The New York Red Bulls are committed to developing and improving the level of youth soccer in the tri-state area. From an early age, the Red Bulls offer coaching and instruction to youth players of all skill levels. Whether that means providing a fun, safe environment to play the beautiful game, to developing the next Homegrown MLS star, the Red Bulls’ multi-layered youth program offers something for everyone.

In The Future is Bright series, NewYorkRedBulls.com takes a closer look at the organization’s youth development platform.

Marcello Borges

Borges, a native of Kearny, N.J., is a freshman at Michigan and a former New York Red Bulls Academy and Red Bulls II player.

He entered the Red Bulls youth system as a member of the Red Bulls Regional Development School (RDS) before advancing to the Red Bulls Academy. With the RDS, Borges attended multiple locations including Kearny RDS and Showcase Teams from 2009-10.

“I came into Red Bulls being one of the better players on my previous team,” Borges said. “When I arrived here I was seen as average. It has been great for me to have the competitive mentality to fight for a spot day in and day out at each level I have played. The coaches here helped advance my abilities on the ball, but especially off the ball which is something in soccer that is not given enough credit for.”

Borges played for the Red Bulls Academy since 2010 and made two appearances for the New York Red Bulls II, the Red Bulls’ professional United Soccer League team. In his first year of college he played 11 games, including five starts, as a winger.

“Playing with Red Bulls II was a great experience,” Borges said. “As a player you’re always looking for opportunities to play at a level above the one you’re already in. What I took away from playing with the USL side was that sometimes the game is a grind, it isn’t pretty always pretty. There were physical battles I wasn’t used to, very close games that were rare at the academy level and a standard that was set extremely high.

“The major thing I took from the USL experience is the approach and mentality of being a professional and all the little things a coach can’t teach you that you learn from being around that environment.”