From June 5 to June 9, Minnesota United’s Pre-Academy team took part in the Fourth Annual Patterson Cup in Kansas City, one of the nation’s most prestigious U12 to U14 soccer tournaments. This group of youngsters, led by U15 Coach Jamie Caroll-Rolfe, showed their skills well, but to understand their performance and the team itself, we need a bit of background first.
Minnesota United’s academy has official teams at three age groups: U15, U17, and U19. Above that, there’s MNUFC2 and the first team. Below that, there are a lot of talented players at the beginning of their competitive soccer journeys. These young players are the academy participants of tomorrow, and the sooner the club is able to start guiding and training them, the further along they’ll be when they make the jump to one of the official teams.
That’s why the Pre-Academy team was started. This group of U13 and U14 athletes got together to practice about ten times over the course of the spring and, for the first time this year, used the Patterson Cup as a final test for the season. This setup not only gives these players a taste of what MLS NEXT competition is like but also shows the academy coaches what kind of players will be coming through the program within the next few years.
The roster for the Patterson Cup was selected from a series of talent ID camps put on by the academy throughout the last year. 20 players made the trip, and they all learned valuable lessons against strong opposition.
This year’s tournament featured established U12, U13, and U14 teams that play and practice on a much more consistent schedule than the Loons’ Pre-Academy squad. However, after six games together, it was clear to see that this group of boys was just as capable as any of the clubs they came up against. They ended the tournament with a record of 1-2-3 (W-L-D), going unbeaten in their last three matches. This successful streak at the end of the competition showed a lot of character and growth, and Head of Development and Player Pathway Amos Magee was encouraged for the future of the program.
“It was really exciting for us, and the first time most of these kids have traveled to an MLS NEXT event. We got steadily better over the course of the tournament, and we developed a lot of good habits with the players. I think they really enjoyed it, and in the end, we feel like we have a much better idea of the kinds of players in Minnesota and Wisconsin that we hope we can push into our academy programming as we progress.”
In the coming years, the structure of the academy will be shifting as MLS NEXT transitions to a focus on U16 and U18 teams. Regardless of how this plays out here in Minnesota, the identification and development of players at this younger age will continue to be an important part of the growth of MNUFC’s youth development strategy.
