Number of camps
The 2011 class was active during this past cycle with six total camps from September 2025 to May 2026.

Number of roster spots available
From those six camps, 137 total roster spots were made available to players. That is an average of just under 23 roster spots per camp.

Number of different players brought into camp
Of those 137 total roster spots, 72 different players were brought into at least one camp to get their first USYNT team camp experience.

The players called in the most
No players were called into all six camps, and in fact, no player was brought into five camps. But there were seven players that were brought into four of the six camps.

There were fourteen players brought into three camps: Alex Bayraktarov, Blessed Chea, Bradley Castro, Christopher Gonzalez, Diego Ros, Easton Odom, Gage Lewis, Immanuel Adewunmi, Levi Welch, Reggie Bailey, Ryan Schlotterbeck, Santiago Suarez-Couri, Zach Lapierre, Zamir Loyo Reynaga.

In an ideal world, the players that are brought into the most camps should be considered your core group for the generation. They should be considered high-potential, high-performing and ideally high-character players. They should be considered clear top players at their position for their age group. Of course there are core players who are not here for reasons such as injuries or club release issues. That will happen and can explain some absences.

As I look at the players that were brought into the most camps, I find some interesting trends. Of the seven players that were brought into four camps, only two are in my top 20 class rankings — Benji Flowers (#1 ranked) and Cosimo Tristani (#20 ranked). The rest did not make my list, and outside of Luan Silva, none were super close to making it at this moment in time.

Of the players who were brought into three camps, six made my top 20 — Diego Ros, Immanuel Adewunmi, Levi Welch, Santiago Suarez-Couri, Zach Lapierre and Zamir Loyo Reynaga. And a lot of these players were close to making it, like Christopher Gonzalez, Easton Odom, Reggie Bailey and Ryan Schlotterbeck.

Early dual-national battles
CB, Mason Washington, LAFC (Mexico), CB, Ethan O'Neil, San Diego FC (Mexico), AM, Zamir Loyo Reynaga, Sporting KC (Mexico) and CF, Romualdo Aguirre, CF Monterrey (Mexico)

Historically, Mexico is our biggest dual-national competitor, and that competition usually starts sooner than any other dual-national competition. In Europe, our top competitors are usually Germany, Netherlands and England, and those competitions do not usually start until later in the youth national team process.

All four of the early dual-national battles are with Mexican-American kids. Of the four identified below, three are in my current class top 20 (Aguirre, Loyo Reynaga and Washington). The United States was late to identify Washington and is working to rectify that miss. Reynaga has been a top priority since the beginning and has recently started joining Mexico camps. Aguirre is Mexico-based. He has been in several Mexico camps, playing up an age group at times, and only one U.S. camp. O'Neil has been a consistent selection for the U.S., but recently attended his first Mexico camp.

Aguirre, Reynaga and Washington should all be top priorities. Aguirre feels like a long shot right now. Reynaga seems to be 50/50, and Washington should be winnable if we give him the right priority level.

Top players that did not get into camp
AM, Papo Gordon, Valencia, CM, Jaethan Irwin, Phoenix Rising, W/LB, Matthew Brusco, Cedar Stars Bergen, W, Leo Woehl, Columbus Crew, AM/W, Maxwell Camara, D.C. United, LB, Andre Campbell, Inter Miami, W, Neville Knowles III, Villarreal, CF, Carson Starrett, Orlando City, CB, Malachi Joseph, New York Red Bulls, DM, Hudson Cicala, FC Cincinnati, RB, Blaise Blackwell, Nashville SC, GK, Roark Daughtridge, D.C. United, CB, Kai Simmonds, Philadelphia Union, CM, Kayden Drolette, San Jose Earthquakes, AM, Darwin Yair Lopez, FC Cincinnati

These are all high-potential players who need to get into a camp in their U-16 cycle if they continue to progress the way they should. Gordon in particular has the potential to be the top player in this class. He has been in contact with U.S. Soccer this past season, but he was injured for most of the year. I expect he'll get a call-up soon in the U-16 cycle if he is back to health. Back in the U-14 identification camp process, Gordon was one of a couple of players who was invited to play up with the 2010s.

So why weren't these guys called in? It's pretty well known among the scouting community that USYNT selections at the earlier age groups have a lot of bias, subjectivity and politics behind the decisions. The main reasons high-potential players do not get selected early in the process are:

There were fourteen players brought into three camps: Alex Bayraktarov, Blessed Chea, Bradley Castro, Christopher Gonzalez, Diego Ros, Easton Odom, Gage Lewis, Immanuel Adewunmi, Levi Welch, Reggie Bailey, Ryan Schlotterbeck, Santiago Suarez-Couri, Zach Lapierre, Zamir Loyo Reynaga.

In an ideal world, the players that are brought into the most camps should be considered your core group for the generation. They should be considered high-potential, high-performing and ideally high-character players. They should be considered clear top players at their position for their age group. Of course there are core players who are not here for reasons such as injuries or club release issues. That will happen and can explain some absences.

As I look at the players that were brought into the most camps, I find some interesting trends. Of the seven players that were brought into four camps, only two are in my top 20 class rankings — Benji Flowers (#1 ranked) and Cosimo Tristani (#20 ranked). The rest did not make my list, and outside of Luan Silva, none were super close to making it at this moment in time.

Of the players who were brought into three camps, six made my top 20 — Diego Ros, Immanuel Adewunmi, Levi Welch, Santiago Suarez-Couri, Zach Lapierre and Zamir Loyo Reynaga. And a lot of these players were close to making it, like Christopher Gonzalez, Easton Odom, Reggie Bailey and Ryan Schlotterbeck.

Early dual-national battles
CB, Mason Washington, LAFC (Mexico), CB, Ethan O'Neil, San Diego FC (Mexico), AM, Zamir Loyo Reynaga, Sporting KC (Mexico) and CF, Romualdo Aguirre, CF Monterrey (Mexico)

Historically, Mexico is our biggest dual-national competitor, and that competition usually starts sooner than any other dual-national competition. In Europe, our top competitors are usually Germany, Netherlands and England, and those competitions do not usually start until later in the youth national team process.

All four of the early dual-national battles are with Mexican-American kids. Of the four identified below, three are in my current class top 20 (Aguirre, Loyo Reynaga and Washington). The United States was late to identify Washington and is working to rectify that miss. Reynaga has been a top priority since the beginning and has recently started joining Mexico camps. Aguirre is Mexico-based. He has been in several Mexico camps, playing up an age group at times, and only one U.S. camp. O'Neil has been a consistent selection for the U.S., but recently attended his first Mexico camp.

Aguirre, Reynaga and Washington should all be top priorities. Aguirre feels like a long shot right now. Reynaga seems to be 50/50, and Washington should be winnable if we give him the right priority level.

Top players that did not get into camp
AM, Papo Gordon, Valencia, CM, Jaethan Irwin, Phoenix Rising, W/LB, Matthew Brusco, Cedar Stars Bergen, W, Leo Woehl, Columbus Crew, AM/W, Maxwell Camara, D.C. United, LB, Andre Campbell, Inter Miami, W, Neville Knowles III, Villarreal, CF, Carson Starrett, Orlando City, CB, Malachi Joseph, New York Red Bulls, DM, Hudson Cicala, FC Cincinnati, RB, Blaise Blackwell, Nashville SC, GK, Roark Daughtridge, D.C. United, CB, Kai Simmonds, Philadelphia Union, CM, Kayden Drolette, San Jose Earthquakes, AM, Darwin Yair Lopez, FC Cincinnati

These are all high-potential players who need to get into a camp in their U-16 cycle if they continue to progress the way they should. Gordon in particular has the potential to be the top player in this class. He has been in contact with U.S. Soccer this past season, but he was injured for most of the year. I expect he'll get a call-up soon in the U-16 cycle if he is back to health. Back in the U-14 identification camp process, Gordon was one of a couple of players who was invited to play up with the 2010s.

So why weren't these guys called in? It's pretty well known among the scouting community that USYNT selections at the earlier age groups have a lot of bias, subjectivity and politics behind the decisions. The main reasons high-potential players do not get selected early in the process are:

2011 is an anomaly in that a non-MLS academy — Barca Residency — had the most USYNT U-15 selections in this cycle. They had an unprecedentedly talented 2011 class, with Easton Odom, Ethan O'Neil and Diego Ros all receiving multiple call-ups. All three of those players are now at MLS academies.

Houston Dynamo appears to have the strongest 2011 group in the eyes of U.S. Soccer. Six different players were called into a camp, with a total of 11 call-ups.

Of the 27 U.S.-based MLS academies, five had zero call-ups: Austin FC, Inter Miami, Real Salt Lake, San Diego FC, Seattle Sounders. Austin continues to have one of the weaker player pools in MLS. Inter Miami's academy has been in disarray since Messi's arrival. Real Salt Lake and Seattle Sounders have historically strong academies but have recently deprioritized their U-15 age group. And San Diego did not have a U-15 team, but they have signed Easton Odom and Ethan O'Neil, two players who were selected quite a few times this cycle. Next season they will have a combined 2011 and 2012 team, so we will get a better chance to review their class strength.

Only four U.S. non-MLS clubs got anyone in:

One of my major criticisms of how U.S. Soccer handled the 2009 and 2010 U-15 cycles is the lack of experimentation, and it appears that U.S. Soccer agreed. The 2009 cycle had four camps, where 91 spots were available and 40 different players were called in. Incredibly, a total of 11 players were called into all four camps.

The 2010 cycle had six camps, including the Concacaf U-15 Championship, where 134 spots were available, but only 47 different players were called in, and there were four players who were invited to every camp and another nine who were in five of the six camps.

Of the three cycles, 2010 had the least amount of experimentation and 2011 had the most. There was a downward trajectory of players who were in every camp. There weren't any players selected to play up an age group since Robert Turdean and Will Recupero during the 2009 cycle. The 2010 class had by far the fewest players selected who were not at an MLS academy. In 2009, there were amazingly 15 MLS academies that did not have a single player selected.

U.S. Soccer places a high value on consistent high performers and late developers
As we look at the last three cycles, we start to get reliable data on how U.S. Soccer looks at talent identification early in the Youth National Team (YNT) lifecycle. They very clearly prioritize well-established names that have been consistent performers at their academy, oftentimes playing up an age group. When they experiment, they tend to do so with smaller, potentially late-developing players. These players oftentimes do not stick during the course of the YNT lifecycle, which is an indication that they are confusing true late developers with small, low-athleticism players.

U.S. Soccer placed a higher priority on experimentation, yet high-potential players continue to be overlooked
I was highly critical of the 2010 U-15 cycle for two reasons: first, there was not enough experimentation with the pool, and they ignored a ton of high-ceiling players. They rectified one of these. The 2011 cycle saw a lot more experimentation with the pool — 25 more unique players were given opportunities in 2011. But in my eyes, those opportunities are still going to a lot of the wrong players. They continue to overlook high-ceiling players with good technical foundations and projectable physical profiles. This is a shift in talent identification philosophy that needs to change.

Players based abroad take longer to integrate into the Youth National Team
U.S. Soccer clearly prioritizes MLS academy players, which I understand — this is where the majority of our talent needs to come from and will come from over the years. However, the pool of players based abroad has been highly proficient and high-performing for the United States Men's National Team. U.S. Soccer needs to place more resources into identifying and scouting U.S.-eligible players so that they can start their recruiting process earlier. In this past World Cup, two of the top performers were developed completely in Europe — Malik Tillman and Folarin Balogun. Class after class, around five of the top 20 players in each class are developed primarily in Europe. U.S. Soccer needs to place a higher priority on this pipeline.

U.S. Soccer has become more hesitant to play players up early in the Youth National Team process
Two U-15 cycles in a row saw no U-14 players get called up to the U-15 USYNT. Is that a coincidence or a strategy? Hard to say — there weren't any overly obvious players to play up, but I also think it might be intentional. It's a challenging precedent to set early in the development lifecycle. Once you play a player up, they expect it and other players want it. If you make bad decisions, it can bite you. I think that playing up this early on should be reserved for true early blue-chip prospects like Cavan Sullivan. This next U-15 class will be an interesting data point because the 2012 class is not overly strong and the 2013 class looks really strong.