Moving to a foreign country at the age of 14 years old would make any teenager nervous, but just imagine how the parents would feel.

Renee Lotenero and Steve Siegrist faced that dilemma just a few months ago when their son Ethan Lotenero had the opportunity to take his development to the next stage and join C.F. Pachuca’s youth academy.

Ethan, born in 1998, is an exceptional talent who appeared with the U.S. U14 Boys National Team in its original camp last year, which set off a string of events that led to his eventual arrival at the Mexican club.

When he was not invited to the next U14 BNT camp a few months later in 2011, Ethan went to play with his club at Surf Cup in San Diego instead. There he was scouted by Liverpool and asked to go on a weeklong trial with the English club.

He did well on the trial and the Reds were interested in his services, but without a European Union passport yet (his mother is in the final stages of gaining her Italian citizenship), Lotenero was not eligible to stay with the club.

The “once-in-a-lifetime” chance in Liverpool also kept the youngster away from an ODP event that is heavily scouted by the U.S. youth national teams.

While he wants that chance to impress the youth national team coaching staff again, it has not slowed the teenager down from taking other chances with his club choices.

In essence, Lotenero’s big break came in April when he appeared at Dallas Cup as a guest player with Galaxy Black. His team did not advance out of the first round due to goal differential, but Lotenero impressed the Pachuca scout in attendance and received an invite to go on trial with the club.

“He went down in June for a weeklong trial,” Steve Siegrist, Ethan’s stepfather, told TopDrawerSoccer.com. “He loved it!”

Siegrist said Pachuca wanted to bring him in then, but both Ethan and his parents decided to wait and assess his options in Southern California. And while there were many, none of them came close to what Pachuca offered the youngster.

“We don’t have anything like that in the U.S. yet,” Siegrist, who spent five days at the complex in September when he dropped off his son, added. “It is the top of the line facility with his dorm, school, and training field all in the same complex.”

Over the last few weeks, Lotenero has adjusted to the conditions in Pachuca (about 8,000 feet above the sea), language (he only knew textbook Spanish when he arrived), and playing style (he has moved from forward to center midfielder).

The youngster has played with the 1996, 1997, and 1998 age group since his arrival. Siegrist revealed that his son was the youngest foreign player currently at the academy.

For this calendar year, there is no pressure on the Southern California teenager to contribute right away.

“It is like family down there,” Siegrist said. “They understand the adjustment can be difficult and just want him to feel comfortable.”

The plan is to get him ready for next season where Lotenero will feature with the U15s.

Back to Barcelona

Last year, two clubs from California received invitations to play in the Mediterranean International Cup (MIC), which is one of the most prestigious youth tournaments in the world, hosted in Barcelona, Spain.

USA Soccer Stars, the top finisher from the U.S. teams, reached the semifinal stage of the competition before bowing out to Atletico Madrid’s U12 team.

Head coach Juan Lopez called it a “dream run.”

The Cinderella team earned a repeat trip to Spain this year. Lopez confirmed to TopDrawerSoccer.com last week that he will be taking his team back in March and also bringing a team in the 2001 age group this time.

The coach revealed that Inter Milan, Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid, Ajax, and, obviously, Barcelona have already signed up to bring their youth teams to the event.

USA Soccer Stars already held tryouts for the travel team with players from as far away as Florida trying to make the squad for Barcelona. The boys along with coaches Juan Lopez, Sal Lopez, Jari Holopainen, and Chris DeLaFuente leave for Spain on March 22. 

J.R. Eskilson is a staff reporter at TopDrawerSoccer.com. Send him an email.