Great Falls Soccer Club Alum to train in DC United Residency Program

Great Falls soccer is proud to announce that one of its former players, Sebastian Conlon, has been accepted into the acclaimed DC United Residency Program: a soccer-specific residency program similar to European professional soccer training academies, with all residents being offered education through the Calverton School. This program was created to attract and nurture aspiring professional players.

As part of our club philosophy on development, Great Falls Soccer Club is committed to helping players grow at all age levels and skill levels to achieve their maximum potential and have fun. Many boys and girls aspire to one day play the game in college or professionally, while others simply enjoy spending time on the field with their friends on weekends. Former GFSC 01 Milan Blue player Sebastian Conlon has continued his soccer development with DC United's U13 Youth Academy. Conlon started playing soccer at age 6 with GFSC all the way up through the U12 level before being recommended to DC United in 2014 by the technical staff and still shares a close relationship with the club. And now, in addition to our relationship to Bethesda, which has a highly regarded US sanctioned academy, we continue to work on providing options for all our players, both boys and girls.

 “We had quite a few big travel clubs interested in Sebastian throughout his time at Great Falls Soccer Club, but in the end we felt that GFSC was the only club in the area that had its priorities aligned with ours. Too many clubs focus on wins and losses and what division they play in. Here the focus was on player development above all else,” notes Conlon’s father. “At GFSC, no matter what your goals are or what level your child plays at, the coaches here all care about each individual’s development from the weekend rec players all the way up to the elite athlete. Most clubs devote all their resources to the elite portion of the program at every other level’s expense. We’ve had three kids go through the program and each one of them had a completely different skill level but got quality instruction,” notes Conlon’s father. Both of Sebastian’s older sisters started at the Little Kickers level at GFSC and now both play varsity soccer at St. Andrew’s High School in Delaware, where Gabi has garnered 2^nd team All State in her freshman year and Ally who made varsity in her sophomore year at Foxcroft High School in Middleburg, VA.

Last spring, as a U12, Sebastian, who is the team's starting goal keeper, and his DC United team participated in the inaugural MLS Generation Adidas Cup in Dallas Texas finishing 3rd out of 10 MLS teams and 2 teams from Mexico. Last summer, Conlon and DC United's U13's were selected by US Soccer to represent MLS Youth Academies in Mexico City at the Scotiabank CONCACAF U13 Champions League. DC United competed against professional youth academies from Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, Jamaica and Canada. The same squad qualified for the second round of Generation Adidas MLS Cup in Texas again this June. In August, Conlon is headed to Holland to compete against other European teams with some of the DC Metro’s areas top US Development Academy Players from DC United and other nearby clubs. Lastly, Conlon has been accepted into DC United’s Residency program at The Calverton School in Maryland. Conlon will enter the 8^th grade and train twice a day on campus with other DC residency academy players and coaches in addition to normal training at RFK during the week. At the 9^th grade level Conlon will board at the school five days a week. Conlon is the youngest player admitted into the residency program at Calverton.

“I owe quite a bit of my success to Rado Pletka and other past coaches at GFSC. Rado spent hours of his own time outside of normal GFSC practices to prepare me for the next level of soccer and I wouldn’t be where I am now without his support or the clubs,” notes Conlon who is about the enter his third year with the DC United Academy. “I still keep in touch with all my past coaches from GFSC, some of which have moved to other areas of the country, they are like family to me.” All three Conlon children credit their current soccer successes to the strong coaching program at GFSC and their strong technical emphasis on individual development. The bond between the Conlon family and GFSC has lasted long beyond Sebastian’s time at the club as many of the Conlon’s still come out to root for 01 Milan Blue at games during the regular season.

For more information about the DC United Residency Program, click here.