Charlotte FC Academy Update: GA Cup, MLS NEXT Cup, and more players getting Crown Legacy FC opportunities

1 day ago

By Brian Maurer

Charlotte FC's U16s while in France (Photo courtesy of Charlotte FC and MLS NEXT)

Charlotte FC starts their 2025 MLS season this weekend, but under the surface, Charlotte's Academy teams are already in midseason form. After their winter break, the U14s, U15s, U16s, and U18s all return to action against MLS Academy competition this weekend when they host Nashville SC.

Here's an update on some of the highlights from the Charlotte FC Academy fall schedule and what to look forward to in the spring:

Patrick Daka and the U16s travel to France

Charlotte's U14 Head Coach Patrick Daka passed the prestigious EFCL exam earning one of the highest certifications in soccer coaching. The course was an 18-month course and culminated in the final examination in France. Charlotte's U16 squad was selected as the group of players to travel and train during the coaching examinations.

While in France, the U16s also had an opportunity to play against PSGs U16s and won the friendly against the Parisian side. "We felt like because our U16 generation is a good generation for us, it's a good age group for us that we feel needs more programming, they need more resistance...the kids did really really well," said Charlotte FC Academy Director Bryan Scales "It helped open their eyes a little bit about what the next level looks like."

Fall is the Academy's construction phase

The first half of the 2024-25 season Scales calls the "construction phase" where the different academy age groups are put together, the rosters are built for the season, and the technical staff, coaches, and players work towards answering the question "what are we all about?"

This year, Scales said they did a lot of recruiting for the U18s so there were a bunch of new faces that were given time to adjust to that level during the fall.

The U16s were given time to adjust to their new level after playing at the U15 level last spring. The first half of the schedule has a similar structure down the line to the younger levels as well.

Now that the first half of the academy season is over Charlotte FC's First Team, and MLS NEXT Pro team Crown Legacy FC are getting prepared for their 2025 campaigns. This leads to a lot more shakeups and movement at the academy level.

U18s will start to get called up to Crown Legacy, which will open up spots for U16s to move up to U18, and so on down the line. "I would expect probably four, five, six guys from the 18s to be in training with [Crown Legacy] on a regular basis and competing for minutes," said Scales on his expectations for the spring. This means several opportunities will present themselves for U16 players to also get a chance to move up. Scales sees this upward movement as an opportunity for players to hit some resistance and build resilience. "An important part of their development is them being able to jump into the deep end and have to survive," said Scales.

Scales likened the "movement phase" in the spring to adjusting the dials on a treadmill. As a player advances into older and older age groups the speed gets faster. "Typically what happens is a player goes up to Crown Legacy, excited, their working, their working, their working, and then they start to hit the wall a little bit because it takes so much effort to survive that you have to be ready to bring them back into their environment just to let take a breath," said Scales.

High expectations from Academy at Crown Legacy FC level

In 2024, Charlotte FC's Academy developed players who played over 25% of all Crown Legacy minutes. That new standard is raising the bar for the 2025 season as many academy graduates like Aron John, Jack Neeley, and Nimfasha Berchimas look set to return and new academy players will likely earn their MLS NEXT Pro debuts with Legacy this year. "That number should go up," said Scales on the expectations and continued growth of the Academy at the professional level moving forward.

Academy players getting the opportunity at MLS NEXT Pro allows them to know what it takes and to see the harsh reality of the demands of the professional game. "Can Aron John take Ashley Westwood's job? That's really the next step for Aron, 'can I get on the First Team, get on the field, do well enough to stay on the field, and now this is my job now'" said Scales. "These are things we have to help them with that transition knowing that it takes a sustained amount of concentration and really really strong mentality."

Academy players earning college scholarships

Six Charlotte FC Academy graduates earned college scholarships and will be moving on to their college pathway journeys next year:

Chandler Young - Wake Forest University
James Nyandjo - UNC-Charlotte
Juan Martinez - Syracuse University
Ben Gooding - UNC-Wilmington
Amare Lucas - UNC-Wilmington
Luke Munson - Furman University

Jeremiah Alexander-Munoz and Wyatt Holt earned USYNT call-ups

Charlotte FC's Academy has had two recent call-ups to the USYNT. In November, defender Jeremiah Alexander-Munoz was called up to the USYNT U15 camp.

Defender Wyatt Holt was just called up to USYNT U16's February camp and is currently training there until February 24.

Preparing for the Generation Adidas Cup and MLS NEXT Cup

One of the premier events for MLS Academies is the Generation Adidas Cup every spring. In 2024, 49 clubs from 15 different countries participated in this event. "You're trying to benchmark your players against the rest of the world," said Scales. "We're trying to get them set up to make that next jump to what professional football really looks like."

Charlotte's U16s had a good showing at the GA Cup in 2024 as they advanced to the knockout rounds before losing to French club Toulouse FC in penalties.

The tournament and showcase will be in Bradenton, Florida, from April 12-20. Charlotte's U16s and U18s will feature at the GA Cup in 2025.

After the GA Cup, depending on where Charlotte's Academy U15, U16, and U18 teams finish their regular seasons they will either automatically qualify for MLS NEXT Cup, or they will need to compete to qualify for MLS NEXT Cup playoffs in the MLS NEXT Flex qualifier.

MLS NEXT Flex will be in Boyds, Maryland from May 9-13.

The MLS NEXT Cup playoffs will be in Nashville, Tennessee from June 14-22. Last season Charlotte FC's U17 team (now the U18 level) made it to the Cup final before losing to LA Galaxy's U17 squad.