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Local youth players earning their shot at U.S. National Team

By Energy FC Communications, 02/20/17, 3:45PM CST

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Energy FC partnership with ODP program paying dividends

It’s been a great couple of months for Oklahoma’s Olympic Development Program and its players.  The largest turnout for Olympic Development Program (ODP) tryouts in Oklahoma City and Tulsa was followed by a successful trip to South Texas for matches with ODP and Development Academy teams from multiple states.  The success there led to several youth soccer players earning the opportunity to be noticed by members of the U.S. National Team.

Two weeks ago 13 teams from the ’03 – ’05 age groups left their mark on the South Texas Friendlies Event in College Station.  At that event the ODP teams went a combined 25-10-10 with victories over  the Houston Dynamo Academy and  Olympic Development teams from North Texas, South Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas. 

Based upon on their performance, several boys from the ’04 team were subsequently invited to the U.S. Soccer National Training Center sessions held in Dallas February 13 with U-15 National Team Coach Dave Van den Bergh. 

The following players were invited in to the training center:
Danny Gutierrez (Oklahoma Football Club)
Kabl Kahkesh (Oklahoma Football Club)
Freddy Palacios (Oklahoma Football Club)
Rokas Pukstas (Oklahoma Football Club)
Kaleb Trussell (Oklahoma Football Club)

Tommy Riley, Director of Player Development, was invited to attend the session as well to observe and following the event he said, “The boys did quite well for themselves and represented the state well.  I think they left Coach Van den Bergh with a great first impression of the level of talent that Oklahoma has to offer.” 

The boys will return to National Training Center next month to continue their efforts to advance up the ranks of the US Soccer National Team Program.  Oklahoma Soccer Association and Energy FC look forward to continued opportunities such as this for the youth of Oklahoma.