The young defender is ready to improve his game with New York in the NASL in 2016

Photo Credit: U.S. Soccer

United States youth international Alexis Velela was ready to make the jump into the professional game.

It’s with the New York Cosmos where he felt like he had the best chance to develop further.

“I came here for a trial over the summer and I thought I came here doing pretty well,” Velela told NASL.com. “Everybody treated me the same, they treated me like a professional, and I just feel like here, with the way the guys work, is where I can get better.

“In this league, with the players that are in this team, I feel like I can develop much faster than any other team.”

Spending the majority of the year with the U.S. U-17 team as it prepared for the World Cup, Velela, 17, will get his first full professional season underway in 2016. While the end result at the U-17 World Cup in Chile wasn’t what Velela or the U.S. team had hoped – the U.S. didn’t advance from the group stage – there were plenty of lessons to be learned.

“It’s just working hard every practice – trying to do the right things and be better,” he said.

Velela believes that the time spent training in Florida with the youth team has prepared him for what’s next with the Cosmos.

Joining up with the team for the last few weeks of the 2015 season, Velela has been soaking up as much knowledge as he can from the veterans. The Cosmos, despite claiming the NASL title, had been training until early this month.

As a defender, and a fullback at that, Velela has had a keen eye on how Ayoze and Hunter Freeman play the game.

“Ayoze and Freeman are really great players,” Velela said. “I just look at them and look at where I’d be playing in the games. I look up to them a lot.

“I learn more from watching than doing, but the way they get into the attack and defend is great. I just keep watching them to see how I can get better.”

Velela, who has yet to debut for the team, is looking forward to linking up with his teammates for preseason, developing his game, and hoping to make an impact in the 2016 NASL season.

“I’m pretty excited,” he said. “I came here almost at the end of the season and saw the guys working hard in practice. I feel like [next year] I can get more involved and get into games.”

Having seen his teammates lift the Soccer Bowl trophy last month, the young defender wants nothing less for himself next season.

“One of my goals is to keep playing with the national team for whatever cycle comes next,” Velela said. “Get games here, hopefully do well, and win another Soccer Bowl [trophy].”