The FCD Way: National Signing Day

FRISCO - National Signing Day traditionally receives a considerable amount of media attention in respect to many of the best college football and basketball programs in the country. For FC Dallas Youth, however, Wednesday was a significant day to recognize its more than 50 graduating seniors who had already made college commitments.

On Wednesday night the club organized a National Signing Day celebration in the River Club by WinStar World Casino at FC Dallas Stadium where players, families and coaches gathered to recognize each others' hard work and accomplishments. In his third year with FC Dallas Youth, College Director Scott Dymond said events like Wednesday night's are reminders of how fulfilling his job is.

"I’m ecstatic about the program and being able to give people a little bit of help and direction in finding the right college," Dymond said. "It’s important that we recognize the success because this decision that they’re making, we say it’s for four years but it’s really going to effect the rest of their lives. It’s going to determine a lot of paths that they’ll go through professionally and personally."

On the men's side of things, Southern Methodist University boasted the most recruits of the evening with three U-18 Academy players committing to the Dallas soccer powerhouse. But the school with the most commitments at the event was Louisiana Tech University's women's program, with four FC Dallas Youth products heading to Ruston, La.

One of those future Lady Techsters was Taylor Montoya, who said playing for the FC Dallas ECNL team was vital to accomplishing her goal of attending a Division I school. Montoya's father, Charles, also said that FCD provided his daughter with the best chance to accomplish her dream.

"The opportunities that a club like FC Dallas can provide to young people goes beyond what you traditionally find in a lot of other soccer clubs," said Mr. Montoya. "With the facilities and the level of the coaching staff, it really makes a contribution and helps the kids be the best players they can be."

That gratitude was echoed by Vincent Koch, whose premier team is coached by Dymond.

"FCD has meant so much for me in the college process," said Koch, who chose to attend Colorado School of Mines based on the institution's exceptional engineering program. "I feel like the training and exposure that I’ve gotten here and the lessons that I’ve learned playing with the club have really pushed me along and helped me get to that next level where I want to be."

With National Signing Day 2013 come and gone, Dymond admits there's still plenty of work to be done. Several FC Dallas Youth seniors have yet to make a college commitment for various reasons, and the club's College Director hopes next month's third annual adidas FC Dallas College Showcase presented by Advocare will help the majority of those players arrive at their final decisions.

"It’s again going to be another opportunity for our players to be seen by college coaches," said Dymond. "We have some seniors that still need another look, so we’re still working with those young men and women to make sure they get the opportunity to go to college as well."

*The following is a full list of FC Dallas Youth seniors and commitments as of Feb. 6.