Where are they now...The 1999 US Soccer U-17 Residency class...Final Part 4...

Raul Rivera – The best I can tell from searching the web, Raul didn’t go onto big University success on the soccer field. It looks like the forward went to Fresno City College in Fresno, California after leaving Bradenton. In 2004 he was named to the D-III NSCAA/adidas Junior College Men’s All-America Second Team. Despite going to a small Junior College in the central valley of California, Raul got some playing time with Chivas USA Reserves in their inaugural season of 2005. However he never made it into a first team match. In 2006 he played for the PDL’s Fresno Fuego appearing in eight matches.

Matt Roberts – In 2000 Roberts joined Bradenton classmate Abe Thompson enrolling at the University of Maryland. Roberts played soccer for one season at Maryland, only getting into two games. After 2000, the trail goes cold. There is an assistant coach Matt Roberts at Aquinas College, however his playing career seems to be at different times than the former Bradenton resident’s. Maybe someone out there can help track him down.

Abe Thompson – Abe Thompson went to The University of Maryland to play college soccer after graduating from Bradenton. He had a stellar college career where he was named to a semifinalist for the Hermann Trophy in both his Junior and Senior seasons. In January of 2005 he was drafted in the second round of the Supplemental Draft. I was personally shocked when he slipped out of the first three rounds. His size and nose for goal have helped him remain in MLS and this season he scored two goals and assisted on six more. Abe could be one of those guys putting together the pieces, waiting for a break out season. I’d like to see him stick around MLS and keep hunting for goals.

Seth Trembly – (I have to warn you, as a Colorado Rapids fan I don’t like Seth Trembly because of his play for my team and his playing against my team. This may show through as a negative bias in this portion of the blog.) After a strong career in Bradenton and the US U-17 team, Seth Trembly joined the Colorado Rapids as a Nike Project-40 player in August of 1999. I’m not positive, but he is may be the first of his class to join the league. Seth is a small guy, measuring in at 5’–6” and I don’t think he was ever able to keep up with the MLS speed of play. He often came into a tackle too late while playing for the Rapids, making me think he just didn’t get it. Over a four year career with the Rapids he played in 52 games but didn’t do much of anything.

For some reason, John Ellinger decided he needed a lot of his former U-17 team in Salt Lake City and he traded…yes traded…for Seth. It was only a 4th Round Supplemental Pick, but still a trade. In Salt Lake City Seth’s career has stayed the same and he hasn’t played for the senior team in 2006. Somehow I see his MLS career ending with this latest season.

Peter Withers – Joined Ohio State after finishing up in Florida. In 2005 he was spotted in a reserve match playing with Columbus, but he didn’t suit up for the senior team and wasn’t taken in the draft, although he was listed as a possible target in the 2005 draft by the MLS Draft Tracker. Since his reserve stint with Columbus in 2005, the trail has gone cold. Maybe he can stop by and let us know what he’s been up to.

Alexander Yi – After residency, Alex Yi enrolled at UCLA and played as a true freshman in 2000. In that first season he was honored as Pac-10 Freshman of the Year and started all 19 of the Bruin’s matches. In his second year he continued to star for the Southern California school and finished the season as one of the top defenders in the country. His nomination for the Hermann Trophy got him recognized by scouts abroad. After finishing his sophomore year, Yi moved to Belgium to play for Royal Antwerp. In two seasons he played in 17 matches and decided the US was going to be better for his career. In 2005 he was allocated to FC Dallas by a weighted lottery. Since returning to the US he has struggled and is still trying to break into the starting 11 for Coach Colin Clarke. Yi is one of the guys where you know the sound soccer skills are there, there just needs to be something that brings them out.

Coach John Ellinger – John Ellinger continued coaching U-17’s in Florida until the start of Real Salt Lake. Owner David Checketts appointed him in October of 2004 and gave Ellinger the daunting task of getting an expansion club off the ground. Interestingly, Coach decided to bring many of his former US Youth National Team players back under his wings. Those players included the above listed Bradenton players in addition to Clint Mathis. The first season experiment ended terribly and Salt Lake limped to five league wins. In his second year Ellinger has improved things in SLC, but the team still failed to make the playoffs winning ten matches this time around. Ellinger hasn’t gotten the boot yet, but you’ve got to think he is on warning with Checketts.



So that is all folks...You've now seen what happened to the first class to go through the Bradenton Residency program. Without a doubt it has helped develop some of the top talent in US Soccer (Beasley, Donovan, Convey, Gooch) and it has also not been a perfect system. I think this helps to show how hard it can be to identify soccer talent at such young an age. Hopefully as MLS gets their vertical system in place, the more players being professionally trained, the more who can succeed in this type of environment. Good luck to the current class and check back soon for an abbreviated look at where are they now.

In case you missed Part I, Part II & Part III.