Inter Miami CF Signs First Academy Product Felipe Valencia as a Homegrown Player
Inter
Miami CF announced today it has signed its first Academy product as a Homegrown
Player, securing Academy graduate and Fort Lauderdale CF winger Felipe Valencia
to a First Team contract. He will be added to the senior roster for the 2021
MLS season.
The
15-year-old from Homestead, Florida, made history twice this year by becoming
the youngest Academy player to play for Fort Lauderdale and the youngest player
to score a goal at any USL level. Valencia also becomes the 15th-youngest
player to sign a contract in MLS history.
“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,” said Inter
Miami CF Managing Owner Jorge Mas. “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 in the short and
long-term.”
Valencia,
of Colombian-born parents, joined Inter Miami CF Academy presented by Baptist
Health in 2019 after a successful showing during the Club’s first-ever tryout
sessions. He continued his progress within the Club’s development platform by
becoming the youngest of 15 Academy players to join Fort Lauderdale CF in the
USL League One for the 2020 season before signing his MLS contract with Inter
Miami for the next season.
With
Fort Lauderdale, Valencia made history for a second time by becoming the
youngest player to score a goal at any USL level at just 15 years, five months
and 18 days. His goal broke the record set by current FC Bayern Munich star and
former Vancouver Whitecaps academy product Alphonso Davies. Overall, Valencia
made 12 appearances in League One in 2020, starting in nine of those matches
and registering three goals, tied for second on the team.
In
March 2020, Valencia was one of 36 players called up to the U.S. U-15 Boys’
National Team for a week-long training camp at the Chula Vista Elite Athlete
Training Center.
At
the Academy level with the Club, the winger impressed featuring for the U-15
team in 2019-20. He started 13 matches for the group and tallied a team-high
six goals. Prior to joining the Inter Miami CF Academy, Valencia starred for
the Kendall Soccer Club, where he featured from 2017 to 2019, registering 57
appearances and scoring 33 goals.
A
Homegrown Player is part of MLS’s roster building mechanism that allows teams
to sign players from their own development academies directly to the First
Team’s Senior or Supplemental roster. For more information on MLS’s roster
rules and regulations, click here.