Youth Pro Watch: In the news ...

• by Soccer America , Feb 16, 2019

1. FC Dallas made 18-year-old midfielder Edwin Cerrillo the MLS team's league-leading 24th Homegrown Player. Cerrillo, who hails from Waco, Texas, has played well in preseason in the FC Dallas midfield. He joined the FC Dallas Academy in 2015 and scored the lone FC Dallas goal in the 2016-17 U-16 Development Academy final when it dropped a 2-1 decision to Atlanta United.

2. San Antonio FC made midfielder Leo Torres the youngest player to sign a pro deal in USL Championship history. Torres, who turned 15 in January, will continue to play with the SAFC U-15s through the end of the 2018-19 Development Academy season, after which he will begin to integrate into the first team. The San Antonio native has recorded 18 goals in 36 games for the academy since the program joined the DA prior to the 2017-18 season. He was a recent call-up to the U.S. under-15 national team.

3. Real Salt Lake, which has 12 former academy players on its 2019 MLS roster, signed two academy products to USL contracts. Midfielder Jordan Pena and defender Steve Jasso, both 18, will move up from the RSL Academy U-19s to play for the Real Monarchs. The only other teenager on the Monarchs' roster is Cameroonian Lionel Abate Etoundi. The Monarchs won the 2017 regular-season title and returned to playoffs in 2018 with a team of older players. Their new coach is former academy director Martin Vasquez.