Youth/High School Soccer
Four for Four: FC Delco team eyes another trophy at US Youth Soccer National Championships
Three down, one big one to go.
The decorated FC Delco NAL 2006 boys are in Orlando seeking what would be a fourth trophy to cap an unforgettable postseason run that began with a state cup victory on June 7 and continued with a National Academy League national title in Tuckahoe, N.J. on June 18 and an Eastern Regional championship in Loudoun County, Virginia on July 3.
“It’s been a really good summer, really fun for us to be able to continue to compete,” said head coach Taylor Thames. “It could have been Memorial Day weekend and everything’s kind of over, you know, based on our semifinal match in state cup, and got a result there that led us to the state final. And then every step of the way, the guys have answered the call.”
Getting commitment and consistency from a group of players at the U-19 level isn’t always a given but the momentum the 2006 group has carried from each of their trophy-clinching wins has only made them hungrier and more committed to each other.
“Nobody works as hard as us,” said Omar Warthen, who is one of the younger players on the team with another year of high school left. “We always push each other at practice, we’re always outrunning teams, we always want it more than every team, we always outpress teams.”
FC Delco will play teams from Illinois, Florida and Indiana in the group stage of the competition. Only the group winner will advance to the semifinal. Hex FC’s 2006/2007 boys team is also in the competition in Bracket C, setting up a potential all-Eastern PA semifinal match on Saturday should both teams win their group.
“We’ve got a lot of momentum going into it so I’m excited to see what we can do,” said Brian O’Neill, who is heading to Millersville University this fall. “We go through thick and thin all together. It’s a team effort that gets us a win at the end of the day.”
FC Delco is no stranger as a club to the U.S. Youth Soccer National Championships but the run the 2006 boys are on marks a return for the club to the platform. It’s the result of a decision from the club leadership to once again compete in state cups and the pathway to the national championships through regionals. While their top teams are in MLS Next — the 2008 boys won MLS Next Cup last summer — they have teams competing in NAL and U.S. Youth Soccer and other teams in ECNL Regional League.
The regional championship win — which earns a bid to nationals — was the first for FC Delco since the Hammerheads won it in 2010.
“I remember last year when they said that we were going to start competing in state cup, and I told them a story about my own experience in Maryland, growing up and having that opportunity to compete both at the eastern regionals and the national tournament, and Delco was there,” Thames said. “I remember the older Delco team being there and them winning a national tournament.”
FC Delco has 7 U.S. Youth Soccer national championships to their name, but the last one came in 2003. The FC Delco Arsenal U-19 team that year captured the club’s third McGuire Cup in four years. Just one club from the area has won one since with Lehigh Valley United lifting the McGuire in 2013 and 2019. PA Dominion (now Hex FC) made the final in 2023.
“I’m excited that we get to compete in this tournament because it does have so much history and it does connect to the club,” said Thames, who is the head coach at La Salle University. “I continue to get texts from people that were connected or played through the club, people who are La Salle alum even and they’re saying ‘I remember when’.”
FC Delco’s 2006 team is one of eight local teams from five different clubs competing in Orlando this week. PA Classics Harrisburg (formerly Penn FC Youth) has their 2007 and 2008 girls teams there, Hex FC has the 2006/2007 boys, the 2011 girls and 2009 girls, YMS has its 2010 boys and the Players Development Academy Danubia team out of South Jersey is in the 2008 boys championship.
For the full schedule, visit system.gotsport.com/org_event/events/42905.
