UNION SPRINGS - When Greg Davidson stepped on a soccer field for his first game, the fans looking on probably wouldn't have guessed that he would become one of the area's best players.

The five-year-old got the ball and dribbled down the field - to the wrong goal.

Luckily, a teammate snatched the ball away before he could take a shot. Thirteen years later, Davidson is a standout on the Union Springs Central School soccer team.

And, while his three-year varsity stint for the Wolves has taken him all over Section IV, his status as an IAC all-star will take him to Europe.

Davidson joins teammate Grafton Robinson and Southern Cayuga athletes Ben Jackson, Kyle Lovenduski, Ben Kalweit and Jon Hughes for an eight-day trek to France and Belgium for the European Soccer Tour.

The six players were invited by the EuroSports Network after being named IAC all-stars. Jackson, Kalweit, Davidson and Robinson have also played together more than seven years on the Cayuga Lake Bankers club team.

The students, who range in age from 15 to 18, take off for Paris on April 8. They will spend four days in each country, with two days reserved for soccer and two for sightseeing.

The bill for each player is about $1,700, which was partially funded by a raffle in which the prize is a trip to Holland.Robinson, who is playing for the University of Chicago in the fall, is the only member of the group that has made the trip before. He went last year and has an idea of what to expect.

"It's more soccer (than sightseeing)," the IAC Division III co-MVP said. "We played about 14 games last year."

In addition to the host countries, the team from the United States will face teams from Germany and England.

Lovenduski has family across the pond who are planning on watching him play.

"It's going to be neat to see them," he said. "They've never seen me play, so that's a plus."

Kalweit will also have a cheering section. His friend, Clement Bemer, who stayed with the Kalweits for several summers, will make the trip down from Nancy, France. Kalweit hasn't seen Bemer for two-and-a-half years.

"It's pretty cool I guess," he said. "I don't know what it's going to be like when I get over there, but I'm excited about it."

When the group is not on the field, they have a detailed itinerary to follow. It lists a trip on the Seine River, a visit to Euro Disney and a medieval palace among other tourist attractions.

Davidson and the rest of the group have other ideas on what to do with their free time. The word disco popped up immediately.

"There's a club right outside the hotel," said Hobart-bound Davidson. "It's not just me, everyone wants to go."

Even the recent terrorist bombing in Spain hasn't dampened the group's spirits, even though Robinson witnessed the anti-American climate firsthand in 2003.

"There were a lot of American flags spray-painted with writing in foreign languages," he said. "On guy came out of the bathroom, and a little kid asked him if he was an American. He said yes and the kid spit on him."

The group's parents are still supportive of the trip.

"I'm more comfortable this year because he went last year and it was a terrific experience," Debbie Robinson said.

Kathy Hughes, whose son Jon is the youngest in the group, agrees.

"If the bombing had happened in France, I'd probably be a lot more nervous," she said.

Jon Hughes, Jackson and Kalweit are underclassmen, and will return this fall to defend Southern Cayuga's Section IV, Class C title.

Jackson hopes to pick up a few pointers while on the trip.

"It's a different perspective of the game," he said.

The Citizen Sports Dept. can be reached at 253-5311, ext. 258 or

citizensports@lee.net