Your English is great, you're just not using "local" correctly in this context. Don't sweat it.
Local is a relative term. It varies with the context.
On an international level, local = country
On a national context, local = cities/states/regions
With in the context of the universe, local = galaxies group
On a galaxy level, local = systems/group of systems etc.
I think people are used to talk about local kids at a national level, this is why they got confused with what i said.
I was using it at an international level, ex: american boy being selected before the europeans.