Ten players from Clark County were selected to the rosters for the debut of the Portland Timbers Academy teams.
Rosters were announced this week in advance of the under-18 and under-16 teams trip to California this weekend to begin play in the 2012-13 U.S. Soccer Development Academy season. This weekend, the Timbers teams will face the teams from the L.A. Galaxy and Chivas USA.
Six of the 23 players on the under-18 team are from Southwest Washington. Four of 25 on the under-16 roster are from Clark County.
Clark County players on the under-18 team are midfielder Foster Langsdorf of Vancouver, forward Anthony Macchione of Camas, midfielder Kenton McGuire of Vancouver, midfielder James Nosak of Vancouver, goalkeeper Collin Partee of Camas and forward Timur Zhividze of Vancouver.
On the under-16 roster are defender Niko De Vera of Washougal, midfielder Jacob Kempf of Camas, defender Peter Prescott of Vancouver, and defender Isaac Strever of Vancouver.
Nosack and Kempf were in the Seattle Sounders FC academy program last season.
The Timbers Academy coaching staff, headed up by Mike Smith and Adam Smith, selected the players. The roster-building process included an open tryout in June attended by 275 players and an invitation-only combine in early August.
Timbers Academy teams will play 25 Development Academy matches during a season that runs through June of 2013. They will compete against other MLS academy teams and elite youth clubs on the West Coast. They play their 12 home matches at the Adidas Timbers Training Center in Beaverton, Ore. The first home matches are Oct. 6.
Because of the length of the academy season, players on academy-level teams do not play for their high school teams.
U.S. Soccer established its Development Academy in 2007 to identify and train potential elite players. Most Major League Soccer clubs field Development Academy teams in the under-16 and under-18 age groups. This is the first season that the Timbers are involved with the Development Academy. For 2012-13, there are 80 teams divided into Western, Central and Eastern conferences.
The Timbers Academy teams included players from Montana, Nevada and Utah.
