All about training young professional athletes.

RSL-AZ U16’s currently in first place in the Western Conference Division. Need one point out of their last 3 games to clinch the title!

Amazing 6 game shutout streak going…

RSL-AZ U18’s currently in 2nd place in the Western Conference title race…

Both teams in playoff position which will be June 24-28 in Frisco, Texas…

Match against Arsenal FC this Saturday June 4th…10 and 12:30pm at Grande Sports World…

Keep up the great work boys!!

Grande Sports World is proud to announce that the U17 Rwanda National Team and the U17 New Zealand National team will train at Grande Sports World in preparation for the U17 World Cup taking place this summer in Mexico.

Rwanda will report to training camp from May 27-June14th and New Zealand will be reporting June 10-June 15th.

Both national team sides will be playing friendlies against local clubs as well as playing the Real Salt Lake-AZ U18 academy team.

Times for the friendly matches still to be determined…

The RSL-AZ Academy boys kept their impressive home record going on Sunday as both the U18’s and U16’s beat Cal Odyssey from Fresno, Ca.

The U18’s started the day with a very impressive first half as the group came out buzzing and determined to impose their style of play on the opponent. Only just a few minutes in Julio Alarcon played a beautiful diagonal ball over their back four…Ari Sanchez in full stride brought the ball down perfectly, beat the defender inside and blasted a shot into the upper left corner. It was the perfect start the RSL boys were looking for.

The second half started off slow for the RSL boys as they gave up an early penalty kick to make the score tied at 1-1.

However Maikon Orellana went on one of his trademark mazy dribbles, beat 3 defenders and slotted the ball coolly into the net for the game winner. It wasn’t one of the best second half performances we have seen from the group but none the less championship caliber teams must find ways to win even when they aren’t playing well.

The U16’s started the match very similar to the U18’s with an early goal from Jose CoCo Navarro. RSL-AZ clearly dominated the possession and created chance after chance…however they couldn’t find that second goal in the first half.

In the second half it was much of the same as the RSL boys looked to find that second goal and close the game out. The coaching staff brought on Dylan Kelly who on his second touch of the game put the match out of reach for the Odyssey. Amazingly its Dylan’s 18th goal in 17 matches. A fantastic goal scoring record.

Second half sub Romain Gall put the icing on the cake with a cool slotted finish to make the final score 3-0.

Both teams travel to LA on Friday where they will face Cosmos Academy on Saturday afternoon and Real So Cal on Sunday in two important conference match ups…

RSL-AZ U16 falls in Penalty Kicks to PTSC Timber Wolves

The RSL-AZ U16s battled in a back-and-forth match today with PTSC Timber Wolves of Winnipeg, Canada. With the match finishing 2-2, but teams scored in the second of the two 10-minute overtime periods, sending the match to penalty kicks. The Timber Wolves keeper was able to save two, giving the Canadians a 4-3 shootout win.

With a howling wind in their faces, RSL-AZ gave up a goal just 9 minutes into the game on a counter-attack that was seemingly against the run of play. RSL-AZ continued to maintain possession for most of the half, although it took a series of corners at the 25-minute mark to really generate the first chances on goal. On the 4th successive corner, Dylan MacVane knocked in a second ball to level the game at 1-1.

After the break, RSL-AZ controlled the game with the wind at their backs. After a free kick was awarded just outside the Timber Wolves Box in the 70th minute, Joss Goss hit an excellent shot on goal that the keeper could only parry. Ben Spencer pounced on the loose ball and buried it in the net for a 2-1 RSL-AZ lead.

Just five minutes later, a PTSC forward capitalized on a ball that the RSL-AZ defense failed to clear and slotted home an equalizer to make it 2-2 with 20 minutes to play.

RSL-AZ had chances at in the last 15 minutes to win the game, but could find a way past the Timber Wolves keeper.
In the first of two 10-minute overtime periods, RSL-AZ had the wind but couldn’t find a way to create good scoring chances. With 2 minutes remaining in the first overtime, the Timber Wolves saw their squad reduced to one as their left midfielder deliberately stomped on Alan Rivera in retaliation for a foul. The referee didn’t hesitate to show the player red, and the Canadians were down to 10 for the remainder of the game.

In the second overtime, RSL-AZ gave up an early goal after allowing a long clearance to bounce and the Timber Wolves forward pounced on it and buried the ball for a 3-2 lead. RSL-AZ answer minutes later with their own goal off of a corner kick that Luis Chavez nodded in… sending RSL-AZ level at 3-3 with only a minute to play.

Things started ominously in penalty kicks as Alan Rivera’s spot-kick was saved. PTSC Timber Wolves didn’t miss and when Luis Chavez took the fifth kick for RSL-AZ and was saved, the match was over… with the Timber Wolves winning 4-3 in penalties.
Disappointed, RSL-AZ U16s are knocked out at the quarterfinal stage.

The long bus ride back to Arizona starts early Saturday morning, and the both teams return immediately to training and focus on next weekend US Soccer Development Academy matchups with Pateadores (away) and Cosmos Academy West (home).

U18s
The early game for the RSL-AZ Academy entourage was the finale of the Group Stage in the 2011 Dallas Cup Gordon Jago Super Group, saw RSL-AZ take on fellow MLS Academy member, Vancouver Whitecaps. Vancouver’s Academy teams will b e joining the US Soccer Development Academy system this fall, and this was the first matchup between the two teams. Unlike the previous games in the group stage, there were many long-sleeved shirts on the players… with air temps hovering around 60 degrees and no sunshine to warm things up.

In the 20th minute, Ricardo Velasco slotted home from 8 yards after a series of shots were blocked by various Vancouver defenders, giving RSL-AZ a 1-0 lead. Until that point, there had been few opportunities created by either team and teams had been defending tightly. After the goal, things began to open up, and the pace of the RSL-AZ exploiting the lumbering Vancouver denfenders. In the 30th minute, Mikey Orrellana was sprung on a 40 yard 1v1 with the Whitecaps GK, only to be denied by an excellent save from the Vancouver keeper. Five minutes later, Orrellana was set free again alone against the keeper, this time beating the net-minder only to see his shot smash against the far post and bounce clear. At the other end of the field Lalo Fernandez made one excellent save to help guide RSL-AZ to a 1-0 halftime lead.

The second half was similar to the first part of the first half, with neither team creating any real chances of note. Around the 60 minute mark, Mikey Orrellana was brought down in the box after some quick combination play by RSL-AZ and Ricardo Velasco converted the spot-kick for his second goal of the night. Play got a little chippy through the rest of the second half, with several yellow cards being handed out to both sides, but the result stood at 2-0 for RSL-AZ at the final whistle.

With the result, RSL-AZ finishes ahead of Vancouver in the Group C table at the Super Group. Corinthians and Tigres close out the group with their match at Pizza Hut Park tonight. In the unlikely event that Tigres beats Corinthians by 7 or more goals, RSL-AZ would finish ahead of Corinthians as well.

U16s
The RSL-AZ U16s faced Cedarbridge Academy of Bermuda in the final match of Group F in the Under-16 Division. Cedarbridge came into the game with some tough results behind them, a 7-1 and 5-2 pair of losses to Solar SC Red and FC Correcaminos in their prior group games.

RSL-AZ opened the game with the lion’s share of possession and eventually broke through midway through the first half when Danny Gavin nodded home a corner kick uncontested. While RSL-AZ spent much of the remainder of the half pressuring Cedarbridge, the score line stood at 1-0 at the break.

In the second half, RSL-AZ was rewarded for their dominance of the match with a 50th minute goal bu midfielder Josh Goss. Goss’s first shot was blocked by a defender, but he neatly finished his second attempt into the far side-netting.

The possession dominance continued and Ben Spencer was rewarded for some creative play in the box with his first goal of the tournament to make the game 3-0 for RSL-AZ.

With the 3-0 win, RSL-AZ tops the group and looks forward to a Quarterfinal matchup with PTSC Timber Wolves of Winnipeg, Canada. That match will take place on Pizza Hut Park Field #14 at 1:30pm CT on Friday, April 22 and the winner will advance to Saturday’s semifinal.

The entire squad is looking forward to tonight’s CONCACAF Champions League Final on FSC. Come on claret-and-cobalt!

Nico Muniz and Phanuel Kavita…two stalwarts for the RSL-AZ U18 Academy team played today in a 2-0 win over the Colorado Rapids in an MLS Reserve League match in Utah.

Phanuel Kavita started and played the full 90 minutes to help preserve the shutout.

Nico Muniz came on in the 69′minute for Paulo Jr. to help close out the win.

Congrats to both of the boys and RSL for a dominant performance…

Paired with top academies from all over the world, RSL-AZ’s U-18 team and coach Mike Munoz are out to prove doubters wrong with a strong showing in the Super Group

Real Salt Lake’s residential academy based in Casa Grande, Ariz., more aptly named RSL-AZ, has already shown well in its first year in the Development Academy. The U-18 team is in fourth place in the very competitive SoCal Division and in the top 15 nationally in terms of points per game. Although, the early season success in U.S. Soccer’s preeminent national development league is nice, RSL-AZ has a bigger target on its mind in the near future – a semifinal berth in the Super Group at Dallas Cup.

Dallas Cup is widely regarded as the best youth tournament in North America as many of the world’s top players [Raul, Wayne Rooney, Robinho, etc.] have played in the tournament at one time or another. This year will mark 32nd installment of the historic competition, which takes place April 17-24 at Pizza Hut Park and Richland College.

The Gordon Jago Super Group, named after the long-time executive director of the tournament, is the most competitive bracket at the event. With storied European academies like Arsenal FC and FC Barcelona sending their top youth teams this year, the competition will be as fierce as ever. However, the big name opposition is not dampening RSL-AZ’s hopes of putting on a good performance.

“It would be fantastic to make a statement all over the world,” RSL-AZ U-18 head coach and Academy Director Mike Munoz told Goal.com last Saturday about his club’s goal for the tourney. The coach was aware some had already written his team off, but he was confident his side could emerge from a very tough group to make the semifinal round.

RSL-AZ’s competition at Dallas Cup is not going to be easy as the club was paired with two previous Super Group winners, SC Corinthians [Brazil] and Tigres [Mexico], and fellow MLS residential academy, Vancouver Whitecaps, in group play. The winner of each group advances to the semifinals.

The U-18 team enters the tourney on a low-note as the squad suffered its worst defeat of the season in its final Development Academy tune-up game last weekend against Southern California based Arsenal FC.

“I think we are going to need to work on our defensive shape,” Munoz said about his plans for preparing for the tournament after the game. “It is very important that we stay organized.”

“When we are playing against good teams like Tigres, we cannot get spread out,” he said. “And we cannot go chasing all over the field.” Munoz knows the opposition will be challenging, but he is confident in the capabilities of his team.

“Normally, this team is very good in possession,” the coach said about his U-18 side. “Today just was not our day.” Part of the reason RSL-AZ struggled so mightily in its final game before Dallas Cup was a crowded schedule. A handful of players had traveled to Utah on Tuesday for a MLS reserve game just to bus out to California a few days later for a weekend youth academy game.

RSL has another reserve game scheduled a few days before first kick at Dallas Cup, but the youth team had not yet been informed whom the full team was pulling up.

Munoz called it team management to make sure he does not overwork the players. One player who was especially hit hard by the travel and weather was Nico Muniz who sat out most of last Saturday afternoon as he was battling an illness. The Georgetown-bound midfielder was sorely missed, as RSL-AZ never gained control of the ball against Arsenal.

“I am glad we have two weeks to prepare,” the playmaker told Goal.com after the loss. The 18-year-old also emphasized that it will be on the team to bounce back after the defeat.

Despite the loss in their final warm-up game, both player and coach were enthusiastic about the opportunity of participating in Dallas Cup.

“It is a fantastic opportunity for the players,” Munoz said. “Just to play in Super Group, not many teams get that chance.” The coach also mentioned his team was honored to be the only American side from outside Texas to be accepted into the top bracket.

There is an extra bonus for RSL-AZ, as they open up play inside Pizza Hut Park Stadium on Sunday at 1:30 PM (CT) against Tigres before fellow MLS academy FC Dallas takes on Spanish giant, FC Barcelona.

Barcelona and Tigres are just two of the youth academies at the event that have been around for decades and established a repertoire as a perennial powerhouse, which is one of the reasons Munoz believed people were over-looking his U-18 team.

Despite Munoz’s confidence, the cards are stacked up against RSL-AZ U-18 accomplishing the goal of winning their group and advancing from pool play. American teams have not faired well in recent years, as the Dallas Texans [in 2006] is the only domestic team to progress to the semifinal round in the last five years. That Texans team also earned the distinction as the only American team ever to win Super Group in the twenty-year history of the elite invitation-only bracket.

RSL-AZ’s academy is also bringing the U-16 team to compete in its respective age bracket. The younger side is grouped with Cedarbridge Academy (Bermuda), FC Correcaminos (Brazil), and Solar SC Red (Texas).

Both teams begin play on Sunday, April 17. For more information about Dallas Cup or to purchase tickets, visit www.DallasCup.com.

J.R. Eskilson is the Youth Soccer Editor at Goal.com. You can follow him on Twitter @NCAAsoccer.