USSF announces roster for Futures Camp

by U.S. Soccer

May 20, 2015

U.S. Soccer has announced the 58-player roster that will gather in Carson, California for the first Boys’ National Team Futures training camp of 2015. The camp, which consists of players who were born in 2000 and 2001, runs from May 23-26 at the U.S. Soccer National Training Center in Carson.

In pursuit of improving U.S. Soccer’s longer term objectives for talent identification and individual development of young players, Director of Scouting Tony Lepore has called-in players for the very first Youth National Team Futures Camp in Carson. The three-day camp will focus on identifying the most talented players in the ’00 and ’01 birth year that appear to be on a later physical development growth path and/or are born in the second half of the year, to reduce the impact of physical maturity and relative age effect on identification and evaluation of talent.

“We are scouting with a long term objective by focusing our evaluation and selection on the qualities needed to become a National Team player in the future,” Lepore said. “The Futures Camp recognizes that players in these younger age groups who can typically have the biggest impact and make a difference are the ones who are physically superior and more mature, but this doesn’t necessarily mean that they are the most talented. When scouting young players amongst the same age group, we see big differences in performance based on birth month and maturity.”

“At this camp we can remove that element while also creating an environment that we hope will engage and inspire them to take responsibility for their own development to one day become world-class players. We also want to set an example and show how important it is that we stress that individual player development is a long term project. There are so many examples of late mature players who have become the top players because they develop better skills, awareness, and insight into the game, rather than relying on advantages like size, strength, and power. The objective is to help make sure that we are not overlooking any players and more closely following the pathway of players who have the qualities to make a bigger impact later on, by age U-20 to U-23, when there is no longer any difference between early and late developers.”

Players taking part in this camp will be exposed to a hyper-focused curriculum formulated around highlighting each player’s unique talents while challenging them to improve decision making and speed of play, raise tactical awareness, and improve technical execution.

“The Futures Camp is an important piece to the continued development of these young National Team prospects. I look forward to working with these talented players as they will have the opportunity to showcase their skills with the top players born in 2001 and age eligible for the Under-14 Boys’ National Team.” U.S. U-14 BNT head coach Brian Johnson said.

52 players called into the Futures Camp are currently playing with Development Academy clubs.

Roster by Position:

GOALKEEPERS (6): Michael Collodi (FC Dallas; Frisco, Texas), Eric de la Cerda (San Jose Earthquakes; Gilroy, Calif.), Nicolas Defreitas-Hansen (Weston FC; Southwest Ranches, Fla.), Carlos dos Santos (Philadelphia Union; Philadelphia, Penn.), Mason Finnell (Placer United; Folsom, Calif.), Justin Garces (Kendall SC; Miami, Fla.)

DEFENDERS (16): D’Anthony Brown (Orlando City SC; Lake Mary, Fla.), Jordan Carter (Boca United; Boca Raton, Fla.), William Citron (New York Soccer Club; Eastchester, N.Y.), Jose Delgado (Chivas USA; Garden City, Calif.), Michael Edwards (D.C. United; Woodbridge, Va.), Tyler Freitas (New England Revolution; North Attleboro, Mass.), Chris Gloster (New York Red Bulls; Montclair, N.J.), Luis Hernandez (FC Dallas; Mesquite, Texas), Ryan Lee (De Anza Force; Hillsborough, Calif.), Nelson Martinez (D.C. United; Woodbridge, Va.), Jose Mejia (Juventus; Novato, Calif.), Michael Pham (FC Dallas, Richardson, Texas), Jose Ruvalcaba (TFA Barcelona), Nykolas Sessock (Philadelphia Union; Philadelphia, Penn.), Julio Torres (Stockton Monarcas; Stockton, Calif.), Mason Visconti (Sporting KC; Lee’s Summit, Mo.)

MIDFIELDERS (21): Franuel Amaya (Pateadores; Santa Anna, Calif.), Ethan Bryant (San Antonio Scorpions; San Antonio, Texas), Alex Cerritos (D.C. United; Beltsville, Md.), Jonathon Estrada (LA Galaxy; Santa Anna, Calif.), Riley Ferch (Boca United; Margate, Fla.), Gabe Findley (Capital Area RailHawks Academy-CASL; Cary, N.C.), Miguel Guerrero (Juventus; Redwoods City, Calif.), Roberto Hategan (San Jose; Roseville, Calif.), Jorge Hernandez (Chivas USA), Ben Lederman (FC Barcelona; Barcelona, Spain), Alex Mendez (Chivas USA), Harrison Pithers (Chargers SC; Tampa, Fla.), Carson Price (San Antonio Scorpions; San Antonio, Texas), Matteo Ritaccio (BW Gottschee; Westbury, N.Y.), Jaden Servania (Vestavia SC; Birmingham, Ala.), Amos Shapiro-Thompson (New England Revolution; Worthington, Mass.), Remi Smith (Georgia United; Cumming, Ga.), Kevin Wang (New England Revolution; Cranston, R.I.),Michael Vang (Minnesota Thunder; St. Paul, Minn.), Simon Vasquez (Weston FC; Weston, Fla.), Sean Zawadzki (Crew SC Academy; Olmsted Falls, Ohio)

FORWARDS (15): Brenden Aaronson (Philadelphia Union; Meford, N.J.), Misael Becerra (Chivas USA; Los Angeles, Calif.), Sebastian Berhalter (Crew SC Academy; Westerville, Ohio), Victor Bezerra (Chicago Fire; Chicago, Ill.), Jonathan Ferreira (New England Revolution; Ashland, Mass.), Jason Garcia (Arsenal FC; Covina, Calif.), Oscar Govea (San Jose Earthquakes; Los Banos, Calif.), Danny Jara (New York Red Bulls; Bayside, N.Y.), Jacob Muchnick (LA Galaxy; Newport Beach, Calif.), Bryce Orsini (D.C. United; Rockville, Md.), Axel Picazo (Lonestar; Austin, Texas), William Sands (New York Soccer Club; Rye, N.Y.), Travian Sousa (Ballistic United; Lathrop, Calif.), Owen Zaldivar (Chivas USA; Lawndale, Calif.), Uriel Zeitz (Bethesda-Olney; Potomac, Md.)

Related Topics: Youth National Teams