Valencia, 15, 1st to join Inter Miami from academy
Felipe Valencia, a 15year-old winger from Homestead, on Friday became the youngest player to join the Inter Miami roster. He is the first signing from the club’s youth academy.
Valencia signed a “Homegrown” contract, a Major League Soccer designation for players who were developed by a club’s youth academy.
Earlier this year, he was called up to the club’s minor-league Fort Lauderdale SC team and became the youngest goal scorer in USL history when he scored the game-winner in a 3-2 victory over North
Texas SC.
“Being the first Inter Miami Academy player signed to the first team is a huge honor,” said Valencia, who is of Colombian-American heritage. “First of all, it’s a sign that I have to keep working hard, but it shows that the hard work I’ve put in has borne some fruit.
“The environment Inter Miami has created has been really great for me to grow as both a person and a player.”
He praised the academy and Fort Lauderdale SC coaching staff, and the club’s state-of-the-art training facilities. Valencia, who is 5-7 and 140 pounds, said playing in USL matches against much older players was a challenge.
“The physical challenge was huge when I got to
USL,” he said. “I was a little kid playing against 25-year-olds, grown men hitting the gym every day. It was very tough at first, but then with the help of my coaches I got to get to that level.”
Valencia started 13 games for the academy
U15 team and scored six goals. He was one of 36 players invited to camp with the U.S. U15 national team. He previously played for Kendall SC, where he scored 33 goals in 57 games.
Inter Miami Jorge Mas has been watching Valencia’s progress all season.
“We are very proud of Felipe for making the most of the opportunities he has earned, but most importantly, we hope his accomplishment sets an example for other youth players within our academy and USL League One team,” Mas said. “We’ve invested in the best resources and facilities to support the academy because we aspire to continue developing local players and producing future stars of our team.”
The previous USL record for youngest goal scorer was held by Bayern Munich left back Alphonso Davies, who came up through the Vancouver Whitecaps academy and scored his first USL goal at 15 years, 6 months. Davies, now 19, signed with Bayern Munich in the summer of 2018 for a $22 million transfer fee.