Amidst the excitement of the World Cup, ND23 Training celebrates the future

Earlier this month, Wayne, Pa. native Matt Freese made his FIFA World Cup debut in goal for the United States in a 4-1 win over Paraguay. A day later, a couple dozen teams of kids filled a pitch not far from where he grew up at Radnor Memorial Park in a 7v7 tournament hosted by ND23 Training.

The occasion was the Philly 7 Finals tournament featuring 28 teams in the U9 and U11 age groups.

“With the World Cup being here, there’s a lot of excitement of soccer, so we wanted to just get a bunch of families together,” Nicholas Dodds, President and Founder of ND23 Training, said.

The event featured a DJ and food truck and a skills village with jersey giveaways by Puma. Other sponsors included Honeygrow and Kwik Goal.

Freese also started the second game for the U.S. and recorded a clean sheet in a 2-0 win over Australia while fellow area natives and Philadelphia Union alums Auston Trusty, Mark McKenzie and Brenden Aaronson featured in the final group game against Turkiye. Trusty scored a goal for the U.S. in the third minute.

“To have four Union-based players on the team really showcases the great work we’re doing here in Philadelphia,” Dodds said. “We hope to have another five or six U.S. kids from Philadelphia in the future.”

Among the teams playing in the event were several from The SWAG, a Philadelphia Union-endorsed training program that focuses on providing opportunities to athletes ages 4-11 in and around the city of Philadelphia. Newly appointed interim Philadelphia Union head coach Ryan Richter was coaching one of The SWAG teams competing in the tournament against an older girls team.

“Growing up in a soccer family myself, I’ve seen the growth and evolution of everything,” Dodds said. “Sports unlocked a lot for me, specifically soccer, so just helping these kids learn life skills through the game really just helps, and to see a kid kind of grow from eight years old to 16 to 20, and then post college is really awesome to see.”

Dodds said he hopes to continue to offer and expand the 7v7 tournament in the future.

“We’re looking to expand this in the future and get more kids involved in this fun environment,” Dodds said.

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Matthew Ralph

Matthew Ralph is the managing editor of Philadelphia Soccer Now. He's covered soccer at all levels for a decade in the Philadelphia region and has also written for TheCup.us, NPSL, PrepSoccer and other publications. He lives with his wife and two young children in Broomall, Pa., but grew up in South Jersey and is originally from Kansas.

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