FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Three New England Revolution Under-16 players have recently been honored by the U.S. Soccer Development Academy, U.S. Soccer announced.
Christian Sady (North Andover, Mass.) and Mitch Taintor (Storrs, Conn.) were recently named to the Under-16 All-Academy Team, and will travel to Sarasota, Fla., next weekend to play as members of the All-Academy team against other teams in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy.
Additionally, Felix DeBona (Everett, Mass.) was chosen as the U.S. Soccer Academy’s Under-16 player of the week for his three-goal weekend as the U16s went 2-0 last weekend (May 15-16) and secured the team’s first-ever playoff berth.
“The most telling aspect of Christian and Mitch has been consistency and improvement,” Revolution Director of Youth Development Karl Edmonds said. “Both players have demonstrated an aptitude to learn and play with composure. Both have worked extremely hard and are a credit to the Revs Academy Teams on and off the field.”
Sady, a defender, has started 19 of the 21 matches in which he’s played, missing three while with the U.S. Under-15 National Team. Sady attends Buckingham, Browne & Nichols School.
“Christian has a great left foot and has assisted on a number of occasions with deep crosses from the left,” Edmonds said. “He is certainly composed on the ball and is starting to make better choices when in possession. As his confidence has grown, he has started to get involved in forward play and join the attack from left full back. But most notably it is his composure and ability on the ball that has made him stand out.”
Taintor, also a defender, has started 22 of 24 matches this season, scoring two goals. Taintor attends E.O. Smith High School.
“Mitch has continued to improve in his heading and reading of the game in central defense,” Edmonds said. “He has become a leader on the field and is not afraid to verbalize directions and keep the defenders alert. Also similar to Christian, Mitch distributes very well as both players turn defense into offense on a regular basis.”
DeBona, a forward, leads the Revs’ Under-16 team in scoring with 17 goals in 24 matches. He added another goal on Wednesday evening in the U16s’ 4-2 win over cross-town rival Boston Bolts to secure first place in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy’s Northeast Division with an 8-2-0 divisional record.
The Revolution youth teams have one game remaining on their 2010 regular-season schedules, matches against traditional MLS rival, D.C. United, on Sunday, June 6, at Gillette Stadium. The Under-16 teams will await their playoff draw, while the Revs’ Under-18 squad must await the conclusion of the rest of the division’s games to see if they’ve earned a playoff berth. The U18s are currently atop the Northeast Division with a 5-3-1 divisional record.
The Revolution Youth Development program, a fully-funded program in which all competition costs are free to participants, begins tryouts for the 2010-11 season on Monday, May 24. For more information about the Revolution’s youth program, visit revolutionsoccer.net and click the Academy button in the red navigation bar.
