Recently, FC Dallas welcomed a delegation of teams from their new affiliate in Monterrey, Mexico.
The trip and the new affiliation have been spearheaded by FC Dallas Under-14 Development Academy Head Coach Francisco Molina, a Monterrey-native.
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“I think they’re going to represent our brand very well in Monterrey,” said Molina. “[Liga MX clubs] Monterrey and Tigres had both approached them and that’s not what they want. They want to be able to take advantage of our tournaments and try to promote the Bobby Rhine Fall Invitational to make it international.”
After nearly a two-year process, the club formerly known as Virgin Soccer officially became an FC Dallas affiliate recently. Led by club directors Gabriel Moreno, Patricio Guerra & Miguel Mendoza, the club has six teams from U-15 to U-9 level and over Labor Day weekend brought teams to scrimmage the FCD U-16, U-15 and U-14 sides.
“It was competitive and more than I thought because that older age group that they had was only four months old,” said Molina. “All the kids we’re excited to be here and wanted to prove to us that they could play. I knew they were going to be organized, but the quality of the players they brought was really very exciting for me.”
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Molina added that one player will be invited to Frisco to join the FCD ‘98’s and that he’s extremely excited about how the affiliation will develop over time. Coaching clinics with FC Dallas Academy coaches traveling down to Monterrey is planned for the future and also in the plans is using the FC Dallas ECNL teams to help start a girls team.
“With the guys who are running FC Dallas in Monterrey, I think it’s going to be very successful,” said Molina. “Monterrey and Tigres both have academies here in Dallas and we’re definitely more organized in Monterrey than they are here.”
