NEWBERG, Ore. -- The George Fox men's soccer team's season may have started, but the team will be without one of its top players—and for good reason.

The Bruins played two opening games last week, and will travel to California for the weekend. Defender Quincy Walker, however, will not be making the trip; instead, Walker started for the Guam U23 National Team in their Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup qualifier against Vietnam early on Wednesday morning.

After attending a summer camp, the sophomore defender was selected for the Guam National Team as a starter. Though Walker had never visited the island, his mother was born on the island, qualifying him for the team; now, he will help lead his nation to their first-ever appearance at an AFC U23 Asian Cup qualifier.

"It's every footballer's dream as a child to represent their country so I couldn't be any happier," Walker said in July while attending the camp, "It's something I've been working very hard all my life to achieve and I'm very happy with where I've gotten."

But the sophomore knows there can be more than just an appearance for the Guam team. As a freshman, he started all 19 games he appeared in, quickly becoming a steady force at the Bruin back line. Bruin head coach Paul Karver lauded the performance of his younger players before the 2023 season, with Walker as no exception.

"I wouldn't have been able to pursue this opportunity if it wasn't for Fox," Walker said, "I want to give a huge thank you to Coach Paul for trusting and believing in me. I was lucky enough to get a lot of minutes under my belt last season as a freshman which helped me not only physically, but also mentally."

Walker was called up to the summer camp in Chula Vista, Calif., where he clinched a spot in the starting 11. And early on Tuesday, September 5 in Oregon, Walker played in the first game for Guam against Vietnam, one of the top U23 teams in Asia.

Guam football itself joins Walker in his young, talented, and determined ways. An overseas territory of the United States located in the East Pacific, the island was granted an association in 1975 and joined FIFA and the AFC in 1996. With a limited population of 168,000, the territory may not have qualified for the FIFA World Cup but competes with other smaller nations frequently.

The team has grown in popularity and talent over the years, reaching a high ranking of 146 in 2015 after victories over Turkmenistan and India. Now, Walker joins a dedicated youth movement in Guam that top officials hope will raise its competitiveness.

"The benefit of competing at the U23 level is more competitive matches for our national team players," said Dominic Gadia, Guam U23 National Team Head Coach. "We do not compete often enough outside of our local competitions to continually develop elite players for the senior national team; there has been a big gap in our player pathway between our U20 program and the senior team."

2023 will be the first season that Guam will compete in the AFC U23 Asian Cup qualifier — another strategic move  by coaches and officials to raise competitiveness. The team will have an uphill battle in its first year, playing against Asian nations that have at least 30 times as many people.

Both Gadia, Walker, and the 22 other Guamanian players now look at the tough path ahead of them. But for Quincy Walker, there's nothing more comfortable than tough situations — whether starting as a freshman, traveling to California to play for a team whose country he's never attended, or balancing his cinema classes with being an NCAA athlete, he has never shied away.

"I want to be able to contribute to this team and be a big part of the program in the future," Walker said, "I want to win games, compete in tournaments, and help make Guam a bigger name in the football world."

The Guam U23 team will play twice more over the weekend, taking on Singapore on Saturday, September 9, and Yemen on Tuesday, September 12. Both games will start at 2:00 am PST.