summers to come."