Three players from the Houston Dynamo Football Club have been named to the United States Under-19 roster for a summer training camp in southern California, U.S. Soccer announced today.
Midfielders Juan Castilla and Brooklyn Raines will join Dynamo Academy defender Mateo Pinilla in Carson, California from July 25-Aug. 2. This is the third national team camp for the Dynamo trio in 2022 after they joined the U.S. earlier this year from April 22-May 1 and again at the end of May.
“I am proud of these young men for their professionalism when representing the Club at the international level this year,” said Houston Dynamo general manager Pat Onstad. “We are making significant strides in developing elite youth players and three invitations to a youth national team camp is another example of our progress. National team participation can accelerate a young player’s development and we hope this experience will help these players achieve their goal of becoming professionals.”
A native of Houston, Castilla made his MLS debut on Oct. 31, 2021 and became the youngest player to feature in a league game for the Dynamo at 17 years, 96 days old. Since then, the midfielder has played a key role in the success of Houston Dynamo 2 in their inaugural season in MLS NEXT Pro. Castilla has tallied three assists in 12 appearances for Dynamo 2, who enter the weekend with a 9-4-3 record and in third place in the Western Conference. Castilla also featured for the first team in the most recent edition of the Lamar Hunt U.S Open Cup.
This is the fourth national team training camp for Pinilla, who joined the Dynamo Academy in 2016. He most recently joined Castilla and Raines in Spain at the end of May for a pair of friendlies against England and Norway. The defender is also on the radar of the Colombian youth teams after he joined the Colombian U-17 National Team for a two-week training camp in December 2020. Pinilla was selected as part of the MLS NEXT U-19 “Best Of” game earlier this summer and has been a regular in training with Houston Dynamo 2 throughout the summer.
Raines is in his first year with the Dynamo and has earned 11 starts for Dynamo 2 this season. The 17-year-old signed a Homegrown Player Contract earlier this year in Feb. and became the youngest player to suit up for the Dynamo in a competitive fixture at 17 years, 38 days old when he started against Rio Grande Valley FC on April 19. The midfielder earned three consecutive starts in the U.S. Open Cup this year.
