Atlanta United held a dinner Friday to introduce the players that will form its first academy.
The academy will field five teams. The Under-18s will likely begin training in July. The rest of the ages (U16, U14, U13, and U12) will begin training in August. The teams’ first games will be in September.
The hope of Atlanta United President Darren Eales and academy director Richard Money is that some of these players will eventually work their way into the first team, which is scheduled to begin play in MLS in 2017.
The first team and academy will eventually train at the team’s headquarters in Marietta. The headquarters are under construction.
The first team will play in Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Friday’s ceremony included the boys on each team signing an agreement to play for Atlanta United. They also posed for group photos and were asked, along with their parents, to sign an 8-foot tall Atlanta United shield.
Here are the first classes:
U18 Final Roster
John Michael Bandy, Kolanji Soccer Academy (KSA)
George Bonsu, Atlanta Fire
Andrew Carleton, Georgia United
Machop Chol, Dekalb Decatur YMCA (DDY)
Aldair Cortes, Birmingham United (BUSA)
Anthony Diaz, La Liga Lawrenceville
Edwin Figueroa, La Liga Lawrenceville
Cheik Fofana, Georgia United
Mike Ille, Concorde Fire
Lagos Kunga, Dekalb Decatur YMCA (DDY)
Kevin Lingard, Kolanji Soccer Academy (KSA)
Joseph Marcellus, Soccer in the Streets
Samuel Morton, Georgia United
Adeola Oke, Atlanta Fire
Patrick Okonkwo, Georgia United
Victor Pereyra-Zavala, Georgia United
Nicolás Pérez Georgia United
Kareve Richards, Kolanji Soccer Academy (KSA)
Russell Shealy, Concorde Fire
Alhaji Tambadu, Dekalb Decatur YMCA (DDY)
Juan Pablo Torres, Georgia United
Lionel Touroude, Soccer in the Streets
Bryce Washington, Concorde Fire
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U16 Final Roster
Charlie Asensio, Georgia United
Alexander Bahr, Georgia United
George Bello, Alpharetta Ambush
James Brighton, Savannah Storm
Sai Brown, United Futbol Academy (UFA)
Liam Butts, Gol Soccer Academy (GSA)
Trevor Byrne, Georgia United
George Campbell, Georgia United
Tanner Carlson, Georgia United
Alessandro Castro, Kolanji Soccer Academy (KSA)
Jackson Conway, Georgia United
William Crain, Georgia United
Alexander Dennis, FC Copenhagen
Kendall Edwards, Gol Soccer Academy (GSA)
Dylan Gaither, Gol Soccer Academy (GSA)
Dawson Gideon, Concorde Fire
Michael Johnson, Concorde Fire
Zyen Jones, Georgia United
Logan Luque, Southern Soccer Alliance
Natnael McDonald, Gol Soccer Academy (GSA)
Matthew Rios, Georgia United
Remi Smith, Georgia United
Saul Tinoco, United Futbol Academy (UFA)
Thomas Toney, Gol Soccer Academy (GSA)
Berk Watson, United Futbol Academy (UFA)
Blake White, Kolanji Soccer Academy (KSA)
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U14 Final Roster
Jide Awujo, Southern Soccer Association (SSA)
Josiah Blanton, Roswell Santos
Frank Bwelle, Inter Atlanta
Emerson Waldemar Chavez, UFA Eagles
Brandon Clagette, Southern Soccer Association (SSA)
Garrett Gardner, Smyrna Soccer Academy
Kameron Gorst, Concorde Fire
Grant Howard, Southern Soccer Association (SSA)
Donovan Jones, Southern Soccer Association (SSA)
Alejandro Lopez, Georgia United
Daniel Mangarov, Georgia United
Craig Mclwraith, AFC Lightning
Zaki Obafemi-Carpenter, United Futbol Academy (UFA)
Chase Oliver, Southern Soccer Association (SSA)
Brandon Parrish, Darlington Academy
Christian Antonio Pena, UFA Eagles
Anthony Reaves, United Futbol Academy (UFA)
Will Reilly, Georgia United
Ryan Schewe, North Atlanta Soccer Association (NASA)
Parker Smith, Concorde Fire
Jackson Wrobel Vestavia, Hills Soccer Association
Jeremiah Zuniga, Dalton Soccer
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U13 Final Roster
Valentin Bargagna, Concorde Fire
Michael Barrueta, Concorde Fire
Santiago Bondulich, Inter Atlanta
Daniel Byman, United Futbol Academy (UFA)
Balmore Cruz, Concorde Fire
Alejandro Chini Devillena, Dacula Soccer Association
Trevor Dozier, Concorde Fire
Ethan Fowlks, Southern Soccer Assocation (SSA)
Emmanuel Gyasi, Concorde Fire
Euan Higgins, United Futbol Academy (UFA)
Laurence Humphries, Inter Atlanta
Akinni James, Southern Soccer Assocation (SSA)
Mikey Jensen, Concorde Fire
Betwel Mateyo, Soccer in the Streets
Kevin Mendoza, Lanier Soccer Association (LSA)
Caleb Mott, Dacula Soccer Association
Haris Osmanbasic, Concorde Fire
Deji Owoseni, United Futbol Academy (UFA)
Yahir Paez, Dalton Soccer
Vicente Reyes, United Futbol Academy (UFA)
Cristopher Sanchez, UFA Eagles
Micah Shewit Worton, Darlington Academy
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U12 Final Roster
Mateo Bargagna, Concorde Fire
Luke Brennan, Concorde Fire
Shaddai Campbell, Dacula Soccer Club
Alan Carleton, Southern Soccer Academy (SSA)
Bryan Casanova, United Futbol Academy (UFA)
Jose Armando De Avila, Concorde Fire
Quinlan DeLaMater, Southern Soccer Academy (SSA)
Abraham Gonzalez, Southern Soccer Academy (SSA)
Jacob Haynes, United Futbol Academy (UFA)
Sam Hill, North Atlanta Soccer Assoc. (NASA)
Guillermo Jimenez Rome, Arsenal
Richard (Ford) Lee, Concorde Fire
Justin McLean, Concorde Fire
Gray Mollenkamp, Concorde Fire
Efrain Morales, United Futbol Academy (UFA)
Sammy Newmyer, Gol Soccer Academy (GSA)
Nicholas Perla, Southern Soccer Academy (SSA)
Nigel Prince, United Futbol Academy (UFA)
Nathan Richmond, Dekalb Decatur YMCA (DDY)
Dagoberto Romero, Gol Soccer Academy (GSA)
Danial Sebhatu, Lanier Soccer Association (LSA)
Baine Smith, Concorde Fire
James Spurlin, Columbus Red Star
Evan Theriot, Concorde Fire
Jonathan Villal, Allianza Latina
Caleb Wiley, Dekalb Decatur YMCA (DDY)
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