SPARTANS SOCCER ADDS TWO- TWU men’s soccer nabs American standout and Canadian Collegiate All-Star

Israel Jones

Men's Soccer (Announcement)
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Recruit Signings

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SPARTANS SOCCER ADDS TWO
- TWU men's soccer nabs American standout and Canadian Collegiate All-Star

LANGLEY, British Columbia - Word of the success of Spartans men's soccer is reaching far and wide these days in addition to getting out to top level local talent as head coach Al Alderson is pleased to announce the signing of NCAA D-1 standout Israel Jones (Medina, Ohio) and local recruit Liam McAllister (Vancouver).

Jones is a transfer from NCAA Division I Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX, where he was named to the All-Freshman team, and earned Conference USA all-tournament team honours back in 2004.

"Israel is a phenomenal, charismatic player with wonderful passing ability in addition to being an incredibly tenacious presence in the center of the park," says Alderson of the 5'10 midfielder. "He's going to be a great player for us, and should fit right in with the extremely talented group of players we have returning for the fall of 2008."

Jones played for his high school team his freshman and sophomore years, where he was an all-conference performer, and was named to the Youth Boys All-American Team in 2002 and 2003. He then made the jump to the now defunct Cleveland Force of the Major Indoor Soccer League. He was captain of the team that lost in the MISL Championships to the Milwaukee Waves in 2004-05. As a high school senior in 2004 he was named a Parade All-American, and played in the McDonald's All-American game in California.

The 5'9" McAllister is also a transfer student who played last season for Langara College, where he was named a BCCAA league all-star. He graduated from Point Grey Secondary in Vancouver in 2007, where he was voted as the Class Valedictorian, and currently plays for the Westside Premiere Team.

Photo: Liam McAllister - photo credit: Richard Lam

"We recruited Liam hard right out of high school, because of his versatility and ability as a player and because of the intangible qualities that will make him a great teammate and a terrific fit for our TWU Spartan culture," says Alderson. "He had a terrific year at Langara as a freshman and we look forward to him continuing that when he steps in with us this fall."

The midfielder started in the Vancouver Selects club program with their U14 team, and moved up each season with his age group. In his five years with the Selects, McAllister's team won a medal at the Club Provincials every year as one of the top three teams, including his U16 team that won Provincial's gold, and then went on to win gold at Nationals in Newfoundland.

McAllister has also played with the Vancouver Whitecaps U18 provincial team, giving him the opportunity to travel to Holland where they competed against U19 and first division teams. Like Jones he will also be enrolling in TWU's School of Business.

Trinity Western University, in Langley, B.C. is an independent Christian liberal arts and sciences university enrolling approximately 4000 students. TWU offers undergraduate degrees in 40 major areas of study ranging from biotechnology, education, nursing, theatre and music, to psychology, communications and biblical studies. TWU's 16 graduate degree programs include counseling psychology, business, theology and leadership, and offers interdisciplinary studies in English, philosophy and history. TWU holds Canada Research Chairs in Biblical Studies, Biotechnology and Interpretation, Religion & Culture.

-TW-

Last Updated: 2009-09-03
Author: Jeff Kilpatrick
Email: jeff.kilpatrick@twu.ca