Major League Soccer Franchise Atlanta United Football Club invites 13 local soccer players for try outs in their youth development program.
Atlanta United FC will begin play in the MLS in March 2017 and look at developing young home grown talents. Hundreds of really talented young players were considered before making a shortlist of the players who will start training next month.
Atlanta United Football club begin setting up several feeder programs before they would eventually take up the pitch next year. The college director of soccer Kerem Daser was the one who urged the officials of the club to come to Dalton to access some of the local talents. Daser said he played with most of the scouts back in Atlanta Silverbacks so he was able to convince them to come have a look at the players.
The Atlanta United Academy manger Tony Annan was impressed with the array of talents and eventually beckoned on the Academy director Richard Money who later came to see for himself. Only two kids were eventually chosen from Dalton High, Yahir Paez and Jeremiah Zuniga. The scouts claimed Zuniga was one of the best center midfield they had seen when scouting around, and Paez being one good left winger who is only 12 years.
Daser encouraged others that were not selected saying:
“I used to coach Clint Dempsey and he never made one of the US youth national team. Now he is one of the two or three best players to have played for the senior team.”
The coaches of the selected players appreciated the efforts of the scouts and academy then went on to encourage the other players who were sadly not chosen. They told the kids to keep improving and their chance would come.