Bays and Texans set for showdown
- by Paul Kennedy @pkedit, Jul 26, 2011
[U.S. YOUTH SOCCER] The 2011 U.S. Youth Soccer National Championships kick off Wednesday in Phoenix, where 60 teams will competing in six boys and girls age
groups. The boys field includes traditional powerhouses from Baltimore Bays Chelsea and the Dallas Texans competing for the U-19 McGuire Cup, the oldest youth trophy in American sports, and the U-18
Alpharetta Ambush Red, the defending national champion in its age group and winner of a wild 9-5 game in its regional final. For more on the boys finalists ...
(Click here for National Championships schedule.)
Boys Under-19
Baltimore Bays Chelsea (MD)
Chicago Fire Juniors (IL)
Dallas Texans (TX-N)
Sereno White (AZ)
The Bays and Texans are two of
the USYS powerhouses with 14 national championships between then. The Bays won the McGuire Cup two years ago, while the current Texans were national age-group champions three years ago.
Among the Bays who won national titles as U-14s and U-15s are Marquez Fernandez, Mamadou Kansaye, Moses Makinde and Gaeton Caltabiano. SMU's Zachery Barnes won the adidas Golden Boot as the top player at the 2008 U-16 finals
when the Texans won.
Boys Under-18
YMS Thunder (PA-E)
KCFC Rangers (KS)
Alpharetta Ambush Red
(GA)
Palo Alto Blue (CA-N)
The Ambush, the only defending boys champion to return to the 2011 finals, earned its ticket to Phoenix with a 9-5 overtime win -- that's right, 9-5 --
over Tulsa SC in the final. Karl Chester, who scored seven goals at last year's National Championships, had five goals in the final. Cory Plasker and Sean Kelly are also part of the high-scoring attack.
Boys Under-17
Penn Fusion Celtic (PA-E)
Grand Rapids Crew Juniors (MI)
Florida Rush Nike (FL)
Rush Nike Argonauts (NM)
TSC Black (OK)
Dallas Texans Red
(N-TX)
The Rush Nike Argonauts are the first team from New Mexico to reach the National Championships since 2006. Forward Isaiah Madrid, who the
winning goal in the regional final, is headed to Real Salt Lake's academy program in Arizona in the fall. Grand Rapids Crew Juniors is returning to the National Championships for the fourth year in a
row.
Boys Under-16
Beadling SC (PA-W)
Minnesota Thunder Academy (MN)
CESA Premier (SC)
Eastside FC Red (WA)
Albion White (CA-S)
Concorde Fire Elite (GA)
Region IV rivals Eastside FC Red and Albion White met in the National League -- Albion won, 1-0 -- and Region
IV semifinals -- Eastside was victorious. Albion was without Ariel Lassiter, who led the National League with nine goals, and will be back for the National
Championships. Beadling, the first Pennsylvania West team to reach National Championships in the past 10 years, is the oldest active club in the country. It was formed in 1898.
Boys Under-15
SDFC Gauchos (NJ)
Chicago Fire Juniors (IL)
Solar Chelsea (TX-N)
San Diego Surf (CA-S)
FC Dallas Premier (N-TX)
Michigan Jaguars (MI)
Mike Matkovich, head coach of the U.S. U-18 national team playing this week at the Milk Cup in
Northern Ireland, is the head coach of the Chicago Fire Juniors, who include several players from Eclipse Select, last year's U-14 boys national champion. The other MLS club represented in the U-15
finals is FC Dallas.
Boys Under-14
Smithtown Arsenal (NY-E)
Chicago Magic
(IL)
Dallas Texans Red (TX-N)
Fullerton Rangers (CA-S)
In the day of travel programs representing wide areas, Smithtown Arsenal is an exception.
Its a town team made up players from Smithtown and surrounding communities on Long Island. Matt Aprile and Thomas Butzke
were 1-2 in scoring at the Region IV under-14 championships.
Tomorrow: girls preview.
Anybody know how many of these Academy teams actually have players on these teams that were actually developed by them? Or how many were recruited from smaller clubs in the last 1-2 years? Or fly players in from out of the country or different states for these competitions? I know one of these teams has recruited most players within the last 1-2 years and completely changed its roster also flying in players that don't practice with them. Player Development huh?
FC Dallas does a lot of youth development.
Aaron, can you give me numbers? How many have made it pro or college? And of those how many have been with Fc Dallas for at least 3 years? What is the ratio of those who made it pro or college to the ones that didn't? How many of those that didn't have been there for more than 3 years?
Luis, you have more questions, than I have answers. Try looking at FCDallasyouth.com I do know that FCD has signed 6 homegrown players to the pro team (more than any other MLS team) and has sent countless others to college teams. Also, a lot of girls have gone to college after playing in their youth system and they have a women's WPSL team now.
Ok. I am out of Illinois and I don't see that happening here. How many years did these 6 pro players develop with Fc Dallas? Do you think all Academy clubs would have more of interest in player development if they could legally have the rights to them from the younger ages and could profit from them individually ?