Juan Zuñiga has been selected to participate in the U.S. Soccer U-15 Boys National Team Camp this week. Zuñiga was picked to the 36-player roster by U15 head coach John Hackworth. He is the only player from South Carolina chosen to participate in the camp, which will run from Dec. 13-20th in Sunrise, Florida.
“I feel very happy and proud of being a part of the camp and I am very excited to attend” says Juan of his selection A member of Storm SA ’01 Boys Black, Juan has show exceptional technical skill and tactical awareness throughout the season. “Juan is a complete player. For his age group, Juan is physically on the very top end.” says Storm founder and ’01 Boys coach Jeremy Aven. “As a left footed player, Juan brings a dynamic at the national team level that has allowed him to be identified over thousands of other players.”
For Juan, his biggest strength has been his improvements in his off the ball movements, “Practicing (at Storm) moving without the ball and giving options to my teammates to give me the ball, I feel it’s what’s helped me the most.”
Juan will be utilized as a left back for the national team, but he’s gotten experience playing forward and center back with his club and the Region III team, the type of versatility that he will look to utilize at the national team camp. “I expect to get the ball more often and find the striker a lot more. Since I’m playing as a left back, I hope to find attackers and create shots on goal”.
For Juan, playing at the top level is nothing new. He is an ’02 Boys Region III ODP member, and recently participated at the US Youth Soccer’s ODP Thanksgiving Inter-Regionals in Casa Grande, Arizona. There, he finished tied for first amongst all teams with 2 goals in the tournament. He also spent time playing with Storm SA 99 Boys Black team, a participant in the U16 Region 3 Premier League.
Juan is the 3rd Storm SA player to be invited to a U.S. Youth national team camp. “This is a clear indicator that Storm continues to rival much larger clubs with our ability to grow technically savvy players who can compete at the regional and national team level ” says Jeremy Aven.
