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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Doug Roorbach, Sports Information Director 585.567.9556

Highlander Signs Contract to Play Pro Soccer 

Snelgrove(Houghton, N.Y.)—Josiah Snelgrove, who played midfield for the Houghton College men’s soccer team, has signed a contract to play professionally for the Charlotte (N.C.) Eagles in the United Soccer League Second Division (USL-2).

            “We’re excited to have Josiah with the Eagles this season,” said Mark Steffens, Charlotte’s head coach, “I am confident that his athleticism, soccer ability and work ethic will go a long way in helping the Eagles have another playoff-bound season.”

            Charlotte, which started its 16th season in the league last Saturday, has made the playoffs 13 times, winning the championship in 2000 and 2005. Steffens sees

Josiah Snelgrove (in black uniform) in action for Houghton during the 2007 season. (Photo by Mike Wise.)

Snelgrove moving from midfield to defender, and notes that since he is joining the team with the season already underway, Snelgrove will have to battle for a starting spot.

            Snelgrove is finishing up classes and preparing for final exams at Houghton; he plans to join the Eagles on May 2. He’ll stay with the Eagles through their season.

            Although he is signing as a professional, Snelgrove won’t be getting rich. He says that the team pays enough for him to live off of—“barely,” he adds with a smile—but that it will also provide him a place to live with a host family for the season.

            After the season Snelgrove will return to Houghton to coach the men’s reserve soccer team. He plans to finish the 11 credit hours he needs for his degree in mathematics and perhaps run track and field for the Highlanders in the spring 2009 semester.

            After that he plans to return to the Eagles and play for them again, hoping to make soccer his career.

            “Playing professional soccer has been my dream,” Snelgrove says, “Houghton definitely helped me with the facilities, coaching staff and level of play that it offered. It’s put me in a position where I can hope to do well on the professional level.”

            Snelgrove has already had a tryout for the Rochester Rhinos, a team that plays in the USL-1, one level higher than the Eagles. The Rhinos expressed interest for the future, after Snelgrove earns some professional experience. At the same tryout, Snelgrove got offers from three other USL-2 teams.

            Snelgrove chose to sign with the Eagles, a team that uses professional soccer as a missionary platform to share about Jesus Christ both in the United States and around the world. After the season ends in September, the Eagles will be traveling to Bogotá, Colombia.

            Snelgrove had two goals and 13 assists in his four years with Houghton, earning all-conference honors three times.

Houghton College has deep and solid roots in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, where our teams use their commitment to excellence, both on the field-of-play and in the classroom, as a platform for their strong and unique emphasis on Sports Ministry. Their goal is to make a difference for the Kingdom on campus, in Allegany County, in the Northeast and around the world.  Houghton is one of only 13 institutions who have been hand-selected by the NAIA to serve as "Champions of Character" Program Centers, opening the door for Houghton to be a leader, both in the Northeast and nationally, in character education. Through hands-on, innovative community outreach initiatives, Houghton coaches and student-athletes are working together to change the culture of sport and to change our culture through sport.