MUSKEGON – Most of the guys who play semipro soccer for the Grand Haven Admirals are in their 20s, and are either current or former collegiate players.

Reeths-Puffer’s Liam Smith is only 16 and a sophomore in high school.

But Smith’s high school coach, Kody Harrell, is also the owner of the Admirals, and he’s convinced that the talented youngster is ready to compete with the big guys.

That’s why Smith recently signed a commitment letter to play with the Admirals this summer and get a taste of competition at a much higher level.

“Just knowing how he’s been doing on his travel teams when they play in these big showcase tournaments, you can just tell he’s at a different level, as far as talent and passion for the game, than the guys he’s playing with,” Harrell said.

Smith has been a huge scorer at the high school level, producing 26 goals and eight assists last fall as a sophomore and earning second-team All-State honors. He may be the best high school soccer prospect to ever come out of R-P and will likely end up playing at a Division 1 university after high school.

Being a primary scorer won’t be Smith’s role with the Admirals, at least right away, according to Harrell.

“He’s going to be playing a different role,” Harrell said. “He’s not going to be a striker scoring 26 goals. He’s going to be a center-midfielder, basically like our quarterback. He will be making a lot of quick decisions and quick passes, and because of his soccer IQ he will be capable of doing that. It’s going to challenge him, help him continue to grow and take his game to another level.

“His IQ is off the charts. I’m not worried about this level of soccer being too fast for him.”

Smith agrees with his coach, and said he has no reservations about going toe-to-toe with older, far more experienced players in semipro soccer.

“Most of the players are in college or after college, but I’m excited,” he said. “It will be a new learning opportunity, a new development opportunity, and will give me more experience before college.

“My goal since I was 13 or 14 has been to play at the semipro level at this age. I’ve talked to different coaches who said that sounds like a good plan.”

So how will the Admirals players react to having a young high school player on their roster?

“I think these guys just want to win and they’re willing to play with anyone who will help them win,” Harrell said. “I think they will take this kid under their wing.”

The Admirals completed their inaugural season last summer, posting a 6-3-4 record in the Midwest Premier Soccer League, which includes a lot of teams from Michigan.

A lot of familiar local soccer names were on the Admirals’ roster last year, including Muskegon Risers indoor star Miguel Flores and several of his teammates.

The Admirals will be using the new soccer facility at Western Michigan Christian High School in Norton Shores as their home field this season and may also play a few games at Reeths-Puffer, according to Harrell.

The first game of the season will be May 12 against Midwest United (a non-league game) at Aquinas College. The Admirals will play a 13-15 game schedule, with 10 being league games.

The Admirals also have a women’s team, which competes in the United Women’s Soccer League 2. Last season the women’s squad finished with a 3-5-2 record.

“The cool thing is that our league has sort of a high school rivalry feel to it,” Harrell said. “Last year our division was all Michigan teams. There were two teams in Grand Rapids, one in Holland, one in Lansing and six in the Detroit area.”

Smith has been to a few Admirals games and has seen enough to know that he wants to be a part of it all.

“I went to two or three games, and I loved it,” he said. “It looked pretty fun, to be honest.”

Smith said the Admirals season will serve as a good warm-up for the fall high school season, when the Rockets will return a lot of players from last year’s team.

“We have a ton coming back, with like five seniors,” Smith said about his R-P squad. “This next year is going to be a lot of fun.”