PORTLAND, Ore. – Dozens of the top U-14 players from the six Portland Timbers-Oregon Youth Soccer Association (OYSA) ODP Regional Training Centers throughout Oregon and Southwest Washington converged on downtown Portland over the weekend for advanced training and a tournament to determine the Timbers ODP ’98 Pre-Academy training pool.
Rosters of U-14 players (born in or after 1998) from each of the six Regional Training Centers, located in Bend, Eugene, Medford, West Portland, East Portland and Vancouver Wash., were assembled for the weekend’s activities, with 100 athletes in total participating.
Highlighting the weekend was the ’98 Timbers-OYSA Regional Training Center Tournament contested by the six Regional Training Center teams. The five-game, round-robin tournament finished Sunday at JELD-WEN Field and offered young players an opportunity to play on the same field as the Timbers first team.
“I visited each of the six Regional Training Centers this fall and was very impressed by the overall quality of the ’98 age group,” said Timbers Academy Director Mike Smith. “When the best players get to play with and against the best players that is when the development becomes tangible. I am excited for the future with this ’98 age group.”
Following the specialized training sessions and tournament, a group of 33 players were selected to the Timbers ODP ’98 Pre-Academy training pool; the list of players is included below. This pool will train together in January and February before playing in select competitions in 2012. From this pool, the official Timbers ODP ’98 Team will be chosen.
The six Regional Training Centers have been in full swing throughout the fall, playing host to training sessions with local U-13 (1999) and U-14 (1998) players led by top local coaches selected by the Timbers Academy staff. Players involved at each of the Regional Training Centers were selected from a tryout held in August. Click here for additional information on the Timbers Academy and youth development programs.
Timbers ODP ’98 Pre-Academy Training Pool
Anthony Armenta
Jose Benavides
Eric Benitez
Jonah Book
Samuel Buzzas
Juan Canseco
Taylor Chung
Lewis Coates
Joseph Corner
Bryan Cortez-Perez
Drew Dayton
Shanti Dubey
Connor Ford
Eliezer Gutierrez
Julian Hirsh
Kohl Hurtado
Akira Itai
Armando Lopez
Colton Mannhalter
Sean McGuire
David McLittle
Zach Nelson
Kento Oudomphng
Kyle Owings
Michael Ponce
Peter Quinton
Jorge Regalado
Juan Rodriguez
Carlos Rodriguez-Diaz
Kahlil Wall-Johnson
Taylor Willman
Kirabel Zewdie
