FRISCO, Texas – Five players from the FC Dallas Girls’ Academy will travel to Germany this November to train with FC Bayern Munich Frauen (the club’s women’s team) for one week.
Aubrey Brown, Bella James, Ava McDonald, Juliette Rayo and Jaden Thomas were selected for the training stint at the FC Bayern Campus after impressing Bayern coaches in a player identification camp held in Frisco earlier this summer.
“I've never been outside the country so I’m really excited,” said Aubrey Brown, a goalkeeper for FCD’s U-17 team. “I like to watch a lot of European soccer. I think it's an awesome opportunity to train first and foremost. I feel like this is going to help me mature more as a player because I'm going to get to see different perspectives.”
“I’m excited to learn more about the tactical side of the game, especially going to a different country to learn the different technical, tactical style play,” said Jaden Thomas, a teammate of Brown’s who plays as a forward. “I’ll be able to bring that back to my own team and I’m looking forward to getting to train with professional players at such a high level.”
This is the second year in a row that members of the FCD Girls’ Academy will train alongside FC Bayern Munich Frauen’s players. Last August, six FCD players traveled to Kentucky to join Bayern’s preseason training while the club was competing in an international tournament hosted by Racing Louisville FC of the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL). This year, however, the Dallas athletes will travel to the famed Bayern Campus in Bavaria.
“America is unquestionably a powerhouse in women’s soccer and given FC Dallas’ proven track record of talent development, we are thrilled to have their players visit FC Bayern Campus for training,” said Nathalie Bischof, the Talent Development Coordinator of FC Bayern Frauen. “Our staff coaches were impressed with their talent during the tryouts camp in Frisco and we are looking forward to assessing their work with our U20s in Munich. We wouldn’t be surprised if this visit translates into further joint development of a player, as it has already been the case in our collaboration with FC Dallas. Congratulations to the selected players, I hope this will be an enriching experience for them.”
Collaboration between FC Dallas and FC Bayern Munich has been ongoing since the clubs created a player development partnership in 2018. The FC Dallas Boys’ Academy has sent a handful of players to Munich annually since the partnership was struck and this year the Girls’ Academy will follow suit.
“I think going to Germany will help me experience a higher level, like what I can expect in college,” said FCD defender Bella James, who’ll be attending and playing for Texas A&M next year. “(The partnership with FC Bayern) is so important and I’m grateful that we get the opportunity to do this because other clubs don't have these partnerships. It's one of a kind, honestly.”
