New York City FC expands youth programming via 11 local affiliates

(Via New York City FC) – New York City FC is expanding its youth programming via increased collaboration with the Club’s 11 Youth Affiliates to provide the best possible development pathway for young players in the New York area.

New York City FC’s U13/U14 team will remain the starting point for the Club’s Academy while initiatives including weekly Talent Centers and fielding City Select teams made up from selected Affiliates players will work to provide further development opportunities for young players in the tri-state area.

“Our philosophy is to make sure every decision that we make is driven by a consideration for what’s best for the young players in our area,” Sporting Director Claudio Reyna said. “Our Youth Affiliates will play a key part in the development of players in the younger age groups before they reach the Academy because we believe this will keep them in the right environment for a little longer.”

“This ensures that younger players don’t have to travel long distances on weekdays and that they can stay locally and develop within their club – while still have something inspirational to look forward to in the future” Reyna said.

Today’s youth affiliate players have a clear path to someday compete for New York City FC in Major League Soccer.

“The key driver behind everything is creating a clear pathway for young players that grow up in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. When I grew up that didn’t exist,” Reyna said. “There was no professional league.”

Today’s young players will be given opportunities through regular Talent Centers and City Select teams made up from the 11 affiliate teams to represent the Club in domestic and international tournaments. The Affiliates will have access to New York City FC academy coaches to ensure a fantastic soccer education.

The results of this strategy has already born results in the first year of Academy play, with the U13/U14 team successfully competing in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy and youth tournaments in Bolivia and Spain.

“Our model has been very successful this year with our current academy team. ” Reyna said. “Players joined at age 13 and 14 and we’ve seen real success in developing a strong unit and our collective team playing style is very promising. We feel we have a fantastic pool of talent coming from our youth Affiliates.”

The Club has substantial plans beyond this year as well on the youth side.

“This year we are going to have our U-14 team and we are going to add the U15/U16 team,” New York City FC’s Youth Technical Director Rodrigo Marion said. “We will continue to work very closely with the affiliates in the younger ages to keep these players together and keep an eye on their development process.”