Jack de Vries on the U.S. roster for CONCACAF U-17 championship

Philadelphia Union Academy midfielder/forward Jack de Vries will be part of the group aiming for a CONCACAF U-17 championship in Bradenton, Florida next month.

The 17-year-old who made his Bethlehem Steel FC debut earlier this season and could be the next player from the Union’s academy to sign a professional contract. He is one of 20 players called in by head coach Raphael Wicky for the tournament May 1-16.

The four semifinalists from the competition will book a spot in the 2019 FIFA Under-17 World Cup in Brazil.

“I’m very excited about the team we’ve put together for this World Cup qualifying tournament,” Wicky said in a news release. “There’s a lot of very good quality in this group. We brought together a strong roster for the mini-camp earlier this month, and now we’ve added a few more pieces with a lot of good characteristics. The players have brought a great mentality and we’re excited and ready for a number of interesting games ahead.”

De Vries has made three appearances and played 120 minutes for the Steel this season and has four goals in 12 appearances for the Union U-17s and a goal in two appearances for the U-19s this season. The son of Colorado Rapids original Raimo de Vries, Jack is both a U.S. and Dutch citizen and spent time in the Anderlecht youth academy while his family was living in Belgium.

2019 Concacaf U-17 Championship Roster by Position (Club; Hometown; U-17 Caps/Goals)

GOALKEEPERS (2): 1-Damian Las (Chicago Fire; Norridge, Ill.; 13/0), 12-Chituru Odunze (Vancouver Whitecaps FC/CAN; Calgary, Alta.; 4/0)

DEFENDERS (7): 4-Axel Alejandre (FC United; Chicago, Ill.; 14/0), 3-Adam Armour (North Carolina FC; Cary, N.C.; 11/0), 13-Mauricio Cuevas (LA Galaxy; Los Angeles, Calif.; 2/0), 14-Tayvon Gray (New York City FC; Bronx, N.Y.; 10/0), 5-Kobe Hernandez (LA Galaxy; Los Angeles, Calif.; 14/1), 2-Joseph Scally (New York City FC; Lake Grove, N.Y.; 14/1), 15-John Tolkin (New York Red Bulls; Chatham, N.J.; 3/0)

MIDFIELDERS (5): 7-Gianluca Busio (Sporting Kansas City; Greensboro, N.C.; 7/2), 20-Gilbert Fuentes (San Jose Earthquakes; Tracy, Calif.; 13/0), 8-Bryang Kayo (D.C. United; Poolesville, Md.; 0/0), 6-Daniel Leyva (Seattle Sounders FC; Las Vegas, Nev.; 0/0), 16-Adam Saldana (LA Galaxy; Panorama City, Calif.; 17/1)

FORWARDS (6): 18-Jack de Vries (Philadelphia Union; Wayne, Pa.; 0/0), 17-Tyler Freeman (Sporting Kansas City; Shawnee, Kan.; 3/1), 19-Alfonso Ocampo-Chavez (Tacoma Defiance; Kent, Wash.; 14/5), 9-Ricardo Pepi (North Texas SC; McKinney, Texas; 6/1), 10-Giovanni Reyna (Unattached; Bedford, N.Y.; 8/1), 11-Griffin Yow (D.C. United; Clifton, Va.; 6/3)