What do Wil Trapp, Emerson Hyndman, DeAndre Yedlin and Matt Miazga have in common? Aside from them all being 24 or younger with multiple caps for the U.S. Men's National Team, they all featured for MLS Academy sides at the 2010 U-17 Generation adidas Cup in Houston, Texas.
The GA Cup is an annual tournament pitting MLS Academy sides against each other in a round-robin format. The tournament moves to Kansas City this weekend with Swope Soccer Village hosting the Central Region featuring U-17 sides from the Chicago Fire, Columbus Crew, FC Dallas, Houston Dynamo, Toronto FC and host Sporting KC.
The second regional event will be held in February with those same six teams traveling to Houston for another series of matches. After six matches, the teams from each region with the top points will advance to the Generation adidas Cup Final Event to be held in Frisco, Texas in April 2017. Players who were born on or after January 1, 2000 are eligible for the tournament.
Each year, the GA Cup is littered with prospects that are either well-known in MLS circles or have not yet broken through on the national scene. While the 2010 edition featured the four aforementioned players, it also featured future MLS homegrown signings Dillon Serna (Colorado Rapids), Diego Fagundez (New England Revolution), Jon Kempin (Sporting KC) and Jack McBean (LA Galaxy). Zack Steffen, who featured for the U.S. U-20 national team at the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup played for the Philadelphia Union in that tournament, while New York Red Bulls homegrown signing and current Red Bulls II star Brandon Allen scored three goals in the 2010 edition for the Red Bulls Academy.
This year's tournament will feature three games on Friday, Saturday and Monday with admission for all matches free to the public.
<strong>Match</strong> |
<strong>Date</strong> |
<strong>Time (CT)</strong> |
<strong>Home Team</strong> |
<strong>Away Team</strong> |
1 |
Oct. 7 |
2 p.m. |
Toronto FC |
Houston Dynamo |
2 |
Oct. 7 |
4:30 p.m. |
FC Dallas |
Columbus Crew SC |
3 |
Oct. 7 |
7 p.m. |
Sporting KC |
Chicago Fire |
4 |
Oct. 8 |
2 p.m. |
FC Dallas |
Houston Dynamo |
5 |
Oct. 8 |
4:30 p.m |
Toronto FC |
Chicago Fire |
6 |
Oct. 8 |
7 p.m. |
Columbus Crew SC |
Sporting KC |
7 |
Oct. 10 |
9 a.m. |
Toronto FC |
Columbus Crew SC |
8 |
Oct. 10 |
11:30 a.m. |
Houston Dynamo |
Chicago Fire |
9 |
Oct. 10 |
2 p.m. |
Sporting KC |
FC Dallas |
SportingKC.com will provide complete coverage of the tournament with a recap and photos from each match. Follow @SKCAcademy on Twitter for in-game updates throughout the tournament.
