U.S. Men's U-17 National Team Set to Begin Full-Time Residency Program

CHICAGO (Thursday, January 14, 1999) - U.S. Soccer history will be made on Jan. 17, 1999 when the U.S. Under-17 Men's National Team begins training at the Bollettieri Sports Academy in Bradenton, Fla. The first-ever full-time residency is in preparation for CONCACAF Under-17 qualifying in Jama

CHICAGO (Thursday, January 14, 1999) - U.S. Soccer history will be made on Jan. 17, 1999 when the U.S. Under-17 Men's National Team begins training at the Bollettieri Sports Academy in Bradenton, Fla. The first-ever full-time residency is in preparation for CONCACAF Under-17 qualifying in Jamaica in February and for the 1999 FIFA Under-17 World Championship in New Zealand in November.

Under the guidance of head coach John Ellinger, 20 U.S. U-17 players will attend school and live away from home for 10 months. The players will be placed in a professional setting where they will attend classes at either Bradenton Academy or Bayshore High School in the morning and will return to Bollettieri Sports Academy for lunch and an afternoon of training. On the weekends the team will have a mixture of games and training sessions.

The Bollettieri Sports Academy is the only full-time, year-round training academy in the United States. The Academy is equipped with state-of-the-art soccer equipment, three Bermuda grass fields, an indoor dome with artificial turf, two swimming pools, newly renovated student housing and dining facilities.

The U-17s played 46 games in 1998, something that is unheard of for a youth national team, posting a 31-8-7 record which includes a superb 17-7-4 record against U-17 international opponents. The USA's explosive offensive power, which scored a phenomenal 132 goals, is lead by the electryifying duo of Landon Donovan (Redlands, Calif.), who netted 35 goals and tallied 25 assists, and Jordan Cila (Jericho, NY) with 26 goals and 20 assists.

The 1999 CONCACAF U-17 qualifying tournament (Feb. 24-28) has been broken down into two groups: Group A (Montego Bay, Jamaica) Costa Rica, Jamaica, Honduras and USA; Group B(San Salvador, El Salvador) Trinidad & Tobago, El Salvador, Mexico and Canada. The USA will begin qualifying against Costa Rica on Feb. 24, before playing Honduras on Feb. 26 and then concluding with Jamaica on Feb. 28. The top finisher from each group will qualify for New Zealand '99 and the runners-up will have a play-off for the third CONCACAF berth. The U.S. is the only country to have participated in all seven FIFA U-17 World Championships since the first tournament in 1985.

The U-17s will be traveling to Buenos Aires, Argentina on Jan. 28 to play Boca Jrs. youth team (Jan. 31) and the Argentinian Under-17 National Team (Feb. 4) in their preparation for the 1999 CONCACAF qualifying tournament.

UNDER-17 U.S. MEN'S NATIONAL TEAM
U.S. Soccer Residency Program (Bollettieri Sports Academy, Bradenton, Fla.)
January - November 1999 - Alphabetical Roster
Name	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Birthdate	Hometown	Last Club/School
Akwari, Nelson	D	5'11"	175	2/04/82	Houston, TX	Texans / Strake Jesuits College
Beasley, DaMarcus	M	5'7"	126	5/24/82	Fort Wayne, IN	Citadel S.C. / Bolletieri Sports Acad.
Beckerman, Kyle	M	5'9"	135	4/23/82	Crofton, MD	Commack United / Arundel HS
Bolin, Danny	M	5'8"	135	9/16/82	Knoxville, TN	BSA/Bollettieri Sports Academy
Chillemi, Filippo	M	5'10"	150	5/12/82	Roswell, GA	United Quest Red / Roswell HS
Cila, Jordon	F	5'9"	160	4/11/82	Jericho, NY	Commack United / Jericho HS
Convey, Bobby	F	5'6"	135	5/21/83	Philadelphia, PA	F.C. Copa / Penn Charter HS
Countess, Delvin	GK	6'0"	165	1/09/82	Sacramento, CA	San Juan / Bella Vista HS
Cronin, Steve	GK	6'0"	150	5/28/83	Sacramento, CA	San Juan / Bella Vista HS
Cutler, Kenneth	M	5'8"	130	3/08/82	Richmond, VA	Richmond Strikers / D. Freeman HS
Donovan, Landon	M	5'8"	148	3/04/82	Redlands, CA	Cal Heat / Redlands E. Valley HS
Gregorio, Adolfo	M	5'8"	160	10/01/82	Hilmar, CA	Turlock Tornados / Hilmar HS
Jackson, Bryan	M	5'8"	150	4/16/82	La Canada, CA	Claremont Stars / La Canada HS
Kalso, Kellen	D	5'9"	165	1/16/82	Oxford, MI	Vadar III. / Oxford HS
Martin, Greg	D	5'7"	140	1/05/82	Plano, TX	Dallas Comets / Bolletieri S.A.
Onyewu, Oguchi	D	6'0"	150	5/13/82	Olney, MD	F.C. Potomac / Sherwood HS
Rivera, Raul	F	5'9"	150	3/07/82	Tulare, CA	Visalia Suns / Bolletieri S.A.
Roberts, Matt	D	5'10"	175	2/09/82	Bell Mead, NJ	Princeton United / Hillsbourgh HS
Trembly, Seth	M	5'6"	140	3/21/82	Littleton, CA	Littleton United / Arapahoe HS
Yi, Alexander	D	5'11"	160	2/27/82	Easton, MD	Columbia United / Bolletieri S.A.
UNDER-17 U.S. MEN'S NATIONAL TEAM STAFF
Head Coach:	John Ellinger (Ellicot City, MD)
Assistant Coach:	Cameron Rast (San Jose, CA)
Team Coordinator:	Jeff McRaney (Orlando, FL)
Trainer:	Brian Goodstein (Philadelphia, PA)