Senior Trevor Hyman made an awesome Gopro video that tells the story of an Acamey player leaving home, traveling in the airport, training session, spending time with the guys and other activities at the only residency academy affiliated with an MLS team in the United States, Real Salt Lake-AZ. A Gopro is a “wearable” camera that Trevor mounted on his head. Enjoy the video!
U.S Soccer Development Academy Playoff Draw Results & Reaction
The results are in for the U.S. Soccer Development Academy Playoff draw which was held today. Real Salt Lake U-16 & U-18 Academy teams have both qualified for the playoffs and now they know who their opponents will be:
U-15/16 – Group 6: FC Dallas, Real Salt Lake AZ, FC DELCO, Sockers FC.
U-17/18 – Group 8: Real Salt Lake-AZ, D.C. United, CASL Chelsea FC Academy and St. Louis Scott Gallagher Missouri
The schedule has not been released, but all U-18 teams will kickoff the group stage on June 24th and the U-16 teams will begin on June 25th in Dallas, Texas.
Thirty-two teams qualified for the playoffs and they were divided up into eight groups with four teams per group. The teams in the group will play each other once and the winner of the group will advance to finals week that will be held between July 14-20 in Houston, Texas. The teams are again put into two groups of four where the winners of the group will play against each other in championship game.
Both Real Salt Lake Academy teams are one of six teams in the country to have their U-16’s & U-18’s qualify for the playoffs in each of the past three years. Other teams are: CASL Chelsea FC Academy, FC Dallas, Chicago Fire, Concorde Fire, Crew Soccer Academy.
The U18’s go into their group as the top seeded team for the first time in academy history. Below is how the teams in their group finished the 2012-2013 season.
Playoff Finish | Games | W | L | T | PTS | GF | GA | PTS/G | |
Real Salt Lake | #7 | 28 | 19 | 5 | 4 | 61 | 73 | 35 | 2.18 |
DC United | #9 | 25 | 17 | 6 | 2 | 53 | 72 | 29 | 2.12 |
CASL Chelsea FC Academy | #17 | 25 | 14 | 7 | 4 | 46 | 37 | 28 | 1.84 |
St. Louis Scott Gallagher Missouri | WC #11 | 27 | 14 | 9 | 4 | 46 | 50 | 31 | 1.70 |
Previous results for the U18’s:
2011-2012: RSL finished second in the group winning 2 games, losing 1, scoring 4 goals and conceding 2.
2010-2011: RSL finished second in the group winning 2 games,losing 1, scoring 7 goals and conceding 3.
The U16’s go into their group as the second best team. Below is how the teams in their group finished the 2012-2013 season.
FC Dallas | #3 | 27 | 21 | 4 | 2 | 65 | 70 | 18 | 2.41 |
Real Salt Lake | #14 | 28 | 17 | 6 | 5 | 56 | 68 | 34 | 2.00 |
FC DELCO | WC #4 | 25 | 14 | 7 | 4 | 46 | 47 | 29 | 1.84 |
Sockers FC | WC #9 | 27 | 13 | 7 | 7 | 46 | 39 | 22 | 1.70 |
Previous results for the U16’s:
2011-2012: RSL finished second in the group winning 2 games, losing 1, scoring 9 goals and conceding 5.
2010-2011: RSL won their group winning 2 games, drawing 1, scoring 13 goals and conceding 3 goals. In finals week they finished second in their group winning 1 game and drawing 2. They advanced to the third place game and defeated Real So Cal, 8-7, on penalties. Video of that here.
Q&A – Lennon, Glad & Saucedo Talk About Trip To Azerbaijan With U-17 MNT
Brooks Lennon, Justen Glad and Bofo Saucedo (left to right in picture) have all returned back to the Grande Sports Academy home of Real Salt Lake Arizona Academy after a very successful spell with the U-17 MNT at the Caspian Cup in Azerbaijan. Lennon scored 7 goals in 3 games, Bofo scored 4 goals in 4 games and Glad helped the defensive backline record 2 shutouts. Bofo played in all 4 games, Lennon in 3 games and Glad in 3 games.
Below are the games and results from the Caspian Cup
Win – Game #1 vs Kyrgyzstan, 11-0 (Lennon 3 goals, Bofo 3 goals)
Loss – Game #2 vs Azerbaijan, 0-2 (Glad did not play)
Win – Game #3 vs Bulgaria, 2-0 (Lennon did not play)
Win – Game #4 vs Uzbekistan, 5-2 (Lennon 4 goals, Bofo 1 goal)
Grande – How was the whole experience?
Glad – “We got there around 8:30pm and for Arizona people they are just waking up so we were all really tired and slept all day. The next day we went to the training field and checked out the first stadium and it was really nice. Actually all the stadiums were really nice. They were all turf and had stands all around. We had a light practice to keep our legs going but nothing too serious that could wear us out.”
Bofo – “Yeah, the coaches just wanted us to get used to the field.”
Lennon – “It was great hanging with the boys. It was so much fun representing my country.”
Glad – “Yeah, and after practice we had dinner and there was rice. And even more rice at every meal. The rice got old after a while.”
Grande – Why rice?
Glad – “No idea, there was just rice everywhere.”
Bofo – “Also at breakfast too.”
Grande – When did you all find out you were starting together against Kyrgyzstan?
Glad – “Right before the game.”
Grande – Did you all look at each other and think this was pretty special?
Bofo – “Yeah, it was pretty cool.”
Lennon – “I was pumped. When I saw my name up there I got was really excited I got to go out there.”
Glad – “It was nerve-racking at the beginning, but once we saw them play we knew we would win and we did, 11-0.”
Grande – Lennon and Bofo, you both scored three goals how did that feel?
Lennon – “It felt great and it took the weight off my shoulders. I was super pumped.”
Bofo – “I was happy also but also mixed because it got to the point where we just started to dominate them. Their team was not the greatest and as a player I’m always striving to score against the best in the world.”
Grande – “Did you have to work at all in the game Justen?
Glad – “I don’t think I made a tackle all game.”
Grande – Justen you sat on the bench in the next game vs hosts Azerbaijan. Bofo you played, what happened in that game?
Bof0 – “We scored in the first half, were playing well and did a good job with possession of the ball. But we got a little too confident on who we were playing and of course playing a home team.”
Glad – “Well, certain calls were very questionable and very biased I thought.”
Bofo – “Yeah, it was bad. And with the fans and stuff like that, it looked like it was a full stadium on one side. It was a good experience and unfortunately there were some bad calls but nothing we could have done about that.”
Grande – After the loss what did the coach tell you guys?
Glad – “He told us that sometimes at that level people will do whatever they needed to win, but despite that we need have to learn how to beat the team and learn how to win even though things may not go our way.”
Grande – The next game was against Bulgaria, how did that go?
Bofo- “It was a tough match, but we played as a team and scored two goals right away.”
Grande – The final game was against Uzbekistan. Lennon you had 4 goals and Bofo you scored again, how did that go?
Bofo – “It was a hard game actually, The score may not indicate how hard it was but Uzbekistan pressed a lot and made it hard for us. We scored on every opportunity we had, but it was a hard game.”
Lennon – “It felt great and I was happy to be in the right place at the right time. I was really happy to help my country win.”
Grande – What did the coach tell you after the tournament was over?
Bofo – “He said we were the better team out of the whole tournament. He just said that the only way we can show it is by wining and we didn’t do that. They weren’t mad at us because we played great but upset that we didn’t finish our chances vs Azerbaijan.”
Grande – How was the country Azerbaijan as a whole?
Glad – “It was cool and on the second to last day we walked around the city for an hour and a half and we saw pretty much the entire city.”
Bofo – “The country looked very poor but the people drove really nice cars.”
Lennon – “You could see some poverty and you could see how America is more wealthy and how people want to live here.”
Glad – “It was weird because half the building were really nice and the other half were crumbling.”
Grande – Thank you guys for your time and keep up the great work.”
Glad, Bofo, Lennon – “Thanks!”
Lennon, Saucedo, Glad & U17 MNT Close Out Caspian Cup With A Statement
Real Salt Lake academy players Justen Glad, Brooks Lennon, Bofo Saucedo will be returning back to Grande Sports Academy after an impressive showing with the U-17 MNT at the Caspian Cup hosted by Azerbaijan.
Pictures from all the games below
The U-17’s went 3-1 and were led on the offensive end by Lennon and Saucedo who scored a combined 11 goals in 4 games. In the opening game vs Kyrgyzstan, Lennon and Saucedo both notched hat tricks within the first 33 minutes of the game. In the next game, Saucedo and Lennon both got the start and went scoreless in the 2-1 loss to Azerbaijan.
Due to the loss the U-17’s were then sent to non-group winners bracket. In the next game vs Bulgaria, Saucedo got the start and went scoreless while Lennon sat on the bench.
Both players got the start again in the final game vs Uzbekistan and put in yet another impressive showing scoring all the goals for the U-17’s in a 5-2 victory over the White Wolves. Lennon scored his first goal in the 33rd minute and caught fire near the 60th minute scoring 3 goals in 5 minutes, giving him a total of 4 in the game. Saucedo scored the first goal for both sides in the 17th minute.
The U=17’s scored a total of 19 goals and the 11 that Lennon and Saucedo scored accounted for 57% of the total.
Glad, primarily used as a defender, helped the U-17’s shutout Kyrgyzstan and Bulgaria playing the full 90 in both. He sat on the bench vs Azerbaijan and played the full 90 in the finale vs Uzbekistan.
The players and their academy teammates will now start preparing for the U.S. Soccer Development Academy Playoffs that will begin on June 24th.
Community Service: Soccer Clinic Thank You Notes
Earlier this month 43 Grande Sports Academy players visited three local schools and held a soccer clinic for over 150 elementary and middle school students. 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.
Pictures of the soccer clinic here
The student at the schools showed their appreciation and we received over 30 letters from students. Some had hand drawn pictures of soccer players and other were asking for our players to come back. Some of the players that participated took a photograph with the letters to the right. We are received some massive cards that are below.
Links, Links & More Links From This Week’s Latest News
Miss any Grande Sports Academy home of Real Salt Lake Arizona Academy news this week? Don’t worry we got you covered. Below we have our Exports reviewed, former players to leave academy, players called up to national team duty, weekend preview and more.
–Last game of the season for the academy team is this weekend. Game preview here.
–GSA Exports is our newest feature. It’s where we track the progress of our former players who are playing at the next level. Academy alums featured in MLS, the MLS Reserve League and in PDL over the last week. Read about them all here.
–Three academy players have been called up to the U-17 MNT for the 2013 Caspian Cup in Azerbaijan. In the first game vs Kyrgyzstan the U-17’s defeated them 11-0 and academy players Brooks Lennon and Bofo Saucedo each scored 3 goals a piece.
–Current Southwest Division standings for our U-16 and U-18 teams. Both teams are currently in second-place in their division and battling for overall playoff seeding. Click the link for more info on the standings and seeding.
–24 academy seniors are graduating from High School this. Pictures and recap of the night’s ceremonies. Also check out our “End of the Year” video that features pictures of all the players, hilarious stories from players, interviews with coaches and a few goals we were able to capture.
–Watch CB Jonathan Stadler defeat coach Freddy in soccer tennis.
–Interested in becoming a RSL-AZ player? Last tryout for the upcoming season is June 7-9. Details here.
–Looking for a soccer camp this summer? RSL will have camps starting on Sunday that will end in July. Details here.