Pareja returns...

As we mentioned a couple weeks ago, Oscar Pareja has returned. He arrived last week, and was able to catch the Juniors scrimmage on Saturday versus a selection of players from our other youth teams. We're not sure if Oscar's presence at the scrimmage had anything to do with it, but the Juniors won 12-0.

Oscar then ran his first practice, together with Chris Hayden (below, left), on Monday. U.S. Soccer is expecting to present a tentative schedule for the Academy league in the coming weeks (this year's Academy League is wrapping up in LA this weekend.)

The Youth Club looks like it will have over 75 boys and girls teams from U-11 to U-18,; and the Academy teams, run by Chris Clarke, look to have over 50 boys and girls teams from U-7 to U-10.

First team goalkeeper/assistant coach Dree Keeshan (below, center) will to be the Director of Goalkeeper Coaching for the entire youth program, and Francisco Molina will serve as an assistant to Oscar and Hayden on the Juniors teams.

Next week, we're looking to set up a scrimmage between the Juniors and the first team Reserves, possible Tuesday. The Juniors teams are getting ready for their first home game, which will be against the Houston Dynamo U-16 and U-18 teams here on the Pizza Hut Park field on Sunday, July 27 prior to the first team's game against LA.