Chester- The Philadelphia Union’s Academy has been widely touted for its strength and the caliber of players that have come through. Though the recent USMNT (senior team) matches were ill-fated, especially the one against Switzerland, five players who came through the Union (Brenden and Paxten Aaronson, Nate Harriel, Quinn Sullivan, and Mark McKenzie) started in the second match, and the one prior against Türkiye also featured Jack McGlynn (who had a golazo) and Matt Freese. While the call ups to the USMNT were huge honors for those players, I want to focus on the younger players making their way up and featuring on the United States youth national teams.
First, a quick recap:
With the U-17s, amateur Union Academy player Jamir Johnson scored a brace, while Cavan Sullivan scored a goal as they competed in Spain.
While no Union players were with the U-18s, former Union II head coach Marlon LeBlanc led the squad to victory as they won the UEFA Friendship Cup in Switzerland.
The U-19s had an especially strong showing as they competed in Spain, and had a lot of Union representation. Sal Olivas, CJ Olney, Andrew Rick, and David Vazquez all received a call up and played. Vazquez scored the equalizer in their game against Ukraine.
Frankie Westfield traveled to Cairo, Egypt with the U-20s and had a strong showing according to reports. If you have not read it, definitely check out José Nuñez’s recap of the international call ups for more details.
The youth national team players have since returned to Chester with more international experience under their belts, and having represented the Union organization well. I attended both Union and Union II practice on Thursday, and was able to catch up with players and coaches about the call ups, as well as preview upcoming matches. Be sure to listen to the audio clips for the full interviews, but below are some key quotes.
CJ Olney on his call up
CJ has yet to make an appearance with the first team this season, but has been playing well for Union II. Getting a call up to the U-19s was a well deserved honor, and he shared his overall thoughts on the experience:
“I thought it was a good trip. An international call up for me is- I feel it is a very good reward, it means a lot to me to be called into the national team, so I thought that was awesome. Thought the experience was good. The games were very well. The Spain team was a very good, strong team. Ukraine as well, a very good team. So both very good experiences to get out there, compete at some of the best around the world for our age.”
On how the call ups speak to the strength of the Union Academy:
“I mean, this is the place to be It’s an awesome academy. We got some of many good talented players coming through, whether the guys have already gone through, like seeing Quinn and Nate and all of them, senior team, and then all the guys coming up behind our age group. It’s just that we’re doing a lot of things right here and it’s really cool.”
Andrew Rick on his call up
A lot has happened for the 19 year old goalkeeper since I spoke to him back in March. From playing with Union II, to starting with the first team and coming out on top in PKs in the Open Cup and saving a shot from Lionel Messi amongst other big moments (and getting scored on by him, but no need to dwell on that one), it has been quite a time for growth this season. I also spoke with him about his national team experience:
“Yeah, I mean, it’s always an honor to get a call to my national teams, you know. The goal of mine is obviously represent them, whether it’s in the World Cup or just a normal camp, but yeah, so it’s an honor.. Yeah, I mean, it’s always good to be in new environments and experience players from different backgrounds and different clubs all over the world. You to get to learn from them and take stuff back with me and build those relationships is always important. You never know where you’re gonna be. I might end up playing with these guys one day. So to build that relationship now and learn from them is something that is very beneficial to me, and I’m grateful for.”
On what the call ups meant for the Union Academy, Andrew said:
“Yeah, I mean, our Academy’s arguably the best in the U.S., so I would argue that it definitely is the best in the U.S. I mean, I’ve seen the talent there firsthand, I know that there’s guys in every age group, there’s guys who are gonna be pushing for all the national team call ups. Whether it’s U-12, whatever, or the senior national team. I think it speaks volumes. The fact that we have so many people contributing to every age, one, it speaks a lot about the coaching is as well as all the hard work that a lot of these guys are putting in.”
Ryan Richter’s thoughts
As a former player and someone who coached within the Union Academy before being assistant to Jim Curtin on the first team, and now the head coach of Union II, Ryan Richter has seen firsthand the inner workings of the Academy and played a role in the development of so many players who made national teams rosters. I spoke with him the players’ performances in the call ups and also the strength of the Union Academy.
“So they’ll be they’ll be back. I didn’t have a chance to really speak with them, like a little bit texting back and forth, but I know CJ was sick for the first games and then’t played playing South at 45 minutes in the second game. David scored the goal in the one game, obviously. So it was good. But looking forward to hearing feedback from them and feedback from the coach. You know, how they how they fit and how they performed and how they carried themselves as professionals while they were there. But we’re looking forward to getting them back here. And hopefully they can use the national experience in a boosting confidence and bring that into the game this weekend. Yeah, he’s in in a spot where, you know, a lot of the kids in that age grew bar where it’s like, it’s time to take the next step and really move into the professional professional ranks. And I think he’s, you, performances like he’s had in the national team over the last two weeks. Like that’s what that’s what we’re looking for is, you, keep taking steps forward, keep as an attacking player, being able to affect the game and, you know, not only perform well, but also produce in forms of goals and assists, and that’s what he did, so that’s cool.
“I mean, we’re getting a lot of texts back and forth with random people during the especially the senior team game the other day where it was, I think, five guys that were recently with Academy guys in the Union. So that was pretty cool to see. Obviously, the result was it was a rough game, but, you know, it says a lot to what Richie Graham, Tommy Wilson, Ian Monroe, what these guys built over the last 15 years. To see it coming through and pretty much every age group, and now, really with the senior team, like, that’s cool. That’s what the project is supposed to be. And I think it’s one that I hope everyone that . The Academy or Union II, first team, they understand the where this club has pushed players to, and that the resources are here for them each to take that step as well, and that’s the dream for all of them. So to see it on the field, and it’s a reality, that’s really cool and a special moment for a lot of people, a lot of coaches that, you know, worked with these guys and hopefully had a positive influence on them in their time, when they were here.”
One player of his in particular had a brace and a great showing: Jamir Johnson. “Yeah, he’s in a spot where, you know, a lot of the kids in that age group are where it’s like, it’s time to take the next step and really move into the professional professional ranks. And I think performances like he’s had in the national team over the last two weeks, like that’s what we’re looking for is- you keep taking steps forward, keep as an attacking player, being able to affect the game and, you know, not only perform well, but also produce in forms of goals and assists, and that’s what he did, so that’s cool.”
Bradley Carnell reflects on the youth national team call ups
“Yeah, one thing is to like get experiences with us as a first team and then you go and be role models down at lower age groups and to to play and represent the country in the way that they did was massive. I mean every player had a big contribution and it just shows that, you know, we believe in a certain way here at the Union and we appreciate the game time that they will be getting, and representing their countries and fully support it, and and we actually feel that the players grow from different experiences being outside these borders. So going to Egypt or going to Spain or what have you just gives you a different level of experience and being around different quality of players or different style of players we feel that that brings the players forward in their development as well.”
With some players away still on national team duty or missing due to injury, perhaps some of the young stars will get a chance to shine this weekend if given the opportunity. One thing is for certain, and though it may sound cliché, it is the reality: the future is bright for many in the Philadelphia Union pipeline.
Main article photo credit: Philadelphia Union II
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