WASHINGTON, D.C. - D.C United announced today three local players have committed to D.C. United youth teams and will be part of the year-round U-14 and U-16 programs. Michael Funes and Chris Jumalon have committed to the U-16 team while Henry Bain will be a part of the U-14 team.
A native of Silver Spring, Maryland, Funes attends Montgomery Blair High School and helped bring a Division Championship to the school. The 16-year old currently plays with the Potomac Cougars, having developed as a member of the DC Stoddert Eagles.
"Michael is a special player, with a real passion for the game," said United Youth Development Director John Maessner. "He has a natural ability to find the back of the net and we want to continue to develop him into a player that will be able to play at the highest level!"
Jumalon hails from Waldorf, Maryland and has already garnered numerous honors at the high school level as a part of Thomas Stone High School. After leading the SMAC in goals scored, the 16-year old was named as the Charles Count Player of the Year and to the All-County 1st Team.
"Chris is a very talented and powerful player with lots of potential," said Maessner. "Chris will be a great player to have in our system and he will benefit greatly from being around the best players in the area. One of the Chris's strengths is his ability to play different positions very well which makes him a valuable asset to the team."
14-year old Henry Bain is a native of Olney, Maryland and competed in middle school as a member of Rosa Parks Middle School and with the Olney Pumas.
"Henry is a player that we feel this New System can really help," said Judah Cooks, coach of the U-14 team. "He has all the tools and is very dedicated on doing whatever he needs to do to get to the next level. He can play multiple positions from the back to the front and has a knack of scoring big goals in big games."
The three players are not strangers to the Black-and-Red nor each other, as they were a part of United's successful U-15 and U-13 youth teams that qualified for the Super Y-League National Championships last year.
The players are D.C.'s first to be brought in under MLS's youth development initiative, which will allow clubs' senior teams to sign players that they have developed to professional contracts without going through the SuperDraft. For 2007, D.C. United has expanded their pre-existing youth program to field teams at the U-20, U-16, U-14 and U-13 boys' levels and at the U-15 and U-14 girls' levels. The U-16 and U-14 boys' teams will train and compete year-round, while the rest of the teams will play during the summer months.
