Academy Update - January 29, 2013

With 2013 just underway, the D.C. United Academy is in full swing, with a couple of items of note.

U.S. U-14 Boys’ National Team member and D.C. United Pre-Academy player Jose Carranza (Manassas, Va.; Northern Virginia Soccer Club) has been named to the 18-man roster for U.S. Club Soccer’s 2013 id2 National Selection International Tour to Spain. The team, which consists of boys born in 1999 and selected from the id2 Program events in 2012, will travel to the European country from February 28 to March 11. While there, the squad will train together and play in matches against youth academy programs from some of the world’s most prominent clubs. Last year, the tour organized competitive games against academy teams from FC Barcelona and Atlético Madrid.

In conjunction with the U.S. Soccer Development Academy, D.C. United has expanded its Academy ranks to include a U-14 team. This fall, U-14 league play will commence, allowing young talent within the current Academy club and select clubs from outside the current Academy structure to train and compete in matches.

The U-14s will compete in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy (USSDA) league and will follow a model that increases training to four times a week, with fewer but more significant matches, as well as a regionalized schedule structure to minimize the amount of travel for players and parents. For those who are interested and want more information regarding tryouts/trials, please contact Steve Olivarez at solivarez@dcunited.com.

With the addition of the U-14 Academy team, D.C. United will now have four Academy teams (U-16, U-18, & U-23) and two Pre-Academy squads (U-13, U-15). For more information regarding participation and tryouts/trials to any of the Academy teams please visit www.dcunited.com/academy/teams or register for tryout notifications at www.dcunited.com/content/academy-tryout-information-request. Once tryout dates/locations have been determined, those that sign up will receive an email with registration information.

On January 14 and 15, thirteen Academy and Pre-Academy players were called into the U.S. Soccer Training Center at Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville, Md. The U.S. Soccer Training Centers are invitational training programs for the top players from any team or club, and aim to identify the best players at the youth level for the U.S. Soccer Youth National Team program.

Those who were invited to the Training Center included:

1999/2000:
Chris Durkin (Glen Allen, Va; Richmond Kickers)
Jose Carranza (Manassas, Va.; Northern Virginia Soccer Club)
Derin Kokuuslu (Falls Church, Va; Annandale Boys and Girls Club)
Julius Lansiquot (Bowie, Md; Calverton, Cerritos Academy)
Andrew Nicholas (Nokesville, Va; Northern Virginia Soccer Club)
SahrFelix Sandy (Woodbridge, Va; Northern Virginia Soccer Club)

1998:
Miles Robinson (Woodbridge, Va; Prince William Soccer Inc)
Milton Juarez (Woodbridge, Va; Prince William Soccer Inc)
Trey Vinson (Manassas, Va. Prince William Soccer Inc.)
Christophe Koffi (Potomac, Md.; Team America Premier)
Brandon Williamson(Gainesville, Va.; Virginia Soccer Assocation)
Zack McMurrer (Woodbridge, Va; Prince William Soccer Inc.)
Fola Adetola (Bowie, Md.; Freestate Soccer Alliance)