U-17's show progress at SUM Cup
Commerce City, Colo. - The smiles on faces of the young soccer players told it all. They were seeing their future right before their own eyes, hoping to one day play professionally in such an atmosphere.
At halftime of the MLS All-Star game, played in front of over 70,000 fans at Houston’s Reliant Stadium, over 300 players age 17 and under wore their MLS team’s colors and paraded down the center of the field as they were recognized for their participation in the 2010 SUM U-17 Cup.
Every MLS team fielded an Under-17 squad and played a World Cup-style format against other MLS youth side. For most teams, their U-17 side was a combination of players that play in their respective U-18 and U-16 U.S. Soccer Development Academy teams.
“Overall, it was very good experience,” said Brian Crookham, the Colorado Rapids Academy Director of Operations. “We’ve made a lot of progress in those age groups, and probably our more talented players were in the younger part of the age group.”
The Rapids U-17 finished third in group play, losing to eventual champion D.C. United, defeating the Chicago Fire, and tying the San Jose Earthquakes.
“When you go to events like that, you want to play the DC’s, who have now won it three times; and Chicago, who just came off the U-16 National Championship with that same age group,” said Crookham. “We won’t know what our players are about until we get to expose them to that level, so that’s what a tournament like this is all about.”
The Rapids Academy Technical Staff now has a reference point to evaluate the development of the youth program, and where to continue looking to improve.
“We’ve got information now, about our players playing against the best teams in the country, and where they stack up,” added Crookham. “For each individual, we now have some strengths and weaknesses we can work on. As a group we know we need to impose ourselves more in games, and be more confident in those situations.”
Fielding a team that ranged from 14-17 years old, the coaching staff saw bright spots at every position, providing a core to build off of for the upcoming Development Academy season.
“The fact that we were able to get games in for a very young player, Andrew Epstein, was big for us,” said Crookham of the 14-year-old keeper. “I thought that we had some pretty hard work and creative play out of players like Avery Ball, in the midfield; Chris Gurule was very solid at the center back; and James Rodgers proved that every time he is on the field and healthy he has potential to score a goal for us.”
Optimistic about the future of the team, and the individuals that make it up, the Rapids Academy continues to progress and uses their experience at the 2010 SUM Cup as a jumping off point.