Be interesting to know whether he was offered a pro deal? Strange that he was well thought of throughout age groups, strikers particularly are hard to come by in recent years for charlton, and there were some Prem and champs clubs sniffing around.... had a fairly good chance of making it.
Could be a case of Shane Supple though... He was a highly thought of Goalkeeper @ Ipswich yet he decided to retire as he'd fallen out of love with the game.
He's now back in the game with Bohemians in Ireland. Yet for Alex, he can go to America get a scholarship and education... the MLS will be there if he wants a route back into Football yet isnt the be all now
potentially free education if he gets full scholarship with bells on, gets to live in an amazing country and better lifestyle.
Can see why he's taken the oppurtunity.
Nah mate, he's going to live in northern Kentucky (which is actually quite beautiful in places).
An interesting one to say the least. I'm a little surprised that given his success at youth level he wasn't offered something by a bigger university, but there could be various reasons for that.
I really appreciate him making this decision. I kind of wish he'd deferred for a year to give it a go in pre-season and in the U23s to see how he'd get on. That may not have been an option though, and life is full of difficult choices.
Good luck to him. I'll keep an eye out for him. Hope he does well over here.
Former academy star Alex Willis was back at the club this week to share some wisdom on possible pathways for the Addicks’ current scholars.
Willis scored more than 500 goals during his 10 years with Charlton, but opted to turn down a professional deal and instead moved to the US to take up a scholarship at North Kentucky University.
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He's now back in the game with Bohemians in Ireland. Yet for Alex, he can go to America get a scholarship and education... the MLS will be there if he wants a route back into Football yet isnt the be all now
An interesting one to say the least. I'm a little surprised that given his success at youth level he wasn't offered something by a bigger university, but there could be various reasons for that.
I really appreciate him making this decision. I kind of wish he'd deferred for a year to give it a go in pre-season and in the U23s to see how he'd get on. That may not have been an option though, and life is full of difficult choices.
Good luck to him. I'll keep an eye out for him. Hope he does well over here.
He can still make it in the MLS and beyond but its important he has something to fall back on afterwards
Do wonder if he'd be in our own First Team now though if he had stayed what with our Striker shortage at the moment
Former academy star Alex Willis was back at the club this week to share some wisdom on possible pathways for the Addicks’ current scholars.
Willis scored more than 500 goals during his 10 years with Charlton, but opted to turn down a professional deal and instead moved to the US to take up a scholarship at North Kentucky University.
https://www.charltonafc.com/news/academy-star-returns-scholars-talk