If there’s one thing you can say about Aidan Grund, it’s that his passport is in order.
It had to be, for some very cool reasons. Over the past four months, the West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South junior enjoyed what had to be considered some amazing trips for a high school soccer player.
It started with him going to California to try out for the nationally renowned Surf Select Club team, which selects some of the nation’s top schoolboy players.
After making the U16 team, Grund and Surf Select played in the Super Cup in Northern Ireland during the summer. There were games against top-quality European teams, including Grund’s favorite, Manchester United.
Aidan played well enough to not only earn MVP honors for his team, but he was recommended by the Surf Select coaches to play on the U.S. team that competed in Germany’s Bayern Munich Youth Cup in mid-October.
“It was a quick turnaround, I think they told me around two months ago,” Grund said. “I was shocked. I was really shocked.”
The trip to Germany included a 7-v-7 tournament with eight other countries. Prior to the actual games, the U.S. team was trained by the FC Bayern staff at their professional facility.
“It was a really good experience,” Grund said.
It’s not hard to see why. FC Bayern Munich is Germany’s most successful program. By winning the FIFA Club World Cup in 2020, Bayern Munich became only the second club to win the “sextuple”, which also includes winning the League Cup and Champions League in one season, and the Domestic Supercup, UEFA Supercup and Club World Cup the next season.
It’s the kind of outfit that one could learn a lot from. Not to mention, Grund was practicing with some high-caliber players.
“It’s just super enjoyable,” he said. “You don’t have to do it all by yourself. You get to play with some really talented players and the level of soccer just goes up so much.”
The U.S. team made it to the semifinals before losing to Japan.
“They were 50-minute games but they’re probably more tiring than the 90-minute game,” Grund said. “There’s so much running with 7-v-7.”
Asked what countries truly impressed him in the tournament, Aidan did not hesitate.
“Nigeria,” he said. “They were big, tall for the most part. They all were just crazy talented with their feet and their IQ of the game, which is insane. Probably the best players I’ve ever seen in my life.”
Prior to that, Grund also saw a different brand of soccer playing for Surf Select in Ireland.
“They played in a way, where it was super physical but where the refs would not call a foul,” he said. “They would do everything to mess you up but it wouldn’t be considered a foul. I kind of enjoyed it, it was fun.”
Along with the fun, came an education from playing European teams.
“It opened my eyes,” Grund said. “It was really nice to compare myself to some of the best kids in the world up to that point. I’m a Man United fan so it was sort of like a dream come true to play against them. I met a lot of new people and played with a lot of new kids. We played five games in just over a week and it was a lot of fun.”
And while he was having fun, he was also playing well enough to make the U.S. team and play in the world’s biggest and oldest international youth soccer tournament held by a European club. It has been played yearly since 2012, in cooperation with FC Bayern partners in the Americas, Asia, Africa and Europe. The aim is to give players worldwide the chance to show their talent, irrespective of their social background.
Eight former FC Bayern Youth Cup players moved on to either sign a professional contract or get nominated for a national team.
“It’s just to get looked at,” Grund said of the experience. “Maybe something will pop up but probably not likely. It’s sort of my goal to try to go pro. MLS or overseas. Anything. This was just an eye opener to see how it really is at the top levels.”
Asked if it improved his play, Aidan said “Yeah, for sure. One just from the confidence you get, and two from just playing with some of the top players, you pick up a lot of small little things to help out.”
Little things that he hopes to put to use for the Pirates in the upcoming NJSIAA state tournament, if he can recover from a banged up knee he suffered against Argentina in Germany.
While one would think playing on a world stage would reflect well on WW-P South’s program, coach Matt Coburn was quick to stifle that idea and give Grund the credit.
“I guess if we wanted to, we could mark it and say ‘Hey this is great for us, we have the guy who went to Germany.’ But we can’t take responsibility for this at all. It’s 100 percent his work ethic and everything he’s done behind the scenes that we as coaches don’t even see. Truth be told, the dude’s so humble, we wouldn’t even know where he was if we didn’t pester him into what he’s gotten himself into in his off-time.
“I guess, for the program, having this type of thing is gonna resonate. It’s great for him in terms of his future. Whatever path he decides to take is 100 percent his, but this has nothing to do with us. We did not coach him up to this particular point. This is his own motivation during his down time — if you can call it down time, since he’s constantly working on soccer.”
Grund is the third talented brother to come through WW-PS, along with Ryan Grund (now at Babson University) and Daniel (playing for The College of New Jersey). Once he returned from Germany, Aidan immediately made High School South better.
“He brings everything to the table,” Coburn said. “It’s a noticeable difference when he’s not on the field. This guy is a legacy, when you mention the name Grund to CVC coaches you see their ears perk up and their eyebrows raise.
“When he’s on the field, I’m confident every coach says, ‘Account for this guy.’ He draws so much attention it really allows our other guys to have a lot more freedom of movement around the field whether it’s offense or defense, because they want to shut Aidan down. He becomes the focal point. When he’s not on the field that sort of goes away.”
Grund’s talents enable him to play anywhere on the field. Last year he played midfield, this year he has been used more up top, and he can also be dropped to the back. He’s not an imposing presence, standing just 5-6, 135 pounds. But he uses that physique to his advantage.
“A lot of my play comes from my small little cuts and little bursts of speed,” he said. “Because I’m smaller I think it helps out with that.”
He may be small size-wise, but after the summer and fall he has enjoyed, Grund is hardly small in stature.
High School South junior Aidan Grund is pictured playing for the Surf Select Club U16 team in the Super Cup in Northern Ireland during the summer. ,
