FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Four New England Revolution Academy players have been called in to the U.S. Youth National Team Futures Camp. Jonathan Ferreira, Tyler Freitas, Amos Shapiro-Thompson and Kevin Vang, all of whom play for the Revolution’s Under-14 team, have been called in to the camp, which is being held from May 23-26 in Carson, California.
The Futures Camp, which will be coached by Brian Johnson, John Hackworth and Tony Lepore, is designed to select the most talented players born in 2000 and 2001 who also happen to be on a later physical development growth path, with the hope to eliminate the relative age effect on talent identification.
“We are extremely excited for Jonathan, Tyler, Amos and Kevin to have this opportunity with the National Team,” Revolution director of youth development Bryan Scales said. “They have all worked extremely hard this season, both with our Under-14s team and at the Generation adidas Cup, so I know that they will take full advantage of their time in California and return more accomplished players.”
All four players contributed to the Revolution U-14s’ 9-1 win over FC Bolts Celtic last weekend, with Ferreira scoring a hat trick and Freitas adding a goal, while Shaprio-Thompson and Vang both recorded assists.
Of the four players called in, only Shapiro-Thompson has previous national team experience, having been called in to two separate U.S. Under-14 camps in February and August 2014. He will also be familiar with two of the three coaches at the Futures Camp, with Johnson coaching the February 2014 camp and Lepore coaching the camp in August.
A native of Worthington, Mass., Shapiro-Thompson is in his second year with the Revolution Academy, having originally joined ahead of the 2013-14 season. He made 22 appearances in the 2013-14 season, scoring four goals and adding six assists for the U-14s, which were tied for the second most on the team. So far this season, Shapiro-Thompson has split time between the U-14s and the U-16s, making 13 appearances, 10 with the U-14s where he has tallied five assists, and three with the U-16s.
The youngest of the four players called in, Ferreira has made 19 appearances for the U-14s this season, scoring 11 goals and adding two assists. A forward from Ashland, Mass., Ferreira is second on the Revs U-14s for goals, while the U-14s are 6-1-1 when he finds the net.
Freitas, a midfielder from North Attleborough, Mass., has made 27 appearances this season while splitting time between the U-14s and the U-16s. He has made 17 appearances with the U-14s, scoring three goals and adding one assist, while also making five appearances for the U-16s in league play this season. He also made five appearances in the Generation adidas Cup, which is Major League Soccer’s annual elite youth tournament for U-17 academy teams as he follows in the path of his brother Justin – a player on the Revs’ U-18 team and a three-year member of the Academy.
Rounding out the quartet is Vang, who is tied with Shapiro-Thompson for the team-lead in assists for the U-14s. A midfielder from Cranston, R.I., he has made 27 overall appearances this season, including 18 with the U-14s and four with the U-16s in league play. He has added one goal and five assists in league play – all coming with the U-14s – while also making five appearances at the Generation adidas Cup, where the Revolution finished in sixth place in the Premier Division despite having one of the youngest squads in the competition.
