August 4, 2022 – United Soccer League Championship (USL) – Orange County SC News Release
Less than a month after signing a USL Academy contract, Jonathan Gomez, 16, stepped on the pitch at Championship Soccer Stadium for his professional debut for Orange County SC. This momentous occasion in Gomez’s young career was an achievement that he sought when leaving his native San Diego Surf academy to join OCSC where he felt was the best place to grow and progress to the next level.
Gomez knew that it was an opportunity to debut professionally and begin a journey to realize a dream of playing for a world-class club abroad. He committed himself to taking an early morning train from San Diego to OCSC’s training facilities in Irvine to train with the first team and continue his development with the club’s full time reserve team, OCSC II.
Competing in the USL Academy League classified as a U19 team, OCSC II’s mission is to develop local young talent to kickstart their professional careers. A dedicated technical staff led by Sunderland and Portsmouth legend Paul Hardyman mirrors the play style and day-to-day operations of OCSC II to the first team to create a professional environment.
“At Orange County SC, we have worked so hard to put this reserve team together and create an environment where young players will develop their knowledge and skills to push them closer to reaching their dreams of becoming a professional soccer player,” Hardyman said. “We will aid the players’ development by using four pillars-Ball, Body, Game and Mind. Each pillar will be used to help the players with their individual learning plans. Ball is where we will focus on their technical attributes. Body is the physical area we need to help them deal with the challenges of 90 minutes of soccer. Game is where we educate them around their roles and responsibilities of the position they play, in possession, out of possession and the transitional moments of the game. Finally we work with the psychological areas of the game in Mind.”
Hardyman and the coaching staff scout players that fit the OCSC mold across the premier youth clubs of Southern California extending beyond Orange County and into Los Angeles, San Diego and the Inland Empire. In the USL Academy structure, some players are still able to compete with their original club team and retain college eligibility unless they sign a full time professional contract.
The team also includes players that have been identified and brought into the…