Outlier, Dallas Texans Caleb Richardson retains his SPARQ title

I had the opportunity to watch the U17 Men’s National Team play the Dallas Texans this past spring. I was looking forward to seeing the new cycle of US under-17 players but also, I wanted to see Dallas Texan, Caleb Richardson. Last season’s number one rated SPARQ athlete in the US Soccer Development Academy. He garnished that title at the ripe old age of 14. What is SPARQ? SPARQ is an acronym for Speed, Power, Agility, Reaction and Quickness. A rating system backed heavily by Nike’s marketing machine to gauge the athleticism of athletes.

Technicality is still the keyword in US soccer development but no one can deny the temptation of athleticism in projecting future professional players. Ask any scout, they’ll look for youth players with above average pace, agility and instinct, intelligence. As for the technical aspects, the club scouts believe that can be taught. This season’s USSDA report was just published and to no one's surprise, Caleb retained his title as well as both Dallas Texan Academy teams being named the #1 rated team in their respective division.

I shared my observations of the game in an earlier report but watching Caleb evoked a whole different train of thoughts. First of all, Caleb is maybe 5’4” to 5’6”. His small muscular build may give the illusion of being shorter than he is. Nevertheless, the U17 MNT center backs have a full 4” inches on him at least. So it is odd to see Caleb playing a target forward position and the 6’ Ini Bryce playing the withdrawn forward position until you see Caleb jump. Caleb’s one glaring statistic from his SPARQ rating was his vertical leap. I could only imagine the US center backs quickly coming to terms that this little guy in front me is going to win most ball in the air. Observation #2, Caleb has 3 speeds; fast, faster and turbo. Caleb definition of change of pace is going from faster to turbo. The last time I saw speed on that level was former FC Dallas Eddie Johnson. When I say saw I mean hear. I just remember on the sideline watching Eddie run so fast, you can’t hear his feet touch the ground.

Caleb is apart one of the more prestigious youth clubs in the United States. Dallas Texan and the Texan coaches are no slouch in producing pro-level players. But one has to wonder if the opportunity arises, would Caleb take steps to the next level by accepting even better training opportunities? There seems to be no equal to his physical talents but there are still a lot of areas in Caleb’s game needing improvement. What everyone wants to see in the next generation of US soccer players is the mix of un-equal athleticism with world class touch and skill. When you see Caleb play, he has one part down. One hope in the coming years, he pulls in the other part into his equation.