Photo by ISIPhotos.com
By DAN KARELL
For the first time since finishing in third place at the 2013 Milk Cup in July, the U.S. Under-18 team will reconvene for a week-long training camp in Carson, California.
U-18 head coach Javier Perez has called in 36 players from across the country into the camp set to take place from September 22-29. The roster includes 11 players who were in the U.S. U-17 squad at the CONCACAF U-17 championships and 12 players who are currently in Major League Soccer team academies.
Recent Sporting Kansas City homegrown signing Erik Palmer-Brown is the only professional in the squad, but he’s joined by plenty of top prospects in the 1996/1997 class including the LA Galaxy’s Malcolm Jones and Real Salt Lake AZ duo Chris Baird and Brooks Lennon, the latter who trained this summer with Liverpool’s academy.
Perez is using the camp to judge a potential 18-man roster ahead of a tournament in October in Limoges, France.
Here’s the U.S. U-18 training camp roster:
U.S. U-18 SEPTEMBER TRAINING CAMP ROSTER
GOALKEEPERS: Austin Aviza (New England Revolution; Medway, Mass.), Jeff Caldwell (NC Fusion; Todd, N.C.), Carter Richardson (Crew Soccer Academy; Dublin, Ohio), Justin Vom Steeg (Real So Cal; Santa Barbara, Calif.)
DEFENDERS: David Chavez (De Anza Force; Redwood City, Calif.), Conor Donovan (Capital Area RailHawks Academy; Fuquay Varina, N.C.), Chase Gasper (Bethesda-Olney; Alexandria, Va.), Justen Glad (Real Salt Lake AZ; Tucson, Ariz.), Malcolm Jones (LA Galaxy; Chino Hills, Calif.), Elijah Martin (LA Galaxy; Fresno, Calif.), Shaquell Moore (IMG Academy; Powder Springs, Ga.), Erik Palmer-Brown (Sporting Kansas City; Lee’s Summit, Mo.), Quentin Pearson (Colorado Rapids; Longmont, Colo.), Pablo Pelaez (San Diego Surf; San Diego, Calif.), Tommy Redding (Chicago Magic PSG; Oviedo, Fla.), Miles Robinson (FC Bolts Celtic; Arlington, Mass.), Peter Schropp (Omaha FC; Omaha, Neb.)
MIDFIELDERS: Mukwelle Akale (Minnesota Thunder; Minneapolis, Minn.), Corey Baird (Real Salt Lake AZ; Escondido, Calif.), Coy Craft (FC Dallas; Frisco, Texas), Grant Hollkamp (Indiana Fire; Borden, Ind.), Maduabuchi Obinwa (Chicago Magic PSG; Orlando, Fla.), Amirgy Pineda (Fullerton Rangers; Santa Ana, Calif.), Martin Salas Jr. (FC Dallas; Dallas, Texas), Connor Smith (Baltimore Celtic; Clarksville, Md.), Ben Swanson (Crew Soccer Academy; Grove City, Ohio), Tyler Turner (IMG Academy; Meriden, Conn.), David Villegas (Chicago Magic PSG; Sacramento, Calif.)
FORWARDS: Jeremy Ebobisse (Bethesda Olney; Bethesda, Md.), Sebastian Elney (Boca United; Boca Raton, Fla.), Brooks Lennon (Real Salt Lake AZ; Paradise Valley, Ariz.), Christian Lucatero (Houston Dynamo; Pasadena, Texas), Sebastian Saucedo (Real Salt Lake AZ; Casa Grande, Ariz.), Alejandro Vergara (Chicago Magic PSG; Long Beach, Calif.), Alan Winn (Solar Chelsea SC; Garland, Texas), Dembakwi Yomba (Concorde Fire; Lithona, Ga.)