The Homegrown movement is here an now for FC Dallas after the club signed the 12th such player in its history on Friday.
Coy Craft, a 17-year-old forward who joined the FC Dallas Academy in 2011, will be eligible for selection immediately after signing a professional contract with the club. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, per club and league policy.
Craft joins former FC Dallas academy stars Victor Ulloa (1,204), Moises Hernandez (603), Kellyn Acosta (412), Danny Garcia (282), Richard Sanchez, Jonathan Top and Jesse Gonzalez on the FC Dallas first-team roster. Those players have combined to play 2,501 minutes this season, which ranks second in minutes logged by Homegrown players in Major League Soccer this season.
“We brought Coy into the Academy in 2011 and the coaches did an excellent job fostering his talent to get him to this next level,” FCD head coach Oscar Pareja said in a statement. “He’s athletic, but he also has good technical ability. He’s been earning more and more opportunities with the youth national teams and we’re excited to see his potential realized as he continues to mature.”
This season, Craft was part of the FC Dallas U-18 team that won its fifth-straight US Soccer Development Academy Texas/Frontier Division title. The squad finished the regular season with a record of 17-4-6. Craft appeared in 22 matches, starting 13 times for the U-18s. He led the team in goals scored with 12.
