Philadelphia Union hosting first round of Generation adidas Cup regionals

The Philadelphia Union Academy’s 2016-17 Generation adidas Cup run will begin at home this weekend.

The East regional qualifiers for the annual U17 tournament will be held at the Training Grounds outside Talen Energy Stadium in Chester on Friday, Saturday and Monday.

The Union will be playing Atlanta United in the club’s first-ever GA Cup qualifier at 2 p.m. on Friday. They’ll play New England on Saturday and New York City FC on Monday.

D.C. United versus Orlando City and New England versus New York Red Bulls also go on Friday, Orlando City versus New York City FC and Atlanta United versus D.C. United on Saturday, and D.C. United versus New England and New York Red Bulls versus Atlanta United on Monday.

The full schedule and kick-off times have not been announced. The Philadelphia area last hosted qualifying matches in October 2014 at The Proving Grounds in Conshohocken.

A second qualifying round will be played in the spring to determine which division the MLS teams will compete in at the finals. The top two teams advance to the Championship Division and the rest of the teams compete in the Premier Division.

The Union won the competition in 2012 with a team that featured current Columbus Crew goalkeeper Zack Steffen, former Union homegrowns Zach Pfeffer and Jimmy McLaughlin, and current Penn State senior forward Connor Maloney.

Argentine club River Plate have won the Championship Division the last two years.