Youth Academy Update

The Los Angeles Galaxy Youth Academy Under-18 and Under-16 teams were in action over the weekend at the USSF Development Academy Winter Showcase held at the Reach 11 Sports Complex in Phoenix, Arizona.

On Saturday, Dec. 4, the Galaxy U-18s and Under-16s took on Andromeda FC. The Under-18s were blown apart 4-2. Scoring for the Galaxy Under-18s were Eric Verso in the 45th minute and Angel Ayala in the 75th minute.

The Under-16s fared better in their 2-0 shutout victory. Will Raygoza opened the scoring in the 41st minute before Chris Antunez made it the final margin in the 42nd minute.

South Carolina United was an opponent the Under-18s could handle, aside from the Under-16s, on Monday, Dec. 6. Nat Schnitman broke open the scoring in the ninth minute, Dyllan Stevens doubled up the tally in the 16th and Neil Ignacio scored an insurance goal in the 74th minute of play to give Los Angeles a 3-0 shutout win. The match marked the debut of goalkeeper Vince Paldino, who maintained the clean sheet.

As for the Under-16s, they went off to a fast start and never looked back. John McBean, one of the leading scorers on this year's Galaxy Under-16 side, scored a hat trick in the 5-0 shellacking of South Carolina United. McBean scored goal in the third, 29th and 35th minute of play. Also on the scoresheet for these Young G's were Grady Howe in the 33rd minute and fellow scoring ace Sean Dhillon in the 49th minute of play.

The Galaxy Youth Academy wrapped up their Winter Showcase run with a couple of matches against Birmingham United on Tuesday, Dec. 7. Once again, both teams were victorious in their efforts. Cameron Souri scored the deciding goal for the Under-18s in the 76th minute of play to give Los Angeles a hard-fought 1-0 win. As for the Under-16s, they completed a perfect Winter Showcase campaign with a 3-1 win over Birmingham.

Justin Dhillon, who forms part of the triple scoring threat on the Under-16s with brother Sean and McBean, scored his own hat trick, with goals in the 38th, 53rd and 74th minutes of play.

With the 2010 leg of their 2010-11 season completed, the Galaxy Under-16s find themselves in a comfortable position with a 10-0-1 record (31 points), although they are four points off the pace set by the San Diego Surf and Nomads SC in the SoCal Division standings (both teams have seven division points; LA only has three).

The Under-18s will need to claw back from a modest start to the year with a 7-3-1 overall record (22 points), but no division points to show for it, when the 2011 leg begins.

The Galaxy Under-18s and Under-16s will be off until March 26, 2011, when they return to action against Pateadores at Vanguard University in Costa Mesa, California. Kickoff for the Under-18s is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. PT while the Under-16s kick off at 12:00 p.m. PT.

The Los Angeles Galaxy Youth Academy Under-14s defeated Cosmos Academy West 96 to win the L.A. Futbol Circuit 5-4. A hat trick from Steve Martinez combined with goals from Miguel Lorenzo and Alvaro Vargas was enough to give the Young G's the cup in an exciting festival of scoring at the Home Depot Center on Nov. 23.



"So long Trev, and thanks for all the fish!"

On Tuesday, the Los Angeles Galaxy announced that assistant coach and Director of Player Development Trevor James has accepted the position of assistant coach with the Portland Timbers.

The longest tenured member of the coaching staff having joined the club in 2006, James served as an assistant coach for the club for the last four-and-a-half years, while also taking on the role of Director of Player Development since the start of the Galaxy Academy in 2007.

As the club’s Director of Player Development, James oversaw all aspects of the creation and growth of the Galaxy Academy, including developing the club’s first home-grown signing, forward Tristan Bowen.

Since beginning play in 2008, the Galaxy Academy has won a pair of USL Super-20 League division titles, reached the 2010 Super-20 National Championship, qualified for the U.S. Soccer Development Academy Playoffs at both the U-16 and U-18 level, while also winning the LA Futbol Circuit championship last month in their inaugural season at the U-14 level.

“We are grateful to Trevor for all of his contributions to the Galaxy over the last four years assisting with the first team and developing our youth academy program,” Galaxy General Manager and Head Coach Bruce Arena said. “As a club, we would like to wish him the very best in all of his future endeavors.

"I have enjoyed my time here with the LA Galaxy and would like to thank the players, staff and fans as well as the academy staff, players and families for their support through the years,” James said on the move. “Although I am saddened to be leaving the Galaxy organization, I look forward to this exciting new opportunity with the Portland Timbers during their inaugural MLS season."

A native of Norwich, England, James has more than 10 years of international experience as a player, playing in England, Norway and the United States.

Following his retirement from professional soccer in 1985, James moved into the coaching ranks. He was initially hired as a youth academy coach at Ipswich Town of the Football League Championship, before moving to Colchester United as the club’s Reserve Team Manager.

After a stint at Football League One outfit Colchester United, James was hired by John Taylor in 2000-2001 to be his First Team Coach and Chief Scout at current non-League side Cambridge United.

James holds coaching licenses from U.S. Soccer, UEFA and the Football Association (The FA) where he was on the coaching education staff. James is also the founding director of School Of Soccer USA, a youth soccer coaching school based in La Verne, CA.

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