Chivas USA Youth Soccer Update

Welcome to this week's Chivas USA Youth Development Update, a roundup of Chivas USA's pioneering youth development program, including the Chivas USA Under-18, U-16, and U-15 Teams - where the region's best talent compete, funded fully by the club and free of cost to the players, in the prestigious U.S. Soccer Developmental Academy - and the Chivas and Chivas USA Soccer Academies. For more information on Chivas USA's youth development program, please visit www.cdchivasusa.com.

CHIVAS USA'S JORGE FLORES AND GERSON MAYEN CALLED UP TO US U-20 TEAM: Chivas USA midfielders Jorge Flores and Gerson Mayen have been called up to the United States Under-20 National Team for the squad's upcoming participation in the Campos Verdes International Tournament. The tournament will run in Portugal from April 13-19, and the Americans will face Northern Ireland, the Cape Verde Islands and Portugal. Flores most recently traveled to the Copa Chivas in Guadalajara with the U-20 National Team, while this is Mayen's first participation with the U.S. U-20s.

DEVELOPMENT ACADEMY TEAMS HEADED TO COLORADO: The Chivas USA U-18 and U-16 Teams will play a pair of matches in Colorado this weekend, as both teams will face the Colorado Rush on Saturday and the Colorado Rapids on Sunday. The matches will be played at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Col., the home of Major League Soccer's Colorado Rapids. Saturday's matches against the Rush start with the U-16s at 1:00 p.m. MT, with the U-18s following at 3:00. Sunday's matches take place at 10:30 a.m. MT and 1:00 p.m. The Chivas USA youth teams play in the U.S Soccer Development Academy, a nationwide youth development initiative, organized by the U.S. Soccer Federation, featuring 63 of the top youth teams in the country competing in a league system.

CHIVAS USA U-18 TEAM CAPTURES WIN AGAINST PATEADORES: The Chivas USA U-18 Team won its last Development Academy match, beating Pateadores 3-0 on April 5. After a scoreless first half, Chivas USA used an advantage on the flanks to open the scoring. In the 63rd minute, Polo Morales and Mario Ledezma connected on the left wing and found Victor Sanchez in front of the net, who finished to give Chivas USA the 1-0 lead. The Red-and-White's next goal came in the 87th minute when Morales finished a counter attack after passes by Eric Escobedo and Armando Rocha. One minute later, Nikolas Acosta took a quick free kick and found Moralez for the striker's second goal. The U-16s had less success against Pateadores earlier in the day, falling by the same 3-0 score. Both matches were played on Field 5 at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.

SUEÑO MLS WINNER BRIANT REYES JOINS CHIVAS USA'S U-16 TEAM: Briant Reyes, a 16-year-old Salvadoran-American midfielder from Downey, Calif., was selected as the winner of 'Sueño MLS 2008: The Dream Continues' by Chivas USA on Sunday before the Red-and-White's season opener against FC Dallas on May 30, and has been invited to play for Chivas USA's U-16 Team. The announcement was made in front of a live national TV audience, during Univision's popular weekly sports show, República Deportiva, which has followed the six-week search process in a unique "reality show within a show" format. Born to parents from El Salvador, Reyes is a junior at Downey High School. He stood out by scoring a goal in a crucial Sueño MLS trial match, played by the five Los Angeles Finalists and Chivas USA's U-16 Team, against the Chivas USA's U-15's on Friday, March 21.

CHIVAS USA TEAMS FIND SUCCESS AT COPA CHIVAS USA IN SAN BERNARDINO: The 3rd Annual Copa Chivas USA took place this past weekend in San Bernardino, and a pair of Chivas USA teams captured titles. In one flight of the Boys U-17 tournament, Chivas USA San Bernardino defeated the CD Chivas USA W team 5-0 in the Championship match. The Newbury Park Chivas USA U-10 Girls also captured a title, shutting out South Valley Chivas 2-0 in the final to earn the title.

CURRENT CHIVAS USA U-18 AND U-16 ROSTERS: The rosters for Chivas USA's U-18 and U-16 Teams in the Development Academy were fixed on April 1 and will not undergo changes until after the end of the U.S. Soccer Developmental Academy's 2007-08 season. The U-18 Team currently sits in fourth place in Southern California, while the U-16 Team is in seventh. Both teams have 11 games left to play in the league. Full team rosters are listed below:

Head Coach: Sacha van der Most van Spijk

Assistant Coach: Refugio Mancilla

Head Coach: Samuel Rivas

Assistant Coach: Miguel Ramos

DEVELOPMENT ACADEMY INFORMATION: The U.S Soccer Development Academy is a nationwide youth development initiative, organized by the U.S. Soccer Federation, featuring 63 of the top youth teams in the country competing in a league system at both the U-18 and U-16 levels. The first part of the season ran from October to November, and after a winter break the league has resumed play and will continue through the end of June. The 63 youth programs, including one U.S. Youth National Team in each age group, are divided into eight regions, each of which will send a single qualifier to the national finals to be held at The Home Depot Center after the regular season concludes in late June. For more information on the U.S. Soccer Developmental Academy, please visit www.ussoccer.com.