ST. LOUIS — St. Louis City SC has announced another development team for their academy, and there's quite a bit of local flavor.
The club announced its roster for STL City 2, which will play in the MLS NEXT Pro League.
City SC said the team will, "Serve as an incubator for the club's academy and younger players, accelerating their development as they gain valuable experience practicing and playing alongside and against professional players."
Of those announced for the team, 10 are from the St. Louis and surrounding areas.
Here is the full roster for STL City 2:
- Dida Armstrong - Forward - Rutherfordton, NC
- Ezra Armstrong - Defender - Gastonia, NC
- Michael Creek - Goalkeeper - Saint Louis, MO
- Josh Dolling - Forward - London, England
- Anthony Faupel - Forward - Saint Charles, MO
- Nathan Ferguson - Forward - Glen Carbon, IL
- Karson Gibbs - Forward - Saint Louis, MO
- Ryley Gibbs - Midfielder - Saint Louis, MO
- Aaron Heard - Midfielder - Fairfax, VA
- Kyle Hiebert - Defender - Manitoba, Canada
- Josh Maher - Defender - Caseyville, IL
- Célio Pompeu Martins - Midfielder - Fortaleza, Brazil
- Alex Palazzolo - Midfielder - Saint Louis, MO
- Miguel Perez - Midfielder - Saint Louis, MO
- Max Schneider - Midfielder - Cologne, Germany
- Fritz Volmar - Defender - Peoria, IL
- Jack Wagoner - Midfielder - Chesterfield, MO
- Wan Kuzain Wan Kamal - Midfielder - Carbondale, IL
- Akil Watts Defender Fort Wayne, Indiana
- Joshua Yaro - Defender - Kumasi, Ghana
- Sergio Rivas - Midfielder - Eden Prairie, MN
“MLS NEXT Pro is the perfect platform for us to continue laying the foundation as we build out our team ahead of our inaugural MLS season in 2023,” said Lutz Pfannenstiel, St. Louis CITY’s Sporting Director in a release. “We were able to bring in some exciting players that I think the fans will love but we were also able to promote some of our academy players, which is very important for us as a club. We have always said we wanted to create a pipeline where our players can develop, and so we are extremely pleased to have six St. Louis CITY U-17 Academy players on the first-ever STL CITY 2 roster, with the hope that some of them will go on to play on the first team in 2023 or beyond.”
St. Louis City 2 will face off against 20 other clubs in the MLS NEXT Pro League. The team will be in the Western Conference with Colorado, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Minnesota, Portland, Salt Lake, San Jose, Seattle and Vancouver.