First 'home grown' midfielder signs with Fire at age 17
Although they brought Arlington Heights-born Brian McBride home after his stellar international career, and traded for former Forest View soccer star Tom Sohn in 1998, the Chicago Fire has signed its first home grown player.
Victor Pineda, a 17-year-old midfielder, has signed with the club, becoming the first Home Grown Player emerging from the Fire's Player Development system since the inception of Major League Soccer's HGP initiative in 2007.
Pineda will be available to play in Wednesday's match against New England Revolution at Toyota Park.
The Home Grown Player initiative was established as part of Major League Soccer's efforts to improve the quality of play. Pineda will not count against the 24-man roster and will fill one of the two additional roster spots added by the league for home grown players identified and developed by the local club.
"We are very excited to have Victor join the Chicago Fire," said Fire Technical Director Frank Klopas. "Victor is a talented, technical midfielder who has a bright future with the Fire. His addition to the first team is representative of the Fire's commitment to the future and to our player development system. I want to thank our owner, Andrew Hauptman, for the significant commitment he's made to our player development system and to building our club."
The 5-foot-11, 140-pound player from Bolingbrook spent two seasons with the Chicago Fire Juniors and three seasons with the Chicago Fire Academy. While with the CFA, he tallied 8 goals and 2 assists in 28 games played, helping the club to become the first MLS academy club to win the 2010 U.S. Soccer Development Academy's U16 National Championship.
"Seeing a player with Victor's potential progress through our Juniors and Academy system to the first team is a credit to his devoted work ethic and tremendous talent," said Academy Director Larry Sunderland.
Recently, Pineda was called up to the Under-18 United States Men's national team for a trip to Argentina. Pineda spent 2008 and 2009 at U.S. Soccer's Under-17 residency program in Bradenton, Fla. The 17-year-old midfielder was nominated as an All-American while attending Plainfield East High School.