Adidas ESP Update

Adidas ESP wrapped up yesterday and we have our first update to the website showing a list of participants. They have also posted their All*Star award list. These are the kids who really got the attention of the coaching staffs.

First Name	Last Name	Grad Year	Position	Home Town,
Steven	Amaya	2007	AMF	New York, NY
Matt	Armstrong	2007	DMF	Phoenix, AZ
Edgar	Barajas	2007	WF	Pacoima, CA	2005/06 US U-17 Residency
Daniel	Barrera	2008	AMF	Thousand Oakes, CA	2005/06 US U-17 Residency
Ryan	Brode	2007	DMF	Setauket, NY
Brandyn	Bumpas	2007	GK	Denver, CO	2005/06 US U-17 Residency
Teal	Bunbury	2008	CF	Prior Lake, MN
Kristopher	Byrd	2007	LB	Huntersville, NC
Christian	Camacho	2007	DMF	Woodside, NY
Eric	Cava	2007	CF	Clarks Summit, PA
Victor	Cortez	2007	RB	El Sobrante, CA
Alex	Dixon	2008	CF	Humble, TX	2006 US U-17 Residency
Douglas	Ferner	2007	CB	Bloomfield Hills, MI
Kaoru	Forbess	2008	CMF	Benton, AR
Gregory	Garza	2009	LMF	Grapevine, TX
Jose	Gonzalez	2008	LMF	Soquel, CA
Cole	Grossman	2007	CMF	St. Louis, MO
Austin	Guerrero	2007	GK	Chula Vista, CA
Kevin	Huang	2007	CB	Potomac, MD
Christian	Ibeagha	2007	CB	Edmond, OK
Clint	Irwin	2007	GK	Charlotte, NC
Matthew	Kassel	2008	CMF	Bridgewater, NJ
Josh	Lambo	2008	GK	Middleton, WI	2005/06 US U-17 Residency
Jeffrey	Leach	2007	RB	New Canaan, CT
David	Mac Vane	2008	DMF	Middle Grove, NY	2005/06 US U-17 Residency
Thomas	Meyer	2008	CB	St. Louis, MO	2005/06 US U-17 Residency
Alex	Nimo	2007	CF	Portland, OR
Luke	Norman	2008	LMF	Rochester, MI
Vincent	Ocampo	2007	CMF	San Diego, CA
Jesse	Paredes	2008	CMF	Los Angeles, CA	2006 US U-17 Residency
Davis	Paul	2007	CF	Upland, CA
Samuel	Redmond	2008	DMF	Arden, NC
Nicholas	Sih	2007	CF	Horsham, PA
John	Tardy	2007	LB	Staten Island, NY
Casey	Townsend	2008	CF	Traverse City, MI
Kenneth	Walker	2007	CMF	Wickliffe, OH
Bobby	Warshaw	2007	CMF	Mechanicsburg, PA
Victor	Yanez	2008	LB	Riverside, CA	2006 US U-17 Residency

You'll notice that most of the players (23 to be exact) are headed into their senior year of high school. They'll be very excited to hear from top college coaches once the recuiting season gets under way. No doubt these kids will be amongst the top rated prospects entering college next year. For the 14 juniors and 1 sophomore I'm sure this All*Star award will help get their names on some US National Coaches lists for future camps. Who knows, maybe Chelsea will call on one or two of these All*Stars.

All told the group featured 87 Seniors, 45 Juniors and 5 Sophomores. Once again I will use the "e" word. The experience those younger kids get at an event like this must be unmatched. Again, the US must find a way to host more events like adidas ESP. 137 kids getting this kind of teaching/experience is great, but not enough.

Back when I started this blog I posted the top 20 Club teams from around the country. I thought it'd be interesting to look at which of those clubs sent players to this event. So here's the list in order of how many kids they sent:

Chicago Magic	5
FC Delco	4
Dallas Texans	4
Arsenal FC	4
CASL Elite	4
Sockers FC	2
Gallagher	2
Casa Mia Bays	2
Sereno SC	2
Solar	2
So Cal United	1
FC Greater Boston	1
Washington FC Premier	1
Crossfire Premier	1
Irvine Strikers	1
Concorde Fire	1
Colorado Rush Nike	1
Pateadores	1
Nomads	0
HC United	0
Potomac SA	0
Total	39

One interesting thing to note in the above list is that only 39 kids came from the top 20 clubs in the country. Only 28% of the ESP kids play for the clubs that get all the press.

We'll keep an eye on these kids as the U-17's play more matches and as the college recuiting season heats up next year.