LAFC academy quartet become first U.S. Youth National Team call-ups

History was made this month, as the Los Angeles Football Club boys academy produced its first national team call-ups, as a quartet of LAFC U-14 players were called up to the U.S. U-15 training camp, taking place this weekend through Jan. 20 in Florida.

Kevin Jimenez, Robert Kaemmerer, Antonio Leone and Dylan Presto, all outfield players, were called up from LAFC’s academy for the training camp, considered to be an occasion for players to make the case they should be in the U-15 USYNT set-up for the rest of the year.

One of the notable aspects of this is that LAFC is sending the largest contingent of players of any academy. It’s a nice start, considering the academy itself is less than two years old in terms of playing regular games.

Technically, these aren’t the first LAFC academy players to be called up to the USYNT, as several players for the LAFC Slammers girls development academy program have gotten the nod. However, those call-ups on the girls side has mostly involved older players, who were already fairly established in the youth national team. In contrast, the LAFC boys academy is a start-up and the academy itself only goes as high as U-14 this year, with age expansion coming next year and beyond until the whole program fills out.

Congratulations to Kevin, Robert, Antonio and Dylan, and best of luck this week in Florida!

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