D.C. United’s eighth homegrown signing Chris Durkin, along with academy players Jose Carranza and Chandler Vaughn, earned 2016 National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Youth All-America honors.
The awards program is administered under the auspices of the National Soccer Coaches Association of America, the world’s largest soccer coaches association, and includes recognition of male and female All-America players at the youth, high school, junior college and senior college levels. It also includes Scholar All-America recognition at the high school, junior college and senior college levels. Nearly 1,000 athletes are recognized each year.
D.C. United signed U.S. Under-17 captain and academy product Chris Durkin on June 14 as the youngest Homegrown Player in club history. The 2016 NSCAA Youth All-America honors are another distinction that shows how talented and promising Durkin is as a young defensive midfielder.
“His maturity, ambition and understanding of the game are unparalleled for a player of his age,” Dave Kasper, United general manager and VP of soccer operations, said during the signing. “Under the leadership of Academy Director Nolan Sheldon, Chris rapidly excelled in each of his five years in our Academy and was integrated into first team trainings and friendlies for the past year.”
Sheldon, who
was recently promoted to assistant coach under Ben Olsen
, has played a key role in facilitating the development of young Black-and-Red players; under his stewardship, more than 50 players with ties to the organization's academy have gone on to play NCAA Division I soccer.
