The Academy's U15 and U17 teams are heading to California to compete in the MLS NEXT Fest tournament, a Generation adidas Cup ranking tournament, from December 2-7.
The first half of the MLS NEXT season is coming to a close. While the regular season hits pause, the Academy players also have a special competition during the Men's World Cup.
Back in training at the Complexe sportif Marie-Victorin, Montreal has prepared for this tournament with the desire to do well on the Empire Polo Club fields in Indio, California. The two teams will each face three other MLS academies in a ranking group. Their performance and position will determine their place in the Generation adidas Cup next April in Florida.
“It's a whole new competition and a new experience in player development with interesting matches against MLS academies that have different styles of play," said U17 head coach Maxime Leconte before boarding the plane to Los Angeles. “These are very intense tournaments with three games in four days and only one day to recover."
"For some players, it will be the first time they travel by plane over a long distance and with a group," adds U15 head coach Esteban Landazabal. “In addition to the great experience, this type of tournament is not a playoff scenario, regardless of the results, so there is a little less pressure. This will allow us to focus more on the process rather than on the result. This tournament format will also recur two more times throughout the year (GA Cup and MLS NEXT Flex) so it will be a good learning experience as well for these future important events of the season."
Follow the games up close on the Academy’s social media accounts (@academiecfm).
U17 schedule:
1) vs Inter Miami CF, December 2nd at 2 pm ET
2) vs Portland Timbers FC, December 3rd at 4pm ET
3) vs Columbus Crew SC, December 5th at 1:30 pm PT
U15 Schedule:
1) vs Sporting Kansas City, December 4th at 1:30 pm ET
2) vs Columbus Crew SC, December 6th at 2 pm ET
3) vs Vancouver Whitecaps FC, December 7th at 11:30 am ET