FRISCO—The signing of 16-year-old prodigy Ricardo Pepi on Friday marked a seminal moment in FC Dallas history. The 26th player to sign a Homegrown contract with the club, Pepi is the first to have experienced every stage of the player development pipeline within the FC Dallas organization.
But it was first and foremost a special moment for the player as he signed his contract under the watchful eye of FC Dallas head coach Luchi Gonzalez, the very man who had discovered him playing on an unkempt field in his hometown of El Paso over three years ago.
“We saw Pepi in a field, a very uneven field, not in great condition—a humble field,” coach Gonzalez remembered. “He was running around, and he was pretty lanky and tall for his age, playing a year or two up. He caught our eye, we knew he was a talent and we wanted him here in the Academy.”
And that’s how Pepi’s FC Dallas journey began. Over the next three years, Pepi would move from FC Dallas’ youth club team in El Paso to its Development Academy in Frisco, then on to its new USL affiliate side North Texas Soccer Club, and now to its first team. Although Pepi has succeeded at every level he’s reached thus far, his whirlwind journey to this point hasn’t always been easy.
“That year was tough,” Pepi admitted, thinking back to his first year in Dallas when he lived with a host family before his parents and siblings could join him. “But I knew if I wanted to make it far in the game, I had to sacrifice things. My family and I knew that we both had to sacrifice for each other for me to make it.”
While Pepi hasn’t necessarily “made it” yet, his first six months as a professional player could hardly be going much better. After signing his first pro contract with North Texas SC, Pepi went on to dominate USL League One—the third division of pro soccer in the U.S.—and is currently its leading scorer with seven goals from six games.
Pepi’s experience with North Texas SC undoubtedly contributed to his rapid growth as a player, and the subsequent contract offer from FC Dallas.
“North Texas is a fantastic addition to our pathway,” Luchi Gonzalez said. “We used to have to skip steps to get Paxton (Pomykal) playing games with the first team the last few years. Like Victor Ulloa and Kellyn (Acosta), they had to skip some steps to impact the first team through circumstance or injury. It’s not easy but that was the way we did it. Now, with the second team, it just accelerates the boys’ development. We feel potential can be even higher from our players.”
As this is the first season for North Texas SC, the sum of its benefits to the organization will be seen over the next few years. However, with Pepi serving as a trailblazer by moving from the FCD Academy to North Texas and finally to the first team, all young players have a clear, defined pathway of realizing their dream of playing under the lights at Toyota Stadium.
“His signing allows other academy players to see that it’s close and how hard Pepi worked in order to attain it, and that they need to do the same,” said North Texas SC head coach Eric Quill. “I think that you see that within the walls of this place as you see a lot of ambitious players that know they want to make the jump as well. It fuels up sort of a chain reaction.”
Only time will tell if Ricardo Pepi is the first of a long list of players to be signed by FC Dallas after proving themselves first with North Texas SC. Regardless, he is a shining example of the possibilities and potential of FCD’s development system.
“Ricardo is an interesting case because he comes from our affiliate in El Paso which is such an important market to us,” said FC Dallas president Dan Hunt. “He went from our affiliate to our Academy, to North Texas Soccer Club as the first signing ever, to now signing at FC Dallas. So, this is a really special moment and a unique pathway for a very special young man. The kid is a fantastic soccer player and he’s going to have a lot of things to learn, but it’s a bright future for Ricardo Pepi.”
