The Austin FC Player Pathway Launches
U13, U14, and U15 players revealed ahead of 2020-21 Academy season; Austin FC expands the depth of future potential Austin FC first-team players
Austin FC Academy, the developmental pathway for the most talented youth soccer players in Austin and Central Texas, has announced its U13, U14, and U15 rosters for the 2020-21 season.
Austin FC joined Major League Soccer (MLS) as the 27th club in January 2019 and is the City of Austin’s first major league team.
Austin FC will officially begin to play in 2021 in a new, 100% privately financed, $260 million, state-of-the-art soccer stadium, and public park in Austin.
Austin FC operates Austin FC Academy, the fully funded developmental academy.
Austin FC Academy represents the highest level of competition for elite youth soccer players in Central Texas and serves as the exclusive developmental pathway to MLS for the region’s most talented young players.
Two new Austin FC Academy age groups, U13 (born in 2008 or thereafter) and U14 (born in 2007 or thereafter), will join the U15 age group (born in 2006 or thereafter) team which originally began competing as a U14 squad in Austin FC Academy’s inaugural 2019-20 season.
“As we continue to evolve with the addition of two new age groups, we are excited to welcome a talented group of new players and their families to our growing Club,” said Tyson Wahl, Austin FC Academy General Manager.
“Austin itself, and the entire Central Texas region, is a hotbed of soccer talent and we are thankful to work so closely with a number of local clubs, in particular Lonestar Soccer Club, who are helping to create a strong culture of player development in our region,” said Wahl.
“We have very ambitious goals for Austin FC Academy,” added Juan Delgado, Austin FC Academy Technical Director.
“We aspire to advance at least one Austin FC Academy player each year into the Austin FC first team roster.”
Juan Delgado, Austin FC Academy Technical Director
“With the wealth of talent across our region, we also aspire to help develop at least one player from Central Texas who will go on to compete in the 2026 FIFA World Cup,” said Delgado. “We recognize this is a big goal, and we believe it to be achievable and we believe it will help establish ambition amongst our Academy players.”
“I’m pleased to see the depth of our Academy pipeline expand to now include a range from U13 through U15,” said Claudio Reyna, Austin FC Sporting Director. “We have talented players at each level of our developmental program, and that is reflective of the strength and participation volume of the youth players we see across Central Texas.”
“The natural talent in our region bodes well for the future of our whole Club.”
Claudio Reyna, Austin FC Sporting Director
The U15 team, who will return 14 players from last season’s inaugural U14 squad, will field a roster of 16 players that also includes 2 new player additions. The newly-formed U13 and U14 rosters will each feature 19 new players. While the majority of the players hail from Austin, San Antonio, and surrounding Central Texas communities, Wahl and Delgado successfully scouted a wider region stretching from Waco to Laredo and the Rio Grande Valley.
The Academy is scheduled to transition training sessions and league matches to the St. David’s Performance Center in northeast Austin once completed in March 2021. Wahl shared his eagerness for important milestones that lie ahead in the second year of Academy operations.
“As we grow and as we become more structured, I am excited to eventually begin integrating with our first team and provide our Academy players the opportunity to see what can be possible. I believe they are going to start to dream bigger, and that is an important aspect of their development.”
The Austin FC Academy Center Of Excellence (COE) program will recommence in Fall 2020 for the region’s most talented players born in 2009 or 2010.
Here is the rosters for the Austin FC Academy with player’s name and their previous youth soccer club:
Austin FC Academy 2020-21 U15 Roster
Goalkeepers:
- Charlie Reed, Austin FC U14,
- Spencer Sanderson, Austin FC U14
Defenders:
- JJ Carrillo, Austin FC U14,
- Jaedyn Walters, Austin FC U14,
- Ayden Leiva, Austin FC U14,
- Jorge Hernandez, Austin FC U14
- Aryan Sunder, Austin FC U14
- Drake Fournier, Austin FC U14
Midfielders
- Dylan Rochlen, Austin FC U14
- Joel Vergara, Austin FC U14
- Aidan Lopez, Lonestar Soccer Club
- Brody Box, Austin FC U14
- Noah Calvillo, Austin FC U14
Forwards
- Misael Rangel, Austin FC U14
- Fabio Bravo, Little Rock Rangers
- Yandel Andrade, Austin FC U14
Austin FC Academy 2020-21 U14 Roster
Goalkeepers
- Christian Gonzales, Lonestar Soccer Club
- Jake Briseno, Lonestar Soccer Club
Defenders
- Chris Avila, Lonestar Soccer Club
- Connor Gritzmacher, Lonestar Soccer Club
- Jahdayn Henry, Lonestar Soccer Club
- Mauricio Orozco, Lonestar Soccer Club
- Parker Johnson, Lonestar Soccer Club
- Tate Gutierrez, Lonestar Soccer Club
Midfielders
- Jose Luis Diaz, Lonestar Soccer Club
- Logan Vann, Lonestar Soccer Club
- Daniel Aviles, Lonestar Soccer Club
- Diego Zuniga, Barca Academy Austin
- Ethan Fuss, Lonestar Soccer Club
- Henry Moreno, Lonestar Soccer Club
- Alex Salazar, Rayados McAllen Academy
- Arthur Santos, Lonestar Soccer Club
Forwards
- Rahul Kuthiala, Lonestar Soccer Club
- Rowen Wells, Capital City Soccer Club
- Jacob Bell, Lonestar Soccer Club
Austin FC Academy 2020-21 U13 Roster
Goalkeepers
- Dillon Jimenez, Lonestar Soccer Club
- Liam Kalutkiewicz, Lonestar Soccer Club
Defenders
- Ryder Atwood, Lonestar Soccer Club
- Jack Cox, Lonestar Soccer Club
- Shehram Hayatullah, Lonestar Soccer Club
- Kazra Seyhoon, Lonestar Soccer Club
- Gavin Wolff, Atlanta United Academy
Midfielders
- Luke Hawley, Lonestar Soccer Club
- Sebastian Gonzales, Lonestar Soccer Club
- Joldy Diaz, Lonestar Soccer Club
- Abner Zuniga, Rayados Laredo Academy
- Darius Hardge, Lonestar Soccer Club
- Henry Clifton, Lonestar Soccer Club
- Johan Argueta Chamorro, Millennium Soccer Club
- Milo Williams, Lonestar Soccer Club
- Nick Abeling, Lonestar Soccer Club
- Kaleth Jimenez, Lonestar Soccer Club
Forwards
- Jordan Rodriguez, Lonestar Soccer Club
- Xander Duncan, Lonestar Soccer Club
For more details on Austin FC Academy and Center of Excellence (COE), and to fill out a recruitment form, please go to austinfc.com/academy.
Source: Release
