These are the first players who will wear the STL City crest in actual games, and they’ll compete in the MLS Next league this fall
ST. LOUIS — St. Louis City SC is expanding its soccer footprint in town ahead of the MLS team’s launch in 2023.
On Wednesday, St. Louis City SC Academy unveiled its U16 and U17 rosters. These are the first players who will wear the STL City crest in actual games, and they’ll compete in the MLS Next league this fall.
The players picked for these first Academy teams were chosen through scouting, invitational trials and open community trials.
“After all of the work we have done to create the academy from scratch and scout for top talent to build out our U-16 and U-17 teams, it’s exciting to think we will be playing our first match so soon,” Lutz Pfannenstiel, St. Louis CITY’s Sporting Director and Acting Head Coach said in a release. “St. Louis has a lot of homegrown talent, and we are excited to have them be a part of our Academy and hopefully, have some go on to play soccer professionally.”
Meet the players who will lead our U16 and U17 Academy squads in @MLSNEXT league play this fall and keep our CITY moving forward every day 💪 #OneTeamOneCITY
🔗 https://t.co/rXFBmZ2CAN pic.twitter.com/ad5Ju9vxEQ
— St. Louis CITY SC (@stlCITYsc) August 11, 2021
So, what’s next for this group of local players now that they’re the first members of STL City’s academy?
The Academy teams are set to act as the first step towards playing professionally, and players who impress have the ability to progress to the development team, which will begin play in the spring of 2022. From there, it will be possible for players to have the opportunity to play for the big club in the MLS in 2023.
You can meet the roster of the U16 team by clicking here.
You can meet the roster of the U17 team by clicking here.
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