Paul Holocher, Andrew Paoli earn Coach of the Year, Player of the Year honors
With the 2015-16 U.S. Soccer Development Academy season officially coming to a close, the San Jose Earthquakes Academy was well represented in the end of the season awards. Head coach Paul Holocher earned the U-15/16 Coach of the Year award and midfielder Andrew Paoli was named the Player of the Year in the Western Conference.
Holocher, in his first season with the club, coached both the Quakes U-16 and U-18 Academy teams to the USSDA playoffs this season. The Quakes U-16s finished with a 17-9-6 record, scoring 63 goals in 32 games, second most among the nine teams in the Northwest Division.
According to ussoccerda.com statistics, Paoli played in 29 games, making 28 starts and tallying four goals, while providing a consistent presence as a defensive midfielder.
Out of 18 U-16 teams in the USSDA Western Conference, which includes academy teams from six MLS clubs, three of the 11 players named to the Team of the Year were from the Earthquakes. Paoli, defender Christopher Grey and forwardArda Bulutwere all named to the Best XI. Bulut, a Stanford commit, scored the fourth most goals in the nation with 26, while Grey led a backline that allowed the fourth fewest goals in the Western Conference (39) and earned a call-up to the Jamaica U-20s this past May.
Amir Bashti set to appear for U.S. U-19 Men's National Team in Spain
San Jose Earthquakes Academy product and current Stanford University sophmore Amir Bashti has been named to the U.S. Under-19 Men’s National Team’s 22 man roster for the 33rd International U-20 Men’s COTIF Tournament.
The tournament, running from July 20-Aug. 5, will take place in Valencia, Spain, the first major tournament played in the country by the United States since the Copa del Atlantico Tournament in Las Palmas this past February.
The U-19’s, coached by United States goalkeeper legend Brad Friedel, open the tournament against Venezuela on July 26, followed by matches against Mauritania on July 28, Spain on July 29 and Bahrain on Aug. 1.
Bashti, a Cupertino native who starred in the Earthquakes Academy system until 2015, most recently appeared for the U.S. U-20s during the 2016 Dallas Cup this past March.
