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The FC Cincinnati Academy have had a banner year in 2026, with professional debuts and pro-player pathway success leading the way

By FC Cincinnati

October 13^th, 2026

The 2026 MLS NEXT Pro season has come and gone for FC Cincinnati 2. While the table results largely didn't go their way, the organization took significant steps forward in development and progression, particularly within the FC Cincinnati Academy.

With a 5-20-3 record this season, FCC 2 missed out on the playoffs for the first time since 2023, but did so by featuring FC Cincinnati Academy players and graduates to the tune of over 10,000 cumulative minutes, and provided over 100 total appearances to current academy players, with 13 making their professional debuts this season – the most in any one season since FC Cincinnati 2’s inaugural season in 2022.

The FC Cincinnati Academy have had a banner year in 2026, with professional debuts and pro-player pathway success leading the way

“MLS NEXT Pro is still a new league, and I think MLS clubs are still understanding how to best utilize the platform,” Jeff Larentowicz, FC Cincinnati’s Director of Player Pathway, said in a sit-down with FCCincinnati.com. “Creating the opportunity for players to continue to push themselves who aren't yet at the MLS level is important, and so for us, I think we've gone through different kind of formulations of the team, and year one [his first year in the role] was a success, but moving players to the first team wasn't really happening just yet. I think each year we've probably increased the number of players that move into the first team, and create pathways for those young players. So, although the results weren't there this year. I think that we've kind of homed in on what we feel is the best use of of the platform – which is pushing up players.”

Some of the academy players counted in those stats are graduates of the academy who are still progressing through the club's professional pipeline. Young stars like Andrei Chirila, Stefan Chirila and Ademar Chavez played prominent minutes for the second team in the process of continuing their professional development, with Connor Dale, a 16-year-old goalkeeper, rising through the ranks from the academy to not only make his professional debut this season, but to sign a first team contract as well.

The goal, intuitively, is for those academy players making their first strides into pro soccer now to keep improving. Hence, they are better prepared for that environment next season and can help the team succeed on the field and earn results—pairing development with winning.

“I think we continue to try to push the standards down from the first team into FCC 2 and the academy,” FC Cincinnati General Manager Chris Albright said at a press conference recently on the state of the club's development wing. “What I will tell you is that without FCC 2, for guys like Dado (Valenzula), Andrei (Chirila), Kenji (Mboma Dem), are they performing at a level that they're performing at? I don't think so. So, I think the job that Jeff Jeff Larentowicz, Sammy Castillanos and Anthony Wallace this year are doing there, while the results are are poor, I think we have the most first team prospects that we've ever had down there, and that's that's really what we're talking about when you talk about FCC 2 and the academy.”

FC Cincinnati 2 Head Coach Sammy Casillanos joined the club to lead the second team with a clear focus on developing young talent and pushing them to the next level. In his first year, he gave 13 players their professional debuts, which included:

Steel Cook, 17

Oli Beabout, 16

Amin Ibrahim, 18

Santi Sanchez, 18

Gael Huguet, 16

David Paz, 17

Ryan Schlotterbeck, 15

Chance Malilo, 17

Gavin DeHart, 18

Connor Dale, 16

LJ Born, 16

Noah Gassan, 18

Jack Mize, 18

Another standout from the academy who earned a big role with FC Cincinnati 2 is Camden Sphire, who has played 1,586 minutes, the most of any current academy player since 2022. A Cincinnati native, Sphire, 17, has been in the academy since he joined the club at the U13 level and, before that, was a camp invitee for the Discovery Program at age 11. After making his MLS NEXT Pro and professional debut in 2025 (making a one-minute appearance in the final game of the season), the midfielder earned a regular spot with FC Cincinnati 2, making 17 starts and appearing in 24 of 28 matches this season.

“We're excited about the prospects we have there,” Albright added of the pipeline of talent FCC are developing now. “So really, I think the future's bright for this (part of the organization). Like I said, Jeff Larentowicz has had a big hand in helping guide that for me, and we continue to try to raise the standards and produce more and more in-house FCC pros.”

MILFORD, OHIO - AUGUST 16: Camden Sphire poses for a headshot on August 16, 2021 at Mercy Health Training Center in Milford, Ohio. (FC Cincinnati)

MILFORD, OHIO - AUGUST 28: Camden Sphire of FC Cincinnati Academy poses for a headshot on August 28, 2024 at Mercy Health Training Center in Milford, Ohio. (Cortney Lesovoy/FC Cincinnati)

CINCINNATI, OHIO - AUGUST 2: Camden Sphire of FC Cincinnati Academy poses for a portrait on August 2, 2025 at TQL Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Grace BradleyFC Cincinnati)

MILFORD, OHIO - SEPTEMBER 01: Camden Sphire of FC Cincinnati Academy poses for a headshot on September 1, 2026 at Mercy Health Training Center in Milford, Ohio. (FC Cincinnati)

Castellanos, named Head Coach before the 2026 season, has made it his mission to connect the pathways from the academy to the first team. That choice, and one reason the club felt he was the best man for the job, comes with sacrifice. A “chosen suffering,” as he puts it, but one that was, or will be, worthwhile.

Part of giving opportunities to young players is the challenges—and, frankly, the losses—that come with giving minutes to kids in 10th grade, which can make the week-over-week challenge in matches harder to bear. But Castellanos believes a cultural shift and a focus on player development will lead to far greater success for the club, even if it means FCC 2 struggles in the short term.

“There's a movement going on here, but when you go back to how the year went, it starts with that year of suffering and growth to get to a better place,” Castellanos said. “So what I'm telling these (young players) is that they’re pioneering something special here, and we want to be the driving force right now behind it along with them.”

“The thing that you can't take from an average age is a player, or groups, actual readiness,” Larentowicz explained. “The idea is that, sure these players are going to get older, but their readiness is higher at that younger age. A player like LJ Born, he’s 16 now. He was 15 right before his debut. By 17 and a half, his readiness is at the level of a 22-year-old in years past. We want to build up their experience at this level, so that at a younger age they're more ready, and and they're pushing in, and then, ideally, you'll probably see the results start to turn, and then their own self belief improves, and that's when they're ready to maybe take the next step.”

This offseason, Castellanos and Larentowicz, along with everyone at FC Cincinnati, introduced a new pilot program for a group of targeted academy players to continue developing at the professional level, in addition to their work with their respective academy teams. The goal is to (in addition to further developing the athletes) show these young players what a professional lifestyle looks like, so that if, and hopefully when, they reach that level, they understand what it takes to be a pro rather than think they’ve ‘made it.’

“We wanted to get creative with how we use this time between the seasons, and make the most of this situation,” Castellanos explained. “Jeff (Larentowicz) and I really wanted to maximize what we could do, so we've kind of pinpointed some guys in the academy and we're putting them in pretty much what we’ve described as an accelerated program.”

The limited nature of the group, which includes a collection of 12 athletes, is only a reflection of A.) this being the first time they have pursued this sort of unique program with FC Cincinnati 2, and B.) there being only so many hours in the day and staff on hand to provide the focused effort they are striving for. The program has, essentially, resulted in the FC Cincinnati 2 staff continuing to operate as normal, rather than being in the ‘offseason.’

Castellanos crafted similar tailored development programs as a U18 Head Coach with the Chicago Fire Academy and as Director of the Individual Development program at Red Bull New York, where he oversaw players like recent USMNT debutants Julian Hall and Adri Mehmeti in their early years.

“They're getting video breakdown every single day. They're getting instructed by experienced guys with how that relates to being a professional. They're here early. They're getting fed. They're getting two sessions a day, one in the morning, and then team sessions in the afternoon,” Castellanos explained. “One in the morning is individualized on their position with other players in their position group, and they have conversations and lessons specific to that. I have three to four coaches per session with 12 guys, so it's about a one-to-three, one-to-four coach-to-player ratio.

“But it’s having these types of conversations on a daily basis with those kids, just trying to get them up to speed so that we can kind of compete in a higher way in the future.”

The goal is to build a class of young players on the path to the next level. The frustrating thing about player development is that there are no overnight success stories, and things take an excruciating amount of time. Even the young stars who do break through as “breakout stars” do so because of years of attention and effort.

The goal is that next season these players are more capable, and that will help FC Cincinnati 2 win games, sure. But the real goal is to help them become impactful Major League Soccer players for FC Cincinnati one day.

“What we want, and what we really show them, is what is actually needed to get to that level, to the next level, because I often say to these young players that yeah, a lot of academy players push through, but are they actually impactful? Are they in the 18? Are they in that travel roster, the game day roster, a real option for the coach to use. Those are the kind of players I strive to help them become,” Castellanos shared. “So that’s the foundation of the house that I want to build…and that can turn into something special. Not in one year. It's going to be a little bit of a process. That always takes time. But it starts from the bottom and that's the culture we’re working to build and FC Cincinnati 2 has to be a part of that, so we’re doing all we can.”

One player Castellanos points to as a success story and example for young players, but quickly makes sure to mention that he played no part in it (he feels it wouldn’t be fair even to have it mistaken that he did), is Andrei Chirila, the 18-year-old defender who has pushed his way through the academy, onto the second team, and now is a regularly selected first team player…who has never yet been eligible to vote. He made his first-team debut earlier this season and has since made seven starts and logged over 500 minutes.

Another recent success is goalkeeper Connor Dale, who signed a first-team contract and became the 11th Academy player to sign with FC Cincinnati’s first team. On the current roster, he now joins Valenzuela, Chavez, Stefan and Andrei Chirila, Paul Walters and Stiven Jimenez. Each player has had their own pathway to that spot, but all have included FC Cincinnati 2 in some capacity.

Dale played at multiple levels of the academy this season but capped it off by making eight starts for FCC 2 in MLS NEXT Pro, and ultimately signed his first team contract before signing a contract with FCC 2, technically ‘skipping’ that step in the ladder but, all the same, FCC 2 will be a key part of his development in the coming years.

As the MLS season continues, FC Cincinnati 2 will keep working to improve for next season, while also continuing to support the first team however they can. Several FCC 2 players have joined first-team training, including Diever Mosquera and Felix Samson, and academy players like Camden Sphire, Mark Drygas, LJ Born, Dom Lester, and Spencer Willis have also joined for sessions.

But until the new year begins in 2027, which will also include a sprint season and a schedule flip like Major League Soccer, the work to develop the next generation of talent in the system will continue with the same vigor and passion as if it were midseason.

Footnotes

Words by Carter Chapley

Photos by Cortney Lesovoy, Joseph Guzy and Grace Bradley

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FootNotes

Words by Carter Chapley

Photos by Cortney Lesovoy, Joseph Guzy and Grace Bradley