A vital part of U.S. National Team’s youth ranks is taking place this Wednesday. And it has a very Black & Gold hue to it.
Twenty-one LAFC Academy players across two age groups have been selected to take part in the U.S. Youth National Team Identification Center in Carson. The single-day event hosted by U.S. Soccer is considered pathway to the Youth National Teams.
“We are pleased as a relatively new academy to have this many players receiving the honor and the experience of attending and being evaluated for the U.S. National Youth Teams,” said LAFC Academy Director Todd Saldaña. “As we audit our development model at LAFC, building our reputation in the region as well as nationally, it confirms we are on the right track. Our LAFC Talent ID Program coupled with our Player Development Plan is clearly working.”
The following LAFC Academy players have been invited to the U.S. YNT Identification Center Day:
2004 (12 players): Armando Avila, Erik Duenas, Harrison Faulkner, Kevin Jimenez, Antonio Leone, Donovan Palomares, Dylan Presto, Aldahir Rua, Alejandro Torres, Christian Torres, Favian Vasquez, Beau Yantz
2005: (9 players): Edu Beltran, Bryan Benitez, Tyler Bindon, Diego Ceja, Noah Livingston, Bryan Moyado, Diego Rosales, Alex Salas, Alixon Soukup
From the single-day event, U.S. YNT talent evaluators will be assessing attendees to compile a national pool of players. And ultimately, it will be those players making up the U.S. National Teams of each age group.
For the LAFC Academy players selected, it’s yet another step in their development as young players and another challenge that can aid their goal of becoming professionals.
“The most important thing for us is try to create players that will understand the game and they should find solutions for the different challenges that they are facing during the games,” said LAFC Academy Director of Coaching Enrique Duran.
“When they are getting selected for these camps, we can see that we are starting to accomplish some of the objectives that we have with our players.”
