The U-13 and U-14's trip to New England with the first team showcased a unified player pathway and strategic alignment across all levels of the organization
A cool autumn morning in New England turned hot in Foxborough, where the Fire and the Revolution were locked in a tense contest early on.
Suddenly, midfielder Gvidas Masiulionis threaded a pass to a streaking Xavier Anunobi, who struck at first touch, opening the scoring for the visitors in New England.
The names may not ring a bell for even the most die-hard fans of the Men in Red, but Masiulionis, Anunobi and other many of their teammates on Chicago Fire Academy’s U-13 and U-14 sides represent the future of the Club, one that is already bearing fruit across all levels of the organization.
With a trip to the Northeast coinciding with the first team’s season-ending match against the Revolution, Director of Football and Head Coach Gregg Berhalter and his staff decided to have the U-13s and U-14s share the very same charter flight and hospitality spaces as the professionals. The trip would no longer be just about closing out the regular season – it was a statement of intent.
“The Academy is the foundation for the success and health of the Club,” said Berhalter. “We saw an opportunity this weekend to demonstrate our commitment to a fully integrated player development system, where the same standards and principles guide Academy players and Designated players.”
For Berhalter and Sporting Director Gregg Broughton, the trip served as yet another highlight in a record-breaking year for Academy players on and off the field. The organizational alignment certainly paid dividends at the first team level in 2025. Academy graduates contributed nearly a quarter of the Fire’s 140 goal contributions in a season that saw Chicago finish with a Club-record 68 goals.
From tactical principles to professional expectations off the pitch, the trip gave young players a firsthand look at what it means to represent the Fire at the highest level. The pathway from Academy to the first team would not simply be aspirational, but operational.
“Not only does the Academy compete against some of the best developmental programs in the country, but it also develops players who will contribute across all levels of the game,” said Broughton. “The role that players like Brian Gutiérrez and Sergio Oregel Jr. played in the success of the first team this year is now a baseline young Academy players will be expected to follow in their development.”
The success of the young players like Gutiérrez and Oregel was of no surprise to David Molenda, who himself made a seamless transition from the U-16 side to the second team earlier in the season. The 16-year-old goalkeeper capped off a rivalry weekend between the two longtime Eastern Conference rivals with a start in goal for Chicago Fire II’s first round match against New England Revolution II in the first round of the MLS NEXT Pro Playoffs, which was also played in Foxborough.
In a match that featured a mix of college-aged players and top prospects from both academies, young Molenda stood out with sterling play in a 1-0 shutout of the Revolution, something he attributes to the experience of training with the first team.
"When you are working with the first team, you have a standard to uphold,” said Molenda. “Day-by-day, you can’t take it for granted. You have to give it you all because you are representing the Academy, representing the high standards there.”
Molenda is far from the only Academy prospect who has trained with the first team in 2025. His fellow starter in that playoff win, defender Christopher Cupps, earned a Homegrown contract on the heels of an impressive showing in preseason play and training camp. Before captaining the U.S. U-17 Men’s National Team in the FIFA U-17 World Cup just days later, Cupps became the youngest player to start a match for the Fire in at just 16 years and 342 days of age.
These high standards, and appropriately sized rewards, are implemented from the youngest levels by Academy Technical Director Gary Lewis. With decades of experience in development across the globe for clubs like Liverpool FC and the Seattle Sounders, Lewis arrived in Chicago in 2023 with the goal of developing the next generation of Fire stars.
“We work with coach Berhalter and the first team staff every day to instill a culture that is consistent across all parts of the player pathway,” said Lewis. “You can see it in the quality of our coaches and performance staff across all levels and their alignment with the overall values set out by the organization.”
“But you can also see it in the challenges we set for our players: letting them play against overage sides, pushing them to train at the same intensity as first team players, and letting them see for themselves the high standards off the pitch on trips like this one.”
The high expectations were on full display all weekend for the U-13 and U-14 boys, who followed the same dress codes, boarding procedures and hotel etiquette as their elder counterparts. As the Club Head of Education and trip chaperone Patrick Stanton observed first-hand, “the boys showed a level of professionalism that truly rose to the occasion.”
Their play in Foxborough resembled the first team’s model, as well. Focusing on some of the same principles that would be on display at the major league level hours later, the U-13s took the opening matchup 4-1 against the Revolution, before the U-14s nearly overcame a 0-3 halftime deficit in a 4-3 loss.
“The boys executed the principles extremely well,” said U-13 Head Coach Tanner Chassman. “They implemented our ideas from training and showed off some exciting attacking play in the final third.”
“Exciting attacking play” may well have been the mantra for anyone wearing Fire Red in 2025. The 68 goals scored by Chicago Fire FC were the second most by any team in MLS. The Academy-driven Chicago Fire II did one better, finishing atop MLS NEXT Pro with 69 goals of their own. In an unforgettable trip to England in September, the U-13s and U-14s got in high-scoring affairs against academy sides from Premier League clubs Brentford FC and Chelsea FC.
It is all part of the plan, according to Berhalter, Broughton and Lewis, who see more such players making waves in the coming years. This is something that Oregel, one of the many Academy success stories as a key contributor in the first team’s midfield, is thrilled to think about.
“It was special to see them supporting us knowing that I was once in their shoes,” remarked Oregel. “It’s crazy to think that any of them could be one of my teammates in a few years.
“If I was in one of those teams, it would have especially motivated me to see the Homegrowns like me and Guti up close and on the field, because we were in the same position just a few years ago.”
