Re: Josh Gatt to Altach (Austria) Yeah, I used to live fifteen minutes from there and it's no real surprise that he decided to pull up stakes. There's nothing going on there, including other teams noticing you. Nobody really comes out of Austria to do great things anymore. Most of the best young Austrians are already with German teams in the teens and the rest are with one of the Vienna clubs. Anywhere else, it's almost a terminal destination.
Re: Josh Gatt to Altach (Austria) Hopefully his coach doesn't challenge him to a fist fight, like poor Preston Zimmerman.
Sorry, I should have made it more obvious I was responding in the same vein. In hindsight, my post looks pretty obnoxious, for which I apologize.
Josh Gatt was originally committed to Indiana but has sincesigned a contract with Austrian club SCR Altach. Not sure where this should go, but it's another youth spurning the college/MLS model to go for pay dirt in Europe. http://www.topdrawersoccer.com/supe...tball-club-archives/nid-14187/Dream-Come-True
Re: Josh Gatt to Altach (Austria) They did, but he ran as fast as he could back to the states. Not all Euro destinations are better than MLS. In many different ways. Yes, I know it's heresy on these boards, but it's true.
Date and time: Sa, 28.11.2009, 15:15 Venue: Cashpoint-Arena Cashpoint Arena TV - Game: Official Crowd: 5,400
That's pretty much the entire population of Altach. I lived in Dornbirn, the biggest town in the region, and it only has a population of about 50,000 and seems much smaller than that. The team would have to get a lot better to get much of anyone interested. Most of the kids I was teaching were Bayern fans and couldn't have cared less about the team down the road.
Maybe we knew this already, but it looks like Gatt won't actually go until next season. Here he is running high school track: Josh Gatt, a senior soccer standout and first-year track runner, has been a nice addition to the sprint relays. “He'll probably play (soccer) in Europe next year, and he's really making the relays go,” Magni said, adding Gatt is part of the 400, 800 and 1,600 teams. “Before the year is over, we'll put him in the open 400, too.” http://www.hometownlife.com/article/20100506/SPORTS06/5060463
my apologies if this has been posted already, but i just met him last weekend.... 18 year old midfielder for the Michigan Wolves and attended Detroit Catholic Central. Signed with SCR Altach Nate Jaqua's one time club http://eon.businesswire.com/portal/...d=news_view&newsId=20100208005149&newsLang=en
He has begun training with Altach. Google translated some articles and it sounds like they will have a selection problem. They have 3 spanish players and Gatt on the roster and only 3 non-austrian players are allowed on the field in matches. Sounds like he will be used on the left wing. http://www.vol.at/news/vorarlberg-s...akt-beim-scr-altach/cn/news-20100614-06225210 Played in a friendly against a team from Cyprus http://www.vol.at/news/vorarlberg-s...0623-09204683/gemeinde/altach/gemeinde/altach
He just played with the Altach reserves against the Orange County (Calif.) Blue Star Discover Europe team, for which he played last summer, and which resulted in his being seen by Altach. Altach won 2-1, and Gatt scored a goal. "Gatt, an explosive and intriguing young player, got a chance to face many of his friends by playing in the match with the reserves, who were sound and very physical." "The Blue Star fell behind early during a first half that was mostly controlled by Altach. Gatt strutted his newfound improvement and maturity, and put massive pressure on the starting backline of Chandler Gagnon, Sean Cunningham, Isaiah Trejo and Trevor Hubbard with his signature speed." "When he took free space in the middle of the field and cracked a left-footed 20-yard goal early in the match, Altach had a 1-0 advantage." "Gatt nearly had another goal or two in that opening half, but the Blue salvaged the first 45 minutes and starting goalkeeper Sean Cote made a couple nice saves." http://www.topdrawersoccer.com/supe...Undefeated-tour-run-of-09-will-not-be-matched
Article on the opening game of the season for Altach: http://www.yanks-abroad.com/get.php?mode=content&id=6502