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Calvert Won't Look for a Break

November 19, 2013 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Club Deportivo Chivas USA News Release


While players around the League are looking forward to a break from the grueling 34-match season, Chivas USA rookie Caleb Calvert says he is determined to continue his soccer development through the off-season.

After becoming the youngest academy product to sign with the club in July, the now 17-year-old forward's momentum was slowed down. It was an injured left that ankle kept him away from full activity for the majority of his stint with the First Team. After months of recovery and progress, Calvert made his First-Team debut last Friday against FC Tucson in a friendly in Arizona to close out the 2013 campaign.

The Wrightwood, Calif. native came on as a sub in the 80th minute and says it only fueled his fire to continue getting back into regular activity and arrive at full speed next season.

"I' m not giving myself a break," said Calvert. "There is no vacation for me. I'm going to keep pushing so next season I can come fully ready with guns blazing."

Because of his age, the young striker is still eligible to compete with Chivas' academy team, which Calvert says is definitely in his immediate plans. While other players are in need of a break from the sixth-month season, the 6-foot-2 striker is in need of games to regain the form that led him to become the leading scorer in the nation, which earned him National Player of the Year honors in his category out of the West Conference.

"It's a confidence booster knowing that [the coaches] are thinking about me and wanting me to get some playing time. It's hopefully going to be a huge push for me to do what I can.

"[Playing last Friday] felt fantastic. I still don't have my rhythm quite yet. But it was really good to get some game time in and finally make my debut and it's great to play with all the guys again and start to get into the rhythm of things."

Calvert will now head into the off-season on the heels of learning the value of patients. The academy product says that the road to recovery taught him to relax and not let frustration or impatiens overwhelm him in his rookie season. For now, the forward looks to take the knowledge he gained from watching and learning from fellow forwards Erick Torres and Matthew Fondy and set some clear objectives for himself in 2014.

"My ultimate goal for next season is to score my first MLS goal," Calvert added. "That is my goal at this time point. I want to get to the point where I can start scoring goals even at this level."

Avila shared his MLS knowledge

Chivas USA midfielder Eric Avila's pro career has taken him to serve memorable stints in both the Lone Star State and north of the border in Toronto. The 2013 campaign served as the 25-year-old's first Major League Soccer season back in his native Southern California.

At his young age, Avila has already recorded six years of league experience under his belt, and upon arriving to the Rojiblancos via trade in the off-season, the San Diego and UC Santa Barbara product expressed how thrilled he was to be coming home.

In the 2013 season, Avila established himself from the beginning as one of the club's most dangerous playmakers and recorded 24 starts in 28 appearances while logging 2,183 minutes, all career highs. Avila's three goals also established a new career mark and solidified him as a key piece of the nucleus heading into the 2014 season.

"It's always nice to be back with friends and family," Avila said. "It felt good to be back. It just felt really comfortable in the warm weather and stuff. It's always important to get a role in the team as quick as possible. Luckily coaches helped guide me to the right [wing position] and give me the confidence to keep going. I continued to work hard to always try and impress the coaches."

Perhaps what impressed coaches the most was Avila's poise and disposition to work hard in every opportunity in practice, scrimmages and league competition. Avila displayed a high level of competitiveness and drive during his first season with the Rebaño Angelino and the midfielder began to gain the confidence to take on more of a leadership role, if not become someone on the team that could lend helpful advice to the less MLS savvy members of the team.

"As the season went on and how the things were going I kind of asserted myself more by trying to help out the people who didn't have as much experience within the league," Avila mentioned. "Obviously the league is getting better and better every year and it's obviously getting harder and harder. Mainly for some of the new guys who had not experienced MLS, I just tried to give them a little helpful insight.

As one of the club's attacking elements, Avila played a key role in helping teammates such as striker Erick Torres and left winger Bryan de la Fuente become acclimated to the style of MLS play and help the pair develop their game.

"As soon as they came in I told them that it wasn't going to be easy, [defenders] are going to be right on you, so the ball has to move quickly. They were willing to adjust quick and I wanted to help them out."

In a season where Chivas could not secure one of the top spots in the highly-competitive Western Conference, Avila says that one of the positives he takes away from the 2013 season is the camaraderie that was shared in the locker room. Despite the rocky results, the Goats remained unified and continued to have a workman's-like approach day after day.

Personally for the SoCal product, he says he is grateful for the opportunity to have gotten extensive playing time and remains driven to continue to build on that ahead of next season.

Along with a core group of returners, Avila expressed that the club could be strengthened with the addition of a bit more veteran and league savvy presence to get them to next level. As someone who has been a part of MLS Cup while with FC Dallas, Avila knows the value and importance of mixing young talented players together with experienced contributors to build a winner and be able to push through the demands of the 34-game season.

"In the beginning of the year we just had a brand new team, a whole new team that didn't know much about the league. I think we need some experienced players who know the league a little bit or have been used to it. We need those types of players that can carry us on. We have leaders, but we just need a little bit more," Avila concluded.

Torres confident to remain in sync with Avila next season

Upon concluding their 2013 campaign with a loss to FC Tucson by the minimal difference thanks to a late tally in the 89th minute by Sadam Ali during the inaugural match of the Kino Sports Complex's new North Stadium in Arizona, Chivas USA players recognized that the game ended on a down note, and that there still remains things to be learned as they head into the off-season. In particular, Erick Torres, who said that now is the time to analyze and set their sights on next season.

"It's a game that leaves us a bit down," Torres said. "We wanted to close out the season well even though it was a friendly. We wanted to win but now we have to regroup. Now comes the break that will serve us well to return very energized."

In a match that featured several promising looks generated by both sides but not able to capitalize, the Red-and-White offense did produce an exciting and dangerous link between the striker Torres and Eric Avila. On a number of occasions, the duo created dangerous looks for the Goats on give-and-go sequences in the attacking thirds.

"We couldn't finish off the plays we generated with a goal. I felt really in sync with Avila. We combined really well with each other all season long up top and today was no exception. We generated good plays but unfortunately we could not convert on the opportunities, but I think the season will be much better. We are now heading into the break to return stronger."

The Red-and-White now head into the off-season to prepare individually until mid-January ahead of the 2014 Major League Soccer season. In the meantime, for more information follow Chivas USA via Twitter @cdchivasusa and Facebook: ChivasUSA .

Coast Soccer League

Chivas USA's U15 Team earned their spot in the Coast Soccer League Quarterfinals this weekend when they defeated CYSASL Coachella 1-0 in last Saturday's action; the victory marks the second in a row for the young Red-and-White squad. Since the start of the match, the team was concentrated, maintaining good ball possession and creating a few scoring opportunities. In the 19th minute of the match, Diego Escobar notched the only goal of the match with the help of Erick Gallinar. In the remaining minutes of the match, the Coachella based team struggled to get past the Red-and-White defensive line, and were unable to score the equalizing goal.

Next up, the U15 Team will face Irvine Premier in the Quarterfinal round next Saturday, Nov. 23 at 11:30 a.m. (PT) at the San Bernardino Sports Complex.

In the CSL Quarterfinals, Chivas USA's U13 Team finished off the regular season and then went on to earn positive results in the Round of 32 and Sweet 16. On Saturday afternoon, the young Goats earned a 2-0 win over AC Brea in the Round of 32. It was two goals from Ulysses Llanez that allowed the team to the ultimate victory. A few hours later, the team would continue having great performances, as they earned a 4-0 win over South Bay Falcons. Misael Becerra scored two goals, and Alex Mendez and Owen Zaldivar would each score for the Red-and-White.

Looking for a spot in the Semi-final round, Chivas USA's U14 Team will face Empire Elite on Saturday afternoon at the San Bernardino Sports Complex.

U.S. Soccer Development Academy

Over in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy, the Red-and-White's U14 Team had a successful weekend. On Saturday, the young Goats defeated San Juan Soccer Club with a lone goal at the StubHub Center. The lone tally of the match came in as early as the 4th minute thanks to a great cross by Chris Hernandez that Daniel Villegas was able to finish.

The following day, the U14 squad made a great comeback in the last five minutes of the match to earn a 2-1 victory over Crossfire Premier. Leo Cuteno and Josue de la Torre each scored to give the team the ultimate victory. Next Saturday, the U14s will host Central California Aztecs at the Bell Gardens Sports Complex.

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