Teenage Southern California Youth Soccer Player Starts in #MLSisBACK
Cameron Dunbar played for many years in San Diego at the prestigious Albion SC and then was recruited by the LA Galaxy Academy, offered a homegrown contact, and now proudly wears the jersey #60 and plays as a forward for one of the most distinguished pro soccer clubs in America.
At age 17, Cameron Dunbar is living the dream. A dream that he worked hard for, and had great coaching which helped him reach this level of his young career.
With the horizons open to this talented teenager born 10/22/2002, Dunbar is an American player success story.
This is his first year wearing the same jersey as Landon Donovan, Zlatan Ibrahimović, David Beckham, Robbie Keane, Cobi Jones, Kevin Hartman, Chris Klein, Carlos Ruiz, Edson Buddle, and even our National Team head coach Gregg Berhalter and he is already making the Galaxy crest proud.
Dunbar led the Galaxy with three chances created on Monday night as he made his first professional start against the Portland Timbers in LA’s Group F opener at the MLS is Back Tournament.
“I think he played well. We saw him, he’s a really good player, always trying to be very direct and he plays very well in one on ones,” said head coach Guillermo Barros Schelotto.
“I thought he was excellent tonight. To come in at such a young age and leave his mark on the match,” echoed midfielder Perry Kitchen. “It wasn’t a surprise. I’m really happy with him. He’s a real special talent.”
“We need to take good care of him. He’s very young not even 20, almost a child he’s a very good prospect for this country he’s doing a good process. He’s a good player,” said Galaxy striker Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez.
“It doesn’t matter if today if he had a good match or a bad match, soccer is about a long race — it’s not a sprint.”
Hernandez
This was also a proud moment for Cameron Dunbar’s father who said, “Cameron has been driven to play professional soccer for as long as we can remember. From an early age, he had no problem sacrificing normal childhood events, like was going to birthday parties and sleepovers, so that he could play soccer matches and get in extra training.”
Cameron’s desire to play futbol at the highest level was noticeable very early on.
Cameron Dunbar’s Father
According to the LA Galaxy, “Dunbar’s energetic 66-minute shift was one of the bright spots of the Galaxy’s 2-1 defeat to Portland Timbers in their MLS is Back Tournament opener.” Cameron’s soccer journey started in San Diego at Albion SC,” said Cameron’s father.
“Albion helped develop my technical foundation at an early age and gave me a solid base. This allowed me to grow in many other areas as a player,” said Cameron Dunbar.
“Albion provided Cameron Dunbar with a safe environment to become the creative player that he is today.”
Cameron Dunbar’s father
“There were many caring coaches that allowed him to grow as a person and player and transition seamlessly into the Los Angeles Galaxy Academy. Albion SC laid a great foundation for Cameron’s progress,” added Dunbar’s father.
As a player of the U.S. Soccer Developmental Academy system (both at Albion SC and LA Galaxy), Dunbar scored 70 goals since entering the DA in 2015.
“We always said Cameron was in the 1 percentile,” said Noah Gins, CEO of Albion SC. “Dunbar had extraordinary abilities at the youngest age, and our role was to make sure he was growing and developing in all areas — to assure he became a complete player who could reach his potential.”
Talent and potential are all that usually exists, it’s what you do with talent and potential.
Noah Gins, CEO of Albion SC
“At Albion SC, we foster talent and build upon potential inside players,” said Gins who was especially proud of his Albion Alumni as he watched his start in the #MLSisBACK tournament.
The hometown kid 😍@CamDunbarr's parents watching their 17-year-old son take the field for his @MLS debut ❤️ pic.twitter.com/xbsjLXWt2M
— LA Galaxy (@LAGalaxy) July 14, 2020
