Ben Marashi knew the stakes.
A strong performance with his Intercontinental Football Academy of New England (IFA) against Westchester FC meant a memorable first impression on a scout for the Albanian youth national team, creating an opportunity to break into the pipeline to represent his family’s home country in international play.
“Obviously you feel [pressure], but I just played how I normally play,” Ben said. “I feel like if you’re confident and have a better mindset, then you play better. I like to be positive.”
Though the 13-year-old Belmont resident didn’t score, he played well enough to earn an invitation from opposing coach, Kledis Copollari, to the Albanian Football Federation’s tryout in May.
A rising eighth grader at Belmont Hill School, Ben hopes to represent his family’s home country on the pitch in the near future. His parents, Pjerin Marashi and Jona Angjeli, were both born in Albania. Ben, a dual citizen, visits his family there every year. Following a strong performance at the tryout, he hopes to get invited back next year to try for a spot on the Albanian national under-15 team, as there’s no team for his age yet. Ben said he loves his family’s home country, especially the beautiful beaches south of the capital city, Tirana.
His parents love the idea of their son representing their country, but soccer’s just part of the equation for Ben, who hopes to play at a high level collegiately, and eventually professionally.
“Obviously it would be amazing,” Angjeli said. “Who doesn’t want that? But Ben’s got to focus, keep on training and doing well in school. We keep telling him those Division I schools want really good grades, too.”
Ben’s soccer journey began in kindergarten with the Belmont Soccer Association. A standout player in town, he joined his first club team, New England Futbol Club (NEFC), as a second grader. Two years of strong play with NEFC led to an invitation for the Regional Development League (RDL) program, followed by a year with the Boston Bolts, a member of MLS NEXT, the official youth league of Major League Soccer, the highest level of professional soccer in the United States.
A year later, Ben joined the MLS NEXT team of the Taunton-based FA, the No. 3 ranked MLS NEXT team in the northeast region, and will play on their U15 team this fall.
“I’ve seen a lot of growth and maturity in him over the past couple of years,” IFA coach Drago Kazakov said. “With continuous hard work and consistency, it’ll be really interesting to see how far he could go. He has a lot of potential.”
In the 2023-24 MLS NEXT season, he scored 16 goals in 34 regular season games and 25 total goals including tournament play. Ben, who will play for Belmont Hill’s middle school team in the fall, attended the Albanian Football Federation’s tryout on May 18 at the Hudson Sports Complex in Warwick, New York, depositing two goals and two assists. His performance garnered the attention of an Albanian newspaper, in which he was featured as a standout during the tryouts, which included more than 20 players from across the United States. The coach running the tryout told Ben’s parents that their son played well and he’d follow up.
Ben created the goals he scored, not just tipping in an errant pass from a teammate. His approach: dribble past his defenders and unleash a strong, decisive shot.
The Federation holds similar tryouts in Canada and Europe, and of course, Albania. Most players live in Albania, but a handful of players in each age group primarily reside in other countries. A national team selection at any age is no small feat.
“It would mean a lot to my family,” he said. “We watch all the games. It would be pretty good if I could make the team and make a difference.”