Academy Update: July 29, 2014

Three D.C. United Academy players have been selected to play on the MLS Eastern All-Star team at the Generation adidas ESP event in Portland, Ore., during the first week of August. Jose Carranza, Jean-Christophe Koffi and Trey Vinson will travel to Portland to train, play and compete against other talented MLS Academy players from across the United States as well as the U-16 Bayern Munich Academy team.

The Generation adidas ESP event runs parallel with MLS All-Star week and aims to celebrate the MLS player development model, while also testing the players against their European counterparts. A committee of MLS academy directors selected each team and will serve as the coaching staff for the entire event. MLS players born in 98/99/2000 were selected for the All-Star teams by the panel of directors.

“We're excited and congratulate Jose, Christophe and Trey on their selection as MLS Eastern Conference All Stars,” said D.C. United Academy Director Nolan Sheldon. “The event provides each player an excellent opportunity to showcase his individual quality as a player, but also represent D.C. United and MLS against top international competition.”

Carranza, Koffi and Vinson have been named to the Eastern All-Star team along with 15 other players from the Columbus Crew, Impact Montreal, New England Revolution, New York Red Bulls and Toronto FC. Their team will play three 70 minute games against the Central All-Star team, Western All-Star team and the U-16 Bayern Munich Academy during the week.

On their off days, the D.C. United players will participate in other special activities that range from pseudo post game conferences, a soccer tennis tournament at adidas, a FIFA 14 tournament, adidas barbeque, a Futsal tournament, a training session with FC Bayern Youth technical director and being able to watch the MLS All-Star game.

All three players are a part of the D.C. United U-16 team and have accomplished many personal and team goals throughout their career with DCU. Carranza is a regular with the U-15 Boy’s National team and was one of the youngest players included in the spring semester of the U.S. Soccer U-17 Residency Program. Koffi has been invited to several U.S. Soccer Training Centers since joining the Academy. Vinson participated in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy Select Game at the 2014 Winter Showcase and is a regular call-in to the U.S. Soccer Training Centers.