Midfielder Bryan Leyva graduates from FC Dallas Juniors and joins team

by PegNews wire

FRISCO — FC Dallas General Manager Michael Hitchcock announced that Bryan Leyva, of the FC Dallas Juniors Program, has been signed to its professional team. The signing makes Leyva the first player in FC Dallas history to earn a professional contract through the club’s youth development system.

“We’re very excited to sign our first FC Dallas Juniors player, Bryan Leyva, to the professional team. This is a landmark announcement for our club.” FC Dallas General Manager Michael Hitchcock said. “Similar to great clubs around the world, the future of FC Dallas is developing the best and the brightest youth soccer players in North Texas into world class professionals, and this is the first step toward that end.”

Born in Chihuahua, Mexico, Leyva joined the FC Dallas Youth Development System in June of 2008 as a member of the Under-16 Juniors Team. Leyva helped lead the team to a second place finish in this year’s MLS/SUM U-17 Cup.

“Signing with FC Dallas is a dream come true,” FC Dallas new signing Bryan Leyva said. “The Juniors program has helped me in my development as a soccer player, and I want to thank my teammates for their support in getting me to this point. This is a very exciting day for me and my family, and I look forward to working with the first team in the future.”

Earlier this year, Leyva and the U-16 Juniors participated in the prestigious Dr Pepper Dallas Cup, a tournament featuring the top youth professional and amateur teams from around the world. This past summer, the 17-year-old midfielder was named to the U.S. Soccer Development Academy Central Conference Best XI and was a key player for the team last season, scoring 13 goals.

Leyva came to the United States in 2000 and is a U.S. resident. Leyva is currently with the U-17 Mexican National Team preparing for the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Nigeria later this year. The midfielder also had training stints with Lille OSC in France and Racing Santander in Spain.

Leyva will join the FC Dallas professional team upon his return from the U-17 Mexican National Team camp next week. FC Dallas will formally introduce Leyva at a media event later this month.

(In July 2009, the MLS Board of Governors approved an amendment to the rules governing the signing of youth academy players. MLS clubs will receive two additional roster slots that may be used to sign academy players, in accordance with current Home Grown Player rules, to Generation adidas or Developmental contracts during the 2009 season. Home Grown players will not count toward the 24-player roster limit in 2009. These players may not play in league games during the 2009 season, but can participate in training, exhibition games and CONCACAF Champions League games. Home Grown players will count toward a team’s roster upon the commencement of the 2010 season. The Generation adidas contract provides college tuition reimbursement for a player.)

Source: FC Dallas