Atlanta United U16s and U18s took on Concorde Fire in an Atlanta Derby this past Saturday. The U16s came away with the 4-2 victory with goals from James Brighton (2), Jackson Conway and Saul Tinoco. The U18s followed suit and defeated Concorde 5-0 behind a Patrick Okonkwo hat-trick and single tallies from Lagos Kunga and Machop Chol.
In the previous weekend’s Academy matches also hosted at the Training Ground the U16s and U18s faced MLS rival Orlando City SC. The U18s dropped only their second match of the season in a 2-0 defeat. However, the U16s triumphed with a great attacking show in a 3-1 victory over Orlando with a trio of goal scorers in James Brighton, Saul Tinoco, and Remi Smith.
The U14s, U13s, & U12s continue to be competitive in U.S. Soccer Development Academy league play and have made major improvements in their player development. The philosophy in these age groups is on building player’s intelligence and improving technical ability to ready them for the U16 and U18 age groups where a winning mentality becomes more of factor.
(Atlanta United U-16s Starting XI vs. Concorde Fire in a 4-2 win at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta Training Ground.)
A unique opportunity for the Atlanta United U12, U13, and U14 Academy Players this season will be field side at Bobby Dodd Stadium and Mercedes Benz Stadium season as official ball boys for Atlanta United’s first team.
“This is an amazing experience for these young players to be so close to the action of a high level professional soccer game, and to see their role models playing right in front of them, and hopefully inspire them to work hard and reach their goals of being a professional. It’s amazing that the club has provided our academy players with this opportunity.” said Academy Director, Tony Annan.
(Atlanta United Academy U12 ball boys for the inaugural Atlanta United MLS match)
