CHICAGO (Jan. 17, 2019)—U.S. Soccer has announced the 80 players that will gather in Carson, Calif. for the Youth National Teams Under-14 Talent Identification West Region Mini-Camp from Jan. 17 to 21 at Dignity Health Sports Park. It’s the first of three YNT U-14 TID Region Mini-Camps that mark the beginning of U.S. Soccer’s new YNT U-14 TID Program.
During the camp, 80 players from four defined scouting areas (LA, North Cal, Northwest and Southwest) that make up the West Region will make up 20-person teams. U.S. Soccer staff, including YNT head coach Clint Peay, Director of TID Tony Lepore and the three boys’ TID Managers, Henry Brauner, Garrett Biller and Cris da Silva, will run the camp, while the four teams will be coached by YNT Network Scouts and Development Academy coaches from the four respective scouting areas. After a day of training, the four teams will play each other in round-robin competition.
Friday, Jan. 18
Northwest Select vs. North Cal Select – 10:00 a.m.
LA Select vs. Southwest Select – 11:30 a.m.
Saturday, Jan. 19
Northwest Select vs. LA Select – 10:00 a.m.
North Cal Select vs. Southwest Select – 11:30 a.m.
Monday, Jan. 21
Northwest Select vs. Southwest Select – 9:45 a.m.
North Cal Select vs. LA Select – 10:45 a.m.
In addition to the on-field competition, the mini-camp will also focus on off-field education. Players will be introduced to YNT principles of play, position profiles and goal-setting to help them take responsibility for their development. To help inspire the 80 young players, they will visit the Men’s National Team’s January training camp in Chula Vista, Calif. where they will attend the MNT’s training session on Sunday, Jan. 20 and have lunch side-by-side with their role models on the senior team.
The mini-camp will also expose the 80 players to U.S. Soccer’s High Performance department. A sport scientist will be on-hand throughout the event, taking Peak Height Velocity (PHV) measurements to help educate players and coaches about the impact of growth and maturation on development. The sport scientist will also educate players about best practices for nutrition and recovery.
The majority of the players called into the West mini-camp were identified at last fall’s Development Academy West Regional Showcase and were further evaluated at a YNT Identification Center as part of the scouting process prior to being selected for this camp.
Northwest Select Roster by Position (Club)
GOALKEEPERS (2): Levi Bieber (Washington Premier FC), Wyatt Nelson (Seattle United)
DEFENDERS (6): Javier Blas (Portland Timbers), Braden Ferreira (Pac-Northwest), Dan Jackson (FC Hawaii – iD2), Jaggar Judkins (Washington Premier FC), Luke Yanello (Portland Timbers), Diego Pena Salgado (Seattle United)
MIDFIELDERS (6): Miguel Arellano (Utah Soccer Alliance), Reed Baker-Whiting (Seattle Sounders FC), Yojany Espiritu (Portland Timbers), Henri Kim Godbout (Crossfire Premier), Alex Hall (Pac-Northwest), Farhan Moustafa (Washington Premier FC)
FORWARDS (6): Clemente Esquivel (Pac-Northwest), Josh Hardin (Seattle Sounders FC), Antonio Herrera (Seattle Sounders FC), Derek Johnson (Pac-Northwest), Michael Luande (Washington Premier FC), Trevor Walk (Utah Soccer Alliance)
Coaches: Bill Irwin (YNT Network Scout- Portland), Brayton Knapp (Seattle Sounders FC)
North Cal Select Roster by Position (Club)
GOALKEEPERS (2): Jacob Rivera Gomez (Players North Soccer Club), Emmanuel Ochoa (Breakers FC)
DEFENDERS (6): Angel Arriaga (Santa Rosa United), Ezekiel Cruz (Sacramento Republic FC), Kevin Hwong (San Jose Earthquakes), Ethan Kohler (San Jose Earthquakes), Nathan Rodrigues (San Jose Earthquakes), Fernando Varelas (Stockton TLJ)
MIDFIELDERS (7): Alex Chow (San Jose Earthquakes), Nathan Cochenour (Sacramento Republic FC), Dwayne Eqing (San Joaquin Valley Soccer Academy), Luis Angel Flores (Ceres Earthquakes FC), Lucas Liu (Sacramento Republic FC), Martin Kwende (San Jose Earthquakes), Randol Vila (San Jose Earthquakes)
FORWARDS (5): Sebastian Carbajal (Napa United 1839 Academy), Jose Cortez (San Jose Earthquakes), Elvin Maldonado (Silicon Valley Soccer Academy), Alex Salazar (San Jose Earthquakes), Dylan Tellado (San Jose Earthquakes)
Coaches: Luciano Fusco (San Jose Earthquakes), Deejae Johnson (YNT Network Scout- Northern Calif.)
LA Select Roster by Position (Club)
GOALKEEPERS (2): Marcos Herrera (LAFC), Noah Livingston (LAFC)
DEFENDERS (6): Hgeiler Alvarez (Total Futbol Academy), Tyler Bindon (LAFC), Andy Garcia (Pateadores), Jonathan Moreno (LA Galaxy), Diego Rosales (LAFC), Demitrious Tanks (LA Galaxy),
MIDFIELDERS (7): Diego Ceja (LAFC), Francis Jacobs (Irvine Strikers), Bryan Moyado (LAFC), Alexander Salas (LAFC), Brandon Tellez (LA Galaxy), David Vasquez (Total Futbol Academy), Marcus Vasquez (Santa Barbra SC)
FORWARDS (5): Edu Beltran (LAFC), Miguel Gonzalez (LA Galaxy), Steven Ramirez (Irvine Strikers), Jonathan Ruvalcaba (LA Galaxy), Alixson Soukup (LAFC)
Coaches: Shawn Beyer (YNT Network Scout- Southern Calif.), Josh Hill (YNT Network Scout- Southern Calif.)
Southwest Select Roster by Position (Club)
GOALKEEPERS (2): Ramses Martinez (San Diego Surf), Osvaldo Rodriguez (Real Salt Lake AZ)
DEFENDERDS (7): Haroun Conteh (Phoenix Rising), Alex Lopez (San Diego Surf), Alexander Lopez (Phoenix Rising), Bryan Moreno (LAFC), Angel Robles (Real Salt Lake AZ), Jarrod Smith (Arsenal Arizona), Ethan Zamora (San Diego Surf)
MIDFIELDERS (7): Julio Benitez (Real Salt Lake AZ), Isaac Calderon (Las Vegas Soccer Academy), Massimo Erfani (San Diego Surf), Xavi Gnaulati (San Diego Surf), Yahir Gonzalez (Real Salt Lake AZ), Diego Lopez ((San Diego Surf), Brooklyn Raines (Barca Academy)
FORWARDS (4): Luke Burns (Phoenix Rising), Dominic Kallay (Real Salt Lake AZ), Miles Mukherjea-Gehrig (San Diego Surf), Terron Williams (San Diego Surf)
Coaches: Mike Kraus (Real Salt Lake), Miroslav Pejkic (YNT Network Scout- Southern Calif.)