Five LA Galaxy Academy players have been selected to play in the US Soccer Development Academy Winter Showcase Select Team games in Sarasota, Fla. on Saturday, Dec. 3.
Technical Advisers and Youth National Team coaches constructed four teams from the 1995 and 1996 age groups. Each age group will have two teams, blue and red, that will play each other, with the 1995 players competing at 2 p.m. (PT) and the 1996 players taking the field at 4 p.m. (PT).
The Galaxy will have three players representing the club in the 1995 age-group game, with forward Jaime Villareal on the Blue Select Team and forward Justin Dhillon and midfielder William Raygoza on the Red Select Team.
Villareal is currently the team’s leader in goals scored with nine goals in six games, while Dhillon, who has three goals on the season, was the Galaxy’s leading scorer during last year’s Winter Showcase in Phoenix, Ariz. Raygoza, who is in his second year with the Academy, has started every game for the team.
In the 1996 age-group game, defender Manny Padilla will take the field for the Blue Select Team while teammate and midfielder Rolando Muñoz will suit up for the Red Select Team.
Padilla and Muñoz, amongst the younger players on the U-16 squad, have been two of the main contributors to the Galaxy’s 3-1-0 start in the division, 4-1-2 overall.
The Galaxy is the most represented club in the Winter Showcase Select Team games with five players.
The U-16 squad is currently third in the Western Conference SoCal division behind the San Diego Surf (8-4-2 overall, 4-2-1 division), a club the Galaxy defeated 3-0 earlier this year, and Real Salt Lake Arizona (7-1-1 overall, 4-0-0 division).
The U-18 squad will head into the showcase with an undefeated record of 7-0-0, 4-0-0 in SoCal division play. They are averaging three goals a game. They are currently in first place of the Western Conference SoCal Division standings, two points ahead of rival Chivas USA (4-3-1 overall, 3-1-1 division).
Both the teams are in Sarasota for a stretch of three games during the weekend.
