Snohomish United is helping aspiring professional soccer players reach their dreams.

BUTTE VALLEY — The Butte College men’s soccer team has now had seven players transfer to the four-year level from its team, which finished runner up in the California Community College Athletic Association state championship.

The latest to do so are Hayden Teixeira, Marco Arduino and Tommaso Duri.

Teixeira signed with Division II Harding University, Arduino signed with NAIA Texas Wesleyan University and Duri signing with D-II Florida Southern College in a ceremony Friday at Butte College.

Roadrunners’ coach Ross Sandberg said the trio’s versatility stood out to coaches in the recruiting process.

Teixeira played six different positions for the Roadrunners his sophomore season, with Sandberg saying he possesses the skill to play striker, wing or center midfield at the next level. Arduino arrived to Butte College in 2023 and played left back, and as a sophomore he was moved to center defensive midfield and he received First-Team All Conference honors. Duri was a striker in 2023 as a freshman, and after spring practices and games he was moved to right back as a sophomore and received Second-Team All Conference honors.

“Their versatility and work ethic, our tradition of moving guys on, the reputation of Butte and me in being very honest about their level was all key,” Sandberg said. “These sophomores are graduating and moving on and have created such a legacy from this season that we have a target on our back as big as it’s ever been. The incoming freshman and freshman becoming sophomores next year understand how high the bar is.”

When the three players were asked why they chose the school they did, each player had a unique answer.

Arduino said he was looking to go to a school in a big city, and Texas Wesleyan offered him the chance to live in Dallas while still being able to play soccer at a high level. The school is also a nationally ranked school for his major — psychology.

For Duri his choice to play at Florida Southern was largely location-based as well.

“South Florida was a top place if I had to choose,” Duri said. “There’s sun all the time, and it’s closer to home. We can take direct flights back home to Europe and the jet leg is less, so that was a big part of it.”

For Teixeira he chose Harding in Arkansas because of the high level of soccer and his connection with the coach, but academics were important as well. Harding has a good computer science program that Teixeira will be majoring in.

All three players had unique stories on why they chose the schools they did, but all three players talked about the family culture Butte College gave them and how living alone for the first time helped them grow as people.

“It was a big step to come here to Butte because it’s the first time I lived by myself,” Arduino said. “I met all nice guys and a nice coach, and the main part is we are a family here at Butte.”

Teixeira shared similar comments, but also talked about what he learned in his time at Butte College.

“What I learned most is to stay dedicated and to keep working, because if you work hard then you’ll get the results,” Teixeira said. “In that postseason run we came up against some good opposition. It was really good to play against them and see the level and teams we don’t play against in our conference.”

Teixeira and Duri appeared in all 27 games for the Roadrunners, and Arduino appeared in 26 of 27 games after having to sit out one game due to too many yellow cards.

In their sophomore season Teixeira had five goals and six assists, Arduino scored three goals and had three assists, and Duri had one goal.

One of Oregon’s top girls soccer players in recent years is headed north east to continue her soccer career.

On Friday, Jesuit’s Abby Cox announced that she is transferring from Texas Christian to Rutgers.

In the 2024 season, Cox saw action in 16 games. Coming off the bench, she averaged almost 22 minutes per game while recording four assists with three shots on goal. The Horned Frogs went 17-4-2 in the 2024 fall season and won the Big 12 Conference Championship.

Meanwhile, Rutgers went 11-5-5 in 2024 and were fifth in the Big Ten.

While in high school, Cox was one of the most dominant girls soccer players in Oregon. She helped lead the Crusaders to a 58-3-1 record over four seasons, winning four Metro League titles and the 2022 Class 6A state championship. In 2023 (Cox’s senior year) Jesuit was ranked as high as No. 2 in the nation by the United Soccer Coaches rankings.

Cox was the 2023 Oregon Gatorade Player of the Year for girls soccer and a two-time first team all-state selection.

The transfer to Rutgers will come with a big reunion for Cox, as former Jesuit teammate Sophia Stiles is also committed to join the Scarlet Knights in the fall. Marian Dunne, who will be a senior at Jesuit in the fall, is committed to Rutgers as well.

— Nik Streng covers high school sports in Oregon. Reach him at nstreng@oregonian.com or @NikStreng

By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

ALABASTER – One of the most popular soccer camps in the Birmingham area is back and bigger than ever as Dan DeMasters prepares to host the Dynamic Development (D2) Soccer Camp once again.

The 12th edition of the camp will run from June 16-20 at Thompson High School. It is open to kids from ages 5-12 and will go from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Monday through Thursday and 9 a.m. to noon on Friday. Half-day options are available for younger campers.

In addition, the ever-popular parents’ night will return on Thursday from 6 to 7:30 p.m. where kids play against their parents.

DeMasters will bring his experience as a former college soccer player as well as a successful high school coach to the camp. Most recently, he helped Thompson win its first girls soccer playoff game since 2013. He also won three-straight state championships as the Oak Mountain boys soccer coach from 2015-2017.

Last year’s edition brought out 188 kids to learn from a wide variety of coaches, from DeMasters’ staff with Thompson girls soccer to former college and current high school coaches like Oak Mountain’s David DiPiazza and Homewood’s Shaun McBride to current college soccer players who came to D2 Camp as kids.

“You get people like that (former college coaches), you get younger adolescents from like 18 to 22-year-olds that play in college and they’re the ones that the kids kind of look up to and they’re their heroes and then you mix in some of the camp alumni that have grown up that are coming to work at camp and mixed in with some of the Thompson crew that kind of understands the culture that we’re creating here in our program, all of that just encompasses together ,and we just try to create the best experience and we try to do the best we can,” DeMasters said.

Campers can expect to play games like World Cup, Baby World Cup, 3-on-3 and other competitions for awards. They will also learn essential soccer skills that they can put to use in their personal game.

Over the past decade-plus that the camp has run, it has become a beloved and important part of soccer development in Birmingham. Some of the most successful soccer players from Birmingham over the last few years cut their teeth at D2 Camp growing up and now play in college and even coach at the camp.

For DeMasters, seeing their growth as players and people is the most rewarding thing about running the camp year after year.

“A lot of those Oak Mountain boys that had such a successful season, they came through camp, and though it was a very small sliver, it was cool to see them have success and they grow up and now they’re men going off to college,” DeMasters said. “Some of my girls that were seniors this year, like one of my captains was like the bubble blowing champion, and she’s become such a fantastic soccer player, but you remember those things and you see pictures of them, and now my daughter is coming to camp and I think one of the girls that was at the very first camp ever at Oak Mountain, she was five years old, now she’s graduating from Oak Mountain and she’s working the camp this year, so it’s cool. It’s a really fulfilling thing. That’s sort of why you do it.”

The camp has evolved over the years to grow in size and scale, and while some faces that DeMasters is grateful for like Oak Mountain assistant coach Keegan McQueen are no longer part of the camp, he is excited to see the kids continue to develop and use the week to improve as players.

“As I’m getting older and you’re seeing the kids getting better and developing, it’s only a week of the year so you don’t think that you have an impact because one week out of 52 weeks of the year, you’re just thinking it’s a week of fun and gets the kids to kind of be in a different atmosphere, but I think when you see the kids developing each and every year, they’re getting taller and stronger and like just striking the ball better, that’s a very satisfying thing and rewarding thing I think as a coach,” DeMasters said.

Registration is open online at Dynamicdevelopmentcamps.com, and the cost to attend the regular camp is $230. A special Elite Group for 10-to-12-year-olds who want to receive high level training is available for $250.