Seven Morgan students flew 2,204 miles from Hartford, CT, two weeks ago, to travel to Arizona to participate in one of North America’s best youth soccer events of the year.
The tournament, called MLS Next Fest, held in Mesa, Arizona, took place from December 4th to 15th, and is an event for a select group of MLS Next 1 and 2 teams ranging from U13 to U19 age groups. This event serves as North America’s biggest youth soccer scouting event, showcasing top talent to many pro, college, and national teams.
This year, the event was held at the Arizona Athletic Grounds & Reach 11 Sports Complex, featuring over 1,474 teams, 30,000+ players, and hundreds of scouts.
Rocco Passante, a freshman at the Morgan School who played for CT Rush 2010 in this tournament, was impressed by the level of competition at the tournament. “The competition was hard, and the teams were of good quality, so we had to play well to win our games,” Passante said.
Passante’s CT Rush team played well in this tournament, fighting through the games and winning a couple. Unfortunately, they had lost one game, making their record during the tournament 2-1.
Outside of all the focus on the games and the tournament in general, Passante shared how Arizona was an exciting place to be in this “mini-vacation,” while competing in MLS Next Fest. “The trip was fun, and the heat was very nice. There was team bonding at things that you can’t do in CT, like go on a hike near the mountains or go to food places that you can’t have in CT. It was a nice change in scenery and was a very interesting trip,” Passante shared.
However, Jeremy Medranda-Bermeo, a senior at the Morgan School, who played for CT United in this tournament, shared a different perspective on the trip to Arizona. “I was sick the whole time I went over there, so I didn’t really perform my best. For the trip over there, my ears felt like they were clogged, and I was really uncomfortable, but I think that it’s like that because I really don’t like going on planes,” Medranda shared.
“But I was very grateful to have everything paid for and having a wonderful staff of coaches and my teammates as well,” Medranda continued.
Similarly to Passante’s opinion on the level of competition at the tournament, Medranda said, “The level of this tournament was intense, and it was something I had never seen before. It was really high level, and the competition was at its best with top MLS academies around North America.”
Medranda’s CT United team had a record of 0-2-1 for their first tournament ever. “In the first and third games, we had struggled. But overall, our team did really well in our 2nd game against the best team in the country,” Medranda said.
Jonathan Gutierrez, a senior at the Morgan School who played for Ginga FC in this tournament, scored 3 goals and had 3 assists, and their team had a record of 3-0-0, making it a really good tournament. “This tournament level I was playing in was MLS Next 2, being sort of like a college showcase for players basically,” Gutierrez said.
His contributions to his team throughout the tournament earned him a spot to play in the MLS Next Uncommitment All-Star game. “I felt very appreciative to be playing in a game like this because only a couple of players got picked, and it was an awesome experience,” Gutierrez said.
Gutierrez’s trip to Arizona turned out to be fine for him, considering it was almost a 6-hour flight, during which he was able to get a lot of sleep.
Many of Morgan’s students were able to take a couple of days or even up to a week off from school to be able to go to one of North America’s best youth soccer events of the year, being able to show their skills not just in the tournament, but to hundreds of scouts and college coaches across the nation. Even if your team won, tied, or even lost, it’s still any soccer player’s dream to participate in the MLS Next Fest showcase.
