Sports

Zumwalt South's Chase Abbington Added to National Team

The Fort Zumwalt South running back will play in an international football tournament this summer.

Chase Abbington's stellar junior football season for the  has gotten him plenty of attention. 

Abbington was recently added to the IFAF Under-19 World Championship team and will join a national team before beginning his senior season. The team, comprised of 20 players from around the United States, will play in a football tournament against teams from around the world.   

The newly formed team will compete in the 2012 IFAF Under-19 World Championship on June 30 to July 7 at Burger Stadium in Austin, Texas. The World Championships are an eight-team tournament conducted by the International Federation of American Football. Players and coaches will live at the University of Texas while playing in the tourney. 

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The U.S. team, made up entirely of high school athletes, will compete against national teams from American Samoa, Austria, Canada, France, Japan, Panama and Sweden. The United States squad holds the No. 1 seed in the tournament and will open against No. 8 seed American Samoa at 8 p.m. June 30. The 2009 U.S. squad won the inaugural 2009 title. 

Abbington, who played primarily running back for the Bulldogs, was a scoring machine in South's breakthrough season. As a junior, Abbington carried the ball 213 times for 1,459 years and a staggering 27 touchdowns. As a receiver, he caught nine passes for 135 yards and a score. On the other side of the ball, Abbington had two interceptions and 25 tackles. The big running back—he stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 220 pounds—Abbington has drawn Division I college interest and has verbally committed to Mizzou

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Team USA is led by Steve Specht, head coach of Cincinnati St. Xavier High School. A national team exemption granted by the NCAA allows high school seniors to play for USA Football and not have their participation count as one of their two permitted all-star game appearances. 


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