Claudio Reyna praises NYCFC Academy’s meteoric rise
New York, NY (July 11, 2019) – New York City FC’s Boys U-19 Academy team defeated FC Dallas 2-1 on Wednesday evening to win the 2019 U.S. Soccer Development Academy Championship (DA). [+Full Match Recap]
NYCFC becomes the first Club to win back-to-back U-19 titles in the competition’s history. Last season the Club defeated LA Galaxy on penalties to win the first of two DA trophies.
The semifinals and finals were held at Championship Soccer Stadium in Orange County Great Park in Irvine, CA. NYCFC defeated Sockers FC in the semifinal round to set up their triumph against FC Dallas.
Sporting Director Claudio Reyna said:
“Winning back-to-back championships in the DA is a reward for doing things the right way throughout our Academy. We’ve built a culture around developing strong human values and it continues to play a big role in setting a standard of excellence on and off the field.
This achievement cannot be underestimated. We’re still a young Academy that has only been fully built out for three years and to have won two titles in the U-19 age group, in only our second year of playing in it, is an amazing success story.
Everyone at the Club sends congratulations to all the players, coaches and support staff including the analysts, administration, medical and performance teams for the high standards they’ve help create.”
The 2019 DA Championship is the third major trophy for NYCFC’s Boys Academy. In 2017, several of the same players lifted the Generation adidas Cup after beating Mexican side Tigres 1-0.
The title caps an excellent season for the squad who also advanced to the championship match at the 2019 Dallas Cup before narrowly falling to Spanish club Villareal in April.
This age group was the first to fully come through the Club’s Academy since joining the NYCFC ranks as U-14s.
The cycle has produced three Homegrown players—James Sands, Joe Scally and Justin Haak—and numerous others have gone on or are scheduled to play at major Division 1 colleges.
