Five Long Island Fury Players Now Represent the United States

February 22, 2007-Now there are five soccer players who wear the red, white and blue of both the national champion Long Island Fury and United States National Teams.

Islip's Sue Weber, an All-American defender, is one of 24 players competing this week for the United States Under-21 Women’s National Team training camp at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California. Coach Bill Irwin is having them play several scrimmages, including a pair against the full Women’s National Team, defending Olympic gold medalists.

The Under-21s will travel to England from March 9 to 18, where they will play the top British club teams. Weber is a two-time Colonial Athletic Association Defensive Player of the Year at Hofstra University. For her efforts, she was named Long Island Press Hero of the Week for this week as well as the 2005 Newsday Female Athlete of the Year and 2005 BigAppleSoccer.com Player of the Year.

In 2006, Weber starred on a stingy Fury backline that did not concede a goal in its first 642 minutes of play nor a goal in its last 355 minutes of action on its way to the Women's Premier Soccer League national championship.

"Sue is a marvelous defender with great physical qualities. She understands the game and has prolific organizational abilities. Sue is tough to beat, loves to overlap and has excellent vision," commented Fury coach Paul Riley. "She's a complete defender which is a rarity in today's game."

Long Island Fury teammates Kelly Henderson of Baldwin, a midfielder, and forward Gina DiMartino from Massapequa play for the United States Under-20 National Team. Defender Alyssa Pember of Northport and Bellerose's Cody Newman, a midfielder, compete for the United States Under-17 Youth National Team.

“The Fury program has give them an environment dedicated to improving their game. Their commitment level to the Fury prepares them for college, WPSL and national teams," commented coach Riley. "We are extremely proud of this
group of players and we believe their success will have a major influence on future generations of Fury players.”