Grande Sports Academy

Is Now Barça Residency Academy USA

Brandon Sands

Community Service: Soccer Clinic For Elementary School Children

Grande News, Performance News, Real Salt Lake, Soccer Academy, Soccer News

Once per month Grande Sports Academy players participate in a local community service project. In February, players cleaned up a local park. In March, players visited the Boys & Girls Club and in the following month they invited the Boys & Girls Club to the Academy. When our players participate in these projects it is usually just a small group, however this month was a little different.

Forty-three of our players visited three Elementary Schools on Friday morning. Our players became coaches for the day and led the participants through drills, shooting exercises and games. As with every community service project our players enjoyed the experience and the opportunity to share the game they love so much. The schools players visited were: Mesquite Elementary School, Cactus Middle School and Desert Willow Elementary School.

Player who participated: Patricio Cevallos, Christian Herrera, Luis Barraza, Jaime Payamps, Bayley Scholz, Elias Rieland, Terreel Lowe, Miles Stray, Fito Ovalle, Jason Eng, Brandon Johnston, Amer Sasivarevic, Luis Chavez, Moises Rodriguez, Andrew Brody, Eric Gonzalez, Javi Avelar, Jack Gayton, Trevor Hyman, Aaron Herrera, Diego Silva, Nicholas LaMonica, Elijah Evans, Kostas Kotselas, Jose Hernandez, Te Wihongi, Brandon Marquez, Cesar Cobos, Tevin Lowe, Trent Lowe, Corey Nemeth, Octavio Ocampo, Renzo Perez, Brandon Sands, Chandler Maynes, Jonathan Min, Radu Marcu, Alex Knox, Haedan Turner, Andres Irigoyen, Josh Coan, Nick Reyes, Tigran Tiraturyan, Coco Navarro.

Special thanks go to RA’s Lauren Crum and Chris Braybooks who set up the event.

Picture Gallery – Academic Award Night

Grande News, Performance News, Soccer Academy

Yesterday on the website we reported that 26 players were going to be honored for their academic achievements. Hours before the event we added another student, Josh Coan, bringing the total to 27.

All of these players worked hard in the classroom this year showing that they can be just as stellar at school as they are on the field.

The player who will be attending are: Luis Barraza, Andrew Brody, Ive Burnett, Cesar Cobos, Josh Coan, Adam Ferguson, Kaleb Goodman, Trevor Hyman, Isais “Junior” Juarez, Alex Knox, Nicholas LaMonica, Tevin Lowe, Trent Lowe, Brandon Marquez, Chandler Maynes, Jonathan Min, Jose “Coco” Navarro, Corey Nemeth, Dillion Nino, Nick Reyes, Elias Rieland, Brandon Sands, Bayley Scholz, Jon Stadler, Duncan Storey, Miles Steay and Jose “Bean” Vasquez.

Academic Award Night

Grande News, Performance News, Real Salt Lake, Soccer Academy

Grande Sports Academy Real Salt LakeTwenty-six of our players will be honored tonight at the Academic Award Night at Vista Grande at 6:30pm.

“It shows all the hard work these boys have put in the class room,” said RA Lauren Crum.

The player who will be attending are: Luis Barraza, Andrew Brody, Ive Burnett, Cesar Cobos, Adam Ferguson, Kaleb Goodman, Trevor Hyman, Isais “Junior” Juarez, Alex Knox, Nicholas LaMonica, Tevin Lowe, Trent Lowe, Brandon Marquez, Chandler Maynes, Jonathan Min, Jose “Coco” Navarro, Corey Nemeth, Dillion Nino, Nick Reyes, Elias Rieland, Brandon Sands, Bayley Scholz, Jon Stadler, Duncan Storey, Miles Steay and Jose “Bean” Vasquez.

We will have pictures and video up tomorrow. Congrats players!

Weekend Recap – RSL U18 & U16 Elite – Final Group Games In Arizona State Cup

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Heading into the weekend, RSL U18 & U16 Elite teams both had an opportunity to advance to the quarterfinals of the Arizona State Cup. Below are the recaps from each game.

RSL U18 Elite vs Fusion FC

Starting XI: Danny Gavin, Radu Marcu, Jaime Payamps, Aidan Tucker, Ishan Atit, AJ Esparza, Elijah Evans, Eric Gonzalez, Albert Molina, Kaleb Goodman, Brandon Johnston
Bench: Tyler Buckley

Click here for a picture gallery from the game

Going into this game RSL U18 Elite had to defeat Fusion FC by any margin and they would advance to the quarterfinals on Sunday.

Sixteen minutes into the game this task became even harder when Fusion FC scored the opening goal. Nine minutes later Fusion scored their second goal when RSL’s defense was caught out of position. RSL continued to put up a fight even though they were down early. Brandon Johnston showed some incredible pace of the wings beating three defenders before his cross was cleared out. Danny Gavin was physical in the midfield forcing many turnovers and creating chances for RSL.

However, even with all the hard work Fusion FC were able to grab another goal before the half and then another in the 51st minute.

RSL U18 Elite - 2012-2013 Season - Danny Gavin, Radu Marcu, Jaime Payamps, Aidan Tucker, Ishan Atit, AJ Esparza, Elijah Evans, Eric Gonzalez, Albert Molina, Tyler Buckley, Kaleb Goodman, Brandon Johnston, Haedan TurnerRSL did answer back two minutes later when Eric Gonzalez created some space for himself on the wing for a cross. Tyler Buckey headed the ball into the ground before it took a bounce off the pitch and into the net. RSL continued to fight and had a much better showing in the second half but failed to connect in the final third which ultimately doomed them.

The final whistle blew ending RSL U18 Elite’s season with a, 4-1 defeat. Above is the 2012-2013 Elite team. A few of our players will be graduating and going to college in the fall and we wish them the best of luck going forward! Click the picture twice to see it bigger.

RSL U16 Elite vs Sereno

Starting XI: Miles Stray, Miguel Martinez, Brandon Sands, Danny Moreno, Duncan Storey, Nate Deaton, Aaron Herrera, Trent Lowe, Terrell Lowe, Patricio Cevallos, Octavio Ocampo
Bench: Tevin Lowe, Jonathan Min, Josh Coan, Nick Reyes, Nick LaMonica, Renzo Perez, Javi Avelar

Click here for a picture gallery from the game

For the RSL U16 Elite team to advance to the quarterfinals a few things needed to happen. If RSL defeat Sereno and CCV Stars lose or draw they advance. If RSL defeat Sereno and CCV Stars win, RSL has to defeat Sereno by 3 goals. If RSL lose they are out regardless of the CCV Stars outcome.

In less than 36 seconds after the whistle blew to start the game RSL found themselves down a goal when a shot was deflected into a danger zone by GK Miguel Martinez. RSL’s defense didn’t clear and Sereno scored. One more minute after this Sereno scored again, greatly hurting RSL’s chances. In the CCV Stars game being played at the same time in a field next to the RSL game they were up 1-0 going into the half and RSL was down 2-0 at the half.

RSL’s U16 fought hard in the second half but just could not really get anything going. Aaron Herrera had the best chance in the 62nd minute but both of his shots were blocked. Time expired with RSL losing, 2-0, and eliminated from Arizona State Cup ending their season.

Below is the RSL U16 2012-2013 Elite team. RSL U16 Elite Team 2012-2013Click on the picture twice to see it bigger.