The Kids are Alright
- Updated: July 8, 2015
Photo credit: New England Revolution
It would be an understatement to say that Revolution Director of Youth Development Bryan Scales is proud of the way that the Revolution Under-16 squad has come together and performed this year.
Despite fielding a number of players fresh from last year’s Revolution Under-14 team, the Revolution U-16s recorded a 12-5-9 (45 points) mark and boasted an impressive plus-30 goal differential during the 2014-15 U.S. Soccer Development Academy (USSDA) regular season. But their success didn’t stop there.
After finishing atop of Group A play of the USSDA playoffs with a 2-0-1 record two weeks ago, Scales, who also serves as head coach of the Revolution U-16s, is optimistic about the squad’s chances going into Wednesday’s quarterfinal match at the PPL Park practice field against the Philadelphia Union U-16s.
“They’ve played in some really good games in both the league and the MLS Generation adidas Cup this year,” Scales told NESoccerToday.com. “They have dealt with a number of challenges, but their mentality has been strong, and they have a real willingness to play.”
That willingness to play – especially as a unit – has been evident throughout the season. Fifteen different players found the back of the net during the regular season, a testament to their collective attacking mindset.
While a number of different faces scribbled their names on the scoresheet this season, Izaiah Jennings stood out as the club’s most imposing threat after notching 11 goals, tops on the team. Another player who certainly boosted the offense was playmaker Justin Rennicks, who registered a team-best eight assists while attracting the attention of the U.S. Youth Academy program.
Not long after he scored for the U.S. Under-16s during January’s Aegan Cup International Youth Tournament run in Turkey, Rennicks was called in by Revolution coach Jay Heaps to join the senior team for its preseason camp in Arizona.
“We’ve been fortunate, this year, to have over 10 players called in to youth nationals teams across all of our age groups,” Scales said. “Justin continues to do well. He’s very athletic, has good feet and has really developed on the tactical side over the past three years with us. He still has plenty of work to do, but as with all of our guys, they need time and patience.”
But the Revolution U-16s haven’t relied on offense alone to pick up results. Defensively, they were one of the stoutest sides in the Northeast Division after conceding only 17 goals in 29 games. Goalkeeper Trey Miller posted a 0.52 goals against average and collected 12 clean sheets while only conceding 11 goals in 22 appearances.
Photo credit: New England Revolution
The stats, of course, only tell part of the story. Twelve players listed on Wednesday’s 18-man roster for the quarterfinal also suited up for the Revolution U-18s this year, a sure sign of the strong talent at Scales’ disposal.
“I think it just gives us a gauge as to the different cycles coming through the Academy,” Scales said. “While we don’t measure the entire success of our Academy on wins and losses, this certainly gives us some perspective on the quality of players moving through our age groups.”
Collective success is always the icing on the cake for any program that’s committed to player development, which Scales is tasked with overseeing in his role as director of youth development.
“Ultimately, the mission of our Academy is to develop individual players to compete at the highest level – the first team and beyond,” Scales said. “So we, as a staff must be willing to ‘sacrifice’ some results in order for these players to learn how to play – especially at the younger age groups. This is our philosophy and all of our coaches understand this.”
Even so, that hasn’t stopped the Revolution U-16s from making one of the deepest playoff runs by a squad from Revolution Youth Academy since its inception in 2008. While booking a spot at Academy Championships would be a remarkable achievement, Scales will be sure to remind his team what’s most important about playing in Wednesday’s quarterfinal, which kicks off at 5:00pm.
“Go out, play, and enjoy the experience,” Scales said. “Hopefully, these players will have more games like this as they progress through their careers.”
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