D.C. United announced Wednesday the club has signed Academy goalkeeper Abdul "Bill" Hamid to a Generation adidas contract with the first team. Hamid is the first player to sign with the first team directly from United's academy youth system.
"We're excited to sign our first young professional out of the D.C. United Academy team," said D.C. United President and CEO Kevin Payne. "Bill has been in our system for several years, and has drawn a lot of attention nationally and internationally. We have high hopes for him to be a big part of D.C. United's future."
A native of Annandale, Virginia, Hamid has played with the D.C. United Academy since January of 2007. That year, he backstopped the team that won the U17 MLS/SUM Cup. In May 2008, he traveled to Madrid, Spain with the Black-and-Red youth to take part in the U17 Club World Cup. That same year the U.S. Soccer Development Academy named him to the U-17/18 Mid-Atlantic Starting XI. This past summer, Hamid was first choice in goal for the U-17/18 Academy team that compiled a 20-4-5 record and was a finalist in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy.
Hamid played high school soccer at Annandale High School and DeMatha High School. During the 2005-06 school year at DeMatha, he earned First-Team All-Maryland honors, First-Team All-Prince George's County, First-Team All-WCAC and Second-Team Washington Post All-Met honors. Every summer during high school, he also played with D.C. United's Super-Y team. Hamid started playing soccer at the Annandale Boys & Girls Club, and later played club soccer at Premier AC and McLean.
The goalkeeper also has Youth National Team experience, spending time with the United States U18 and U20 national teams. In 2008, he traveled to Portugal with the U20s to play in the Campos Verdes International Tournament and Mexico for the Copa Chivas.
In July 2009, the MLS Board of Governors approved an amendment to the rules governing the signing of youth academy players. MLS clubs will receive two additional roster slots that may be used to sign academy players, in accordance with current Home Grown Player rules, to Generation adidas or Developmental contracts during the 2009 season. These players will not count toward the 24-player roster limit in 2009. Additionally these players may not play in League games during the 2009 season, but can participate in training, exhibition games and CONCACAF Champions League games. These additional player signings will count toward a team's roster upon the commencement of the 2010 season.
Name: Bill Hamid
Position: Goalkeeper
Height: 6-3
Weight: 225
Jersey: 28
Date of Birth: November 25, 1990
Age: 18
Place of Birth: Annandale, Va.
Citizenship: U.S.
Last Club: D.C. United Academy
Roster status: Generation adidas
Acquired: Signed on 9/2/09.
Academy Teams Preliminary Rosters: The preliminary rosters for the U16 and U18 teams were recently named. These include many returning players as well as new players.
The U16 roster includes returning players Yaw Amankwa, Dallas Aminzadeh, Justin Brooks, Sebastian Cahe, Luiz Cartagena, Kennedy O'Shea, Marcus Salady-Defour, Julian Saldana and Joey Wilkins.
In addition, several players who were part of the Academy's U15 Training Program have been selected to the U16 squad. These players are: Joel Condor, Jordan Manley, Collin Martin, Cody Neidermeier and Dario Redondo. </p>
New players joining the team include several who were on United's youth team that won the U17 MLS/SUM Cup this year. These players are: Cody Albrecht, Condor, Julian Griggs, Ahmed Ismail, Redondo, Jalen Robinson and Tyler Rudy.</p>
The U18 team includes returning players Iyassu Bekele, Sam Bradley, Michael Burgos, John Ciampa, Josh Ellis, Allan Flott, Michael Funes, Bayron Gudiel, Oseghae Iguade, Ali Ismeail, Omar Kabba, Steven Mashinski, Kevin McBride, Myles McGinley, Noah Merlin, Andy Najar, Phillip Nwosu, Coleman O'Neill, Shaquille Phillips, Ryan Runion, Harold Tchameni, Eric Valladares and Dominick Yin.
Some U18 players heading off to college are still eligible to play for the upcoming 2009-2010 Academy year. These players are: Julio Arjona (West Virginia University), Peabo Doue (West Virginia University), Marcus Douglas (University of Virginia), Uwem Etuk (West Virginia University), Chris Hegngi (Ohio State University), Alex Herrera (George Mason University), Michael Nerud (Loyola), Chris Perez (William & Mary), Travis Pittman (West Virginia University), Daniel Rice (University of Dayton), Aaron Rilling (Loyola), Matthew Scott (VCU), Paul Torres (University of Maryland), Ethan White (University of Maryland).</p>
