As announced by U.S. Soccer this week, Chicago Fire Academy trio Alex Monis, Javier Casas Jr, and Brian Gutierrez have been called in to participate in an Under-16 Boys’ National Team Talent Identification training camp from Sept. 19-23 at the Elite Athlete Training Center in Chula Vista, CA.
With the objective to expand and improve the Men’s Youth National Team player pool, the three Fire representatives are part of a group of fifty-nine players from U.S. Soccer’s three main scouting regions (East, Central and West), who will make up three teams at the camp. The teams will play games against each other as well as youth squads from Club Tijuana and LA Galaxy. On the camp’s last day, the squads will be reshuffled and will play against each other in two intra-squad games.
U.S. Soccer Director of Talent Identification Tony Lepore will head the training camp, while each regional team will be led by three technical staff, including the three boys’ TID Managers: Henry Brauner (West), Garrett Biller (Central) and Cris da Silva (East).
The camp will also expose the 59 players to U.S. Soccer’s High Performance department. A sport scientist will be on-hand throughout the event, taking Peak Height Velocity (PHV) measurements to help educate players and coaches about the impact of growth and maturation on development. The sport scientist will also educate players about best practices for nutrition and recovery.
In addition to the on-field competition, the camp will also focus on off-field education. Players will be introduced to YNT principles of play and encouraged to take ownership of their development.
U-16 BNT TALENT ID CAMP ROSTER BY POSITION (CLUB)
GOALKEEPERS (6): Andrew Cordes (Colorado Rapids), Lucas Hatsios (Charlotte Independence), Gavin Krenecki (Sporting Kansas City), Andrew Noel (New York Red Bulls), Anthony Ramos (LA Galaxy), Andres Zuluaga (Inter Miami CF)
DEFENDERS (19): Adrian Aguilar (LA Galaxy), Prince Amponsah (New York City FC), Justin Che (FC Dallas), Kyle Genenbacher (Saint Louis FC), Jonathan Gomez (FC Dallas), Jacob Greene (D.C. United), Noah Hall (Columbus Crew SC), Sebastian Hernandez (LA Galaxy), Issac Homer (Portland Timbers), Dylan Hooper (Sporting Kansas City), Dante Huckaby (Philadelphia Union), Eric Kinzner (Seattle Sounders FC), Adam Lundegard (D.C. United), Jalen Neal (LA Galaxy), Ralph Orquin (Club America/MEX), Kayden Pierre (Sporting Kansas City), Anthony Sorenson (Philadelphia Union), Kobe Stoup (Atlanta United FC), Casey Walls (San Jose Earthquakes)
MIDFIELDERS (16): Paxten Aaronson (Philadelphia Union), Alejandro Alvarado (LA Galaxy), Javier Casas (Chicago Fire), Elton Chifamaba (Columbus Crew SC), Gerardo Duran (Portland Timbers), Daniel Edelman (Players Development Academy), Jeremy Garay (D.C. United), Brian Gutierrez (Chicago Fire), Anthony Hernandez (Columbus Crew SC), Sota Kitahara (Seattle Sounders FC), Jack McGlynn (Philadelphia Union), Abel Mendoza (Real Salt Lake), Moses Nyeman (D.C. United), Nicholas Pariano (Philadelphia Union), Daniel Rios (Houston Dynamo), Edgar Serrano (Seattle Sounders FC)
FORWARDS (18): Ronald Arevalo (Cedar Stars Academy - Bergen), Caden Clark (Barca Academy), Christopher Garcia (Real Salt Lake), Arnold Giron (Los Angeles Football Club), Mauricio Gutierrez (Beach FC), Agnes Patrick Kader (Philadelphia Union), Selmir Miscic (Philadelphia Union), Alex Monis (Chicago Fire), Kevin Paredes (D.C. United), Matthew Roou (Shattuck-Saint Mary’s), Samuel Sarver (Columbus Crew SC), Dante Sealy (FC Dallas), Collin Smith (FC Dallas), Thomas Tulgar (New York Red Bulls), Aidan Wolf (Columbus Crew SC), Tyler Wolff (Atlanta United FC), Darren Yapi (Colorado Rapids), Brandon Zelaya (San Jose Earthquakes)
Technical Staff: Medhi Ballouchy (New York City FC), Garrett Biller (TID Manager - Central), Henry Brauner (TID Manager - West), Cris da Silva (TID Manager - East), Landon Donovan (YNT Coach), Gene Klein (YNT Network Scout - Mid-America), Ian Mork (YNT Network Scout - Northern Calif.), Cristiano Scapolo (YNT Coach), Larry Sunderland (FC Cincinnati)
