CHICAGO (July 20, 2017) – U.S. Under-17 Men’s National Team head coach John Hackworth has named a 29-player roster for the team’s first domestic camp since the 2017 CONCACAF U-17 Championship. From July 21-29, the U.S. will descend upon Atlanta United FC’s training grounds for a nine-day training camp that will include a number of friendlies against local competition, including Tormenta FC of the Premier Development League and the National Premier Soccer League’s Atlanta Silverbacks.

“This camp marks the start of our World Cup preparations,” Hackworth said. “Therefore, it’s important to try to get this large player pool back together and focused on their preparations for the next two months.”

The camp marks the first gathering for the player pool (birth year 2000 or later) since Hackworth named 20 players for the 2017 International Festival in Buenos Aires and Rosario, Argentina, where the U.S. faced Argentine First Division youth clubs Rosario Central and Newells Old Boys, as well as the Uruguay U-18 National team.

With the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup quickly approaching and the U.S. set to kick off against host India on opening night, the Atlanta camp will be the first of four gatherings for Hackworth and his coaching staff to evaluate the player pool and test it against professional competition.