The South Valley Chivas Academy continues to produce elite youth soccer players and proof of it is the six SVCA players who were just named to the State Olympic Development Program teams pools and State International Development Program.

This year Chivas players Seth Gonzalez and Sergio Reyes were selected to the 1999 Boys State ODP pool, Andrew Reyes made the 2002 ODP pool, Valeria Rios was selected to the 1999 Girls State ODP pool and Danielle Rivas made the 2001 Girls State ODP pool. Chivas player Erik Rincon had the distinction of being selected to participate in the State IDP program.

The Olympic Development Program is a California Youth Soccer Association (CYSA) program which is a national process for identifying and developing the best youth soccer players. The process promotes players to the U.S. National Teams, which represent the United States in international competition, such as the Youth World Cup and the Olympics.

The International Development Program is a Nor Cal Premier program with an objective to identify and help develop the players who have exhibited the potential to play at the highest levels of the game – professional soccer.

“Since year one of our academy existence, we have always had players selected to participate in these elite programs”, said Chivas Director of Coaching, Gilbert Hernandez. “This year is no exception and we are very fortunate and grateful”, said Hernandez. “The implementation of our academy philosophy and high performance methodology at each of our training is exactly for this; to develop elite youth soccer players. For each of these players, this is the result of their hard work and their dedication to train at a high level day in and day out”.

Seth Gonzalez is a sophomore at Harmony Magnet Academy and is the son of Alfonso and Rita Gonzalez.

Sergio and Andrew Reyes are the son’s of Pedro and Leticia Reyes. Sergio is a sophomore at Harmony Magnet Academy while Andrew is a seventh grader at St. Anne Parish school.

Valeria Rios is a sophomore at Porterville High and is the daughter of Chema and Irma Rios. Valeria is no stranger to the State Pool, as this is her third consecutive year being selected. In the previous process she was selected to participate in the the Regional ODP camp which included players from the western states and was held in Oregon.

Danielle Rivas is an eighth grader at Burton Middle and is the daughter of Jacob and Olivia Rivas. This is her second consecutive year being selected to participate in the ODP program. Danielle is also not a stranger to be selected to participate in these types of programs as she has also participated in the State Player Development Program sponsored by the NorCal Premier Soccer League.

Erik Rincon is a fifth grader at Olive St. Elementary and is the son of Salvador and Noemi Rincon. This is his second year being eligible to participate in the PDP program and both years he has been selected. Last year although being to young to participate in the PDP program, he was still able to do so “playing up” because of this talent.

For the players who made the state pool they will begin to training in December and will later participate in Showcase tournaments against other state teams. At these tournaments their will be scouts from the Regional and US National Youth soccer teams.

Erik Rincon is currently having to travel to the Bay Area to train twice of month with other players in IDP program. This year those players will be showcase and will have the opportunity to train with professional youth coaches from Italy’s Serie A team ACF Fiorentina.

For more information about the South Valley Chivas Academy please visit southvalleychivas.com or call (559) 310-7511.