MLS D.C. United

D.C. United Academy update

Published on October 9, 2008 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
D.C. United News Release


National Team Camp: D.C. United today announced that Under 16 player Allan Flott has been selected to attend the Canadian Under 17 national team training camp, which will take place October 24 - October 26 in Montreal, Quebec.

"This is the first time I have been called up to the Under 17 national team camp, but I hope it's not the last," said Flott.

Flott has been playing soccer since an early age and is one of the new additions to the U16 roster, after impressing during trials held in August. Modeling his play after legendary French international Zinedine Zidane, Flott aspires to play professionally one day for the Black-and-Red and to test himself in Europe.

"[The D.C. United Academy] is a really great program which I am lucky to be a part of," explains the D.C. native. "I hope to see myself playing for D.C. United. I have followed them since I was a little kid, because I was born and raised right outside of D.C. It's the best club in the nation and I would like to see myself playing for the best team."

Orientation recap: On Wednesday, October 1, D.C. United held an orientation meeting for current Academy players and their families in the VW Lounge at RFK Stadium. Highlights of the informative night included addresses by United President and CEO Kevin Payne, General Manager Dave Kasper and Head Coach Tom Soehn, a video displaying the club's Youth Development history, as well as a presentation describing the program in detail.

"The Academy Orientation Night was a huge success and a great night for our program," said the Director of Youth Development John Maessner. "We wanted to show our Academy Players and their families that they are an important part of the most successful soccer organization in U.S. history and the presentation did just that."

After the event, several Academy players were invited to run the sideline during United's CONCACAF Champions League game against Cruz Azul. Paul Torres and Matt Oduaran were honored as the Under 16 and Under 18 Players of the Year, respectively.

Under 18 Team in Action: The Academy's U18 team was in action on Monday night, when they hosted Monkseaton Academy at the Maryland Soccerplex in a pre-season friendly. Goals by Junior Bioh and Harrold Tchameni propelled the Black-and-Red to a 2-0 victory over the English side.

"We want to thank the Monkseaton Football Academy for a valuable pre-season friendly match that proved to be a very successful and productive first outing for our U18 Academy team," Maessner said. "We were excited to get our new Academy group together for the first time against an English Championship team."

"It was a good first showing for the group," U18 Head Coach Judah Cooks added. "Having never played together as a group and having the ball 90% of the time is a good first step. It showed us the talent that we have and what we need to work on before the regular season starts."

This was the Academy's first test of the 2008-2009 year. The Development Academy season will start on December 4, when the D.C. United Academy teams travel to Lancaster, Calif. for the Academy Winter Showcase.

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Major League Soccer Stories from October 9, 2008


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