Georgia Soccer

Senior soccer standout Will Betts (Brenham, TX) has been named Mercer University’s Outstanding Male Athlete for the 2012-13 school year. Betts graduated with a 3.98 gpa as a finance major, and played in 77 games over his four-year soccer career. He had 33 career points on 12 goals and nine assists….The Atlanta Fire United Soccer Association has announced the hiring of Carlos Parra as the Girls Director of Coaching. Par[show_disconnected][show_to accesslevel=’Subscriber’]ra comes to Atlanta after serving as the Technical Director for weston FC in Florida, where he originally was hired as the Boys Director of Coaching in 2005. This is his second time to be affiliated with the Atlanta Fire, as he served as an Elite Program Staff Coach for the club from 2005-2007…..Alpharetta’s Jack McInerney, 20, the leading scorer for the Philadelphia Union and Major League Soccer, is expected to be named to the U.S. MNT’s Gold Cup roster. He was selected on the 32-player preliminary roster, which will be trimmed to 23 for Gold Cup games. McInerney, who has not yet played for the senior national team, leads MLS scoring with 10 goals……Ella Stevens and Jenn Westerndorf, teammates on the GSA Phoenix, were invited to an early June U.S. Under-17 Women’s National training camp in Chula Vista, Calif., by U.S. coach BJ Snow. Stevens is a midfielder from Grayson, GA, while Westerndorf is a forward from Montgomery, Alabama……Assistant coach Brian Dunleavy has been named head coach of the Georgia Southern women’s soccer program. He worked the previous two seasons under former head coach Lindsey Vanderspiegel, who resigned to become the women’s head soccer coach at Virginia Commonwealth University. Dunleavy is a former men’s assistant at Saint Leo University in Dade City, Fla…..The Georgia Soccer Semi-Annual General Meeting will be held Saturday, July 20, 2013 at the Renaissance Atlanta Waverly Hotel (Galleria). Georgia Soccer member affiliates are required to have a representative at each business meeting….A pair of incoming Georgia freshmen have received Gatorade Player of the Year honors for their respective states: Marion Crowder (Mississippi) and Rachel Garcia (Georgia).