Whiz Kid: Dante Piccolo

Whiz Kid: Dante Piccolo

Age: 16

Grade: Junior

School:

Accomplishment: For many high school soccer players, the season starts in the late summer and ends in the fall.  But for Dante Piccolo, soccer season lasts all year long. 

Piccolo, who will start his junior year at , starts for the high school varsity soccer team in addition to playing for the Beadling Soccer Club. 

Piccolo has played for Beadling since he was 12. This year, he led his under-16 team to victory at the PA West State Cup and Region I championships, where he was named most valuable player.

The team advanced to the US Youth Soccer National Championships in Phoenix, AZ at the end of July. This was the first time a boys club team from Western Pennsylvania has reached the national championship since 2001. 

While his team came in fifth out of six teams, Piccolo was pleased with its performance. 

"We only played three games and we won the last game 4-1, so I was pretty happy with the turnout," he said. "It was also our first time to make it to nationals, so it was such an accomplishment just to be there."

Because the Beadling team made nationals, the boys will be a part of a national league during the upcoming season. The team will play in various tournaments around the country.

"Our team is moving up to the oldest age group, which is under-17, and we will have a few new players along with the chance to play in the national league," Piccolo said.

With these changes comes experience, and Piccolo believes it could help the team reach the national championship again next year.

"We know what it takes to win now that we have won regionals and competed in nationals," he said. "So there's definitely a possibility that we could do as well, if not better, next year."