Eighty Players Head to Southern California for U-14 Boys’ West Region Talent Identification Mini-Camp

CHICAGO (Feb. 27, 2025) – With the ongoing objective to expand and improve the Men’s Youth National Team player pool, U.S. Soccer will hold its first regional mini-camp of 2025 as part of the Under-14 Boys’ Talent Identification Program. Eighty players from the West Region, all born in 2011, will gather at the Elite Athlete Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif. from Feb. 27-March 3.

U.S. Soccer Talent ID Director – Men’s Youth National Teams Garrett Biller will oversee the event alongside U.S. Soccer Talent ID Manager – West Roberto Gimenez, while three other Regional Talent ID Managers will also be in attendance.

All 80 players currently play in the West region, coming from Arizona, Northern California, Southern California, Oregon and Washington. They’re divided into four sub-regional teams of 20- Los Angeles/Las Vegas, Northern California, Northwest and Southwest.

There will be two more U-14 TID regional mini-camps this spring, the East region will come together in Atlanta in March and the Central/South region event is set for Texas in April.

U.S. UNDER-14 BOYS’ WEST REGION TID MINI-CAMP ROSTER BY POSITION:

Goalkeepers (8): Jared Figueroa (Albion SC Merced; Turlock, Calif.), Zorian Hickson (Real Salt Lake - Arizona; Mesa, Ariz.), Brady Kalletta (Crossfire Academy; Redmond, Wash.), Mario Occhialino (Soccer Chance Academy; Portland, Ore.), Jacob Ramirez (Los Angeles Surf Soccer Club; Chatsworth, Calif.), Sidney Schwartz (Rebels Soccer Club; El Cajon, Calif.), Luca Shevchenko (Los Angeles Galaxy; Westlake Village, Calif.), Thomas White (San Jose Earthquakes; Atherton, Calif.)

Defenders (24): Reggie Bailey (San Jose Earthquakes; Pleasanton, Calif.), Alexander Carbajal (Chula Vista Futbol Club; Escondido, Calif.), Aidan Carlos (Los Angeles FC; Rialto, Calif.), Christopher Chan (Los Angeles Bulls Soccer Club; Los Angeles, Calif.), Ayden Chavez (Las Vegas Sports Academy; Las Vegas, Nev.), Drake Dalton (Folsom Surf; El Dorado Hills, Calif.), Joshua Engel (San Jose Earthquakes; San Francisco, Calif.), Raul Garcia (Sacramento United Competitive Soccer Club; Sacramento, Calif.), Zachary Green (Oregon Premier FC; Lake Oswego, Ore.), Jaethan Irwin (Phoenix Rising FC; Phoenix, Ariz.), Midas Leco (SoCal Reds FC; Paramount, Calif.), Matthew Leone (Los Angeles Galaxy; Long Beach, Calif.), Wilson Mazariegos (San Jose Earthquakes; Novato, Calif.), Christian Nunez (Columbia Premier Soccer Club; Medford, Ore.), Easton Odom (Rebels Soccer Club; La Mesa, Calif.), Gabriel Rincon (FC Portland; Hillsboro, Ore.), Brayden Shen (Walnut Creek Surf SC; Concord, Calif.), Giovanni Tamayo (Venice Beach FC; Downey, Calif.), Ryan Tamm (SC del Sol; Phoenix, Ariz.), Mason Washington (Los Angeles FC; Lancaster, Calif.), Owen White (Crossfire Academy; Bonney Lake, Wash.), Takeo Willis (Crossfire Academy; Redmond, Wash.), Wes Wolfley (Phoenix Rising FC; Peoria, Ariz.), Mason Zeitler (Eastside FC; Seattle, Wash

Midfielders (25): Yulian Benitez (Next Level Soccer- Arizona; Gilbert, Ariz.), Jonathan Bustamante (Total Futbol Academy; Lynwood, Calif.), Caden Cortes (Total Futbol Academy; Orange, Calif.), Kash Held (Barca Residency Academy; Naperville, Ill.), Kevin Curiel Huerta (FC Bay Area Surf; Manteca, Calif.), Calen Dean (Seattle United; Seattle, Wash.), Jesus Esparza (Sacramento Republic FC; Woodland, Calif.), Xavi Garcia (Modesto Ajax United; Modesto, Calif.), Owen Hansen (Portland Timbers; Portland, Ore.), Gian Hurtado (Eastside FC; Seattle, Wash.), Bryson Lopez (Sacramento Republic FC; Vacaville, Calif.), Darwin Lopez (Unattached), Logan Navarro (Strikers FC; Lakewood, Calif.), Jordan Nguyen (Oregon Surf Soccer Club; Lake Oswego, Ore.), Tobias O'Connor (Pacific Northwest SC; Seattle, Wash.), Ethan O'Neil (Rebels Soccer Club; San Diego, Calif.), Damian Perez (Legends FC; Colton, Calif.), Thiago Romany (Los Angeles Galaxy; Toronto, Canada), Diego Ros (Barca Residency Academy; Casa Grande, Ariz.), Nat Saffiedine (Murrieta Soccer Academy; Winchester, Calif.)Marlon Sanchez (Los Angeles FC; Alhambra, Calif.), Christian Vanney (Los Angeles Galaxy; Redondo Beach, Calif.), Julian Villa (FC Bay Area Surf; San Jose, Calif.), Levi Welch (Los Angeles FC; Los Angeles, Calif.), Nasir Yasin (Crossfire Academy)

Forwards (23): Fekadu Assefa (Saints Soccer Academy; Portland, Ore.), Easton Becker (Columbia Premier Soccer Club; Camas, Wash.), Grant Choi (Seattle United; Bellevue, Wash.), Daniel Gyabaah (Los Angeles Galaxy; Orange, Calif.), Mason Jackson (Strikers FC; San Marcos, Calif.), Jeffrey Lara (San Jose Earthquakes; San Francisco, Calif.), Jude Larbi (Eastside FC; Redmond, Wash.), Alexander Luna (Stanislaus United Soccer Club; Modesto, Calif.), Brandon Marcial Vazquez (Chula Vista Futbol Club; San Diego, Calif Alejandro Martinez (Portland Timbers; Gresham, Ore.), Cash Mckeever (Vail Soccer Club; Vail, Ariz.), Anthony Merida (Los Angeles FC; Los Angeles, Calif.), Ian Miller (Eastside FC; Tigard, Ore.), Owen Northup (Pateadores SC; Orange, Calif.), Jonathan Placensia (Total Futbol Academy; Riverside, Calif.), Troy Raneses (Sacramento Republic FC; Folsom, Calif.), Jayden Rivero (Los Angeles Galaxy; Las Vegas, Nev.), Oliver Rowan (Marin FC; Mill Valley, Calif.), Bryson Smith (Murrieta Soccer Academy; Wildomar, Calif.), Jayden Staines (Sacramento Republic FC; Sacramento, Calif.), Carson Starrett (Barca Residency Academy; Chandler, Ariz.), Isaac Suazo (Los Angeles FC), Juan Pablo Torres (San Jose Earthquakes; Lindsay, Calif.)

The U-14 TID Program is designed to discover a larger base of top talents at the U-14 age group and build the player pool foundation for the U-15 Boys’ National Team while introducing them to The U.S. Way. The mini-camp format helps to evaluate and inspire high-potential players while accelerating their development in an engaging and challenging environment.

In addition to expanding the YNT player pool at its early stages, this scouting and identification structure allows top players at the U-14 age level time to absorb core principles of the U.S. Way playing philosophy and other high performance education topics such as nutrition, rest and recovery and self-evaluation tools to help them take further responsibility for their own development. Travel is minimized through the regional mini-camp set-up, helping minimize days away from home, school and club.

The program also offers the opportunity to bolster U.S. Soccer’s national network of scouts. U.S. Soccer scouts serve as assistant coaches for the sub-regional teams, furthering their education and development while also building the Federation’s connection with clubs across the country.