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Philadelphia Union

Philadelphia Union Partners with Real Jersey FC

June 7, 2019 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Philadelphia Union News Release


CHESTER, Pa. - Philadelphia Union is proud to announce Real Jersey FC as its second Union Academy partner in the "Pathway to the Pros" program. Located in Medford, New Jersey, Real JFC has excelled in the development of elite youth soccer players, and have promoted fifteen players to the Philadelphia Union Academy. Amongst those fifteen alumni is current Philadelphia Union player Brendan Aaronson.

Real Jersey FC has long been established as a trusted partner in the South Jersey area for Philadelphia Union, serving as a flagship location for Union Academy talent identification programs in the area. The "Pathway to the Pros" partnership has been introduced to expound on this partnership, with focus on the core areas of:

Player Scouting: integrating scouting opportunities to improve player assessment through:

Talent ID Centers

Shared scouting information

Incorporation in to the Union Scouting NetworkPlayer Development: reinforcement of a high-quality development environment through:

Exchange of methodology

Coaching education opportunities

Support in additional competencies such as operations, video analytics, etc.

Player Pathway: formalization of player opportunities through:

Promotion of the player pathway from South Jersey to the Union Academy

Age and player specific plans for promotion of players from Real Jersey FC to Union Academy

Philadelphia Union Academy Director Tommy Wilson said of the relationship with Real Jersey FC, "The Union Academy has already benefited greatly from our informal links with Real Jersey FC with several top young players joining us from the club. This "Pathway to the Pros" has built upon the success of Real's development program to bring the top players from South New Jersey closer to the professional ranks. Rusty Aaronson and I already work closely together, and this new partnership can only strengthen the success already established."

Rusty Aaronson, President of Real Jersey FC, said of the "Pathway to the Pros" Partnership, "Over the past few years we have worked extremely hard to create a different brand and club. We've established a boutique approach focused on quality of players and teams, not quantity. We believe our program is constructed the right way, leveraging a slow and steady approach pushing hard to raise the standards within the club while develop our players and teams to the best of our ability. The Union Partnership continues to separate us from the pack, and provides us with an environment to learn and expose our players and coaches to one of the top MLS academies in North America. We are extremely excited to grow this relationship and continue to use this partnership to push our coaches and kids toward developing a nationally recognized standard for player development. We're confident the partnership with Philadelphia Union is a crucial step toward helping us carry out this vision."

You can learn more about Real Jersey FC at https://www.realjfc.com/.

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