CARY, N.C. (Jan. 17, 2020) – A continuation of North Carolina FC’s youth-to-pro pipeline, NCFC announced on Friday the signings of teenagers Adam Armour, Trace Alphin and Luke Hille to academy contracts ahead of the 2020 USL Championship season, pending league and federation approval. As part of the deal, each player will be available to train and play in first-team matches while maintaining their college eligibility.



Each members of the NCFC Youth Academy U-18/19 squad, Armour, Alphin and Hille will link up with head coach Dave Sarachan’s NCFC squad for preseason training, which begins on Monday, Feb. 3.

“Development in our system here at NCFC is about trying to push players to the highest level,” Sarachan said. “When a player gets the opportunity to jump in day in and day out with full-time professionals, everything gets faster in terms of technique and thinking. For young players to experience that within our club, it’s a fantastic opportunity.”



Armour and Alphin, both aged 17, are returning for their second season with the NCFC first team, having spent 2019 on academy contracts. Hille, 16, is the 19th player all-time to sign an academy contract with the NCFC first team.



Armour, a Cary native, is among the most promising youth players in the U.S., having played in 19 matches at the international level with the U.S. U-17 National Team, including an appearance at the 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup. The skillful left back, who is verbally committed to Duke University, made his first appearance for NCFC in the team’s 2-1 exhibition win over Necaxa of Liga MX in March 2019.



“As Adam begins his second go-around with us, the comfort level of being with pros every day and the expectations of what’s demanded every day means his starting point will be quite high,” Sarachan said.



Continuing the NCFC Youth Academy’s tradition of producing top-tier goalkeepers, Alphin was named to Sarachan’s matchday squad three times in 2019, including NCFC’s U.S. Open Cup match against New York City FC of Major League Soccer. Like Armour, Alphin plans to play collegiately at an in-state ACC school, having verbally pledged to Wake Forest University.



“By the end, Trace really adjusted well to the speed and the power that comes with professional soccer,” Sarachan said. “I think his starting point coming into this year will be way higher than it was last year – physically, mentally and tactically.”



Both Alphin and Armour also appeared for NCFC U-23 in USL League Two action in 2019, continuing their development under head coach Tom Harris.



A versatile playmaker, Hille can play in both the midfield and at forward. The Cary native has scored six goals in 11 matches for the NCFC U 18/19 squad during the 2019-20 season, and also carries a reputation for his defensive work rate.



“I had gotten to see Luke over the past year with some of the teams he’s been a part of with our academy,” Sarachan said. “He’s a pretty mature young man. He’s got a good head on his shoulders, and physically, he’ll be very capable right away to keep up with the pace. He has a strong mentality as well, and he’s just got the profile of a young guy I feel can succeed early on.”



In the last five years, the NCFC Youth Academy has had 33 players called into youth national team camps, nine sign professional contracts with MLS clubs and over 100 commit to play at the college level. Three players from the 2019 NCFC U-23 squad were recently selected in the 2020 MLS SuperDraft, including first-round selection Jeremy Kelly, a product of the NCFC Youth Academy and the NCFC first team.



“This is a tremendously important piece of our overall club structure,” said John Bradford, NCFC Youth Academy director and NCFC assistant coach. “It’s just the accepted way of how we do player development. We always want our top players to have the opportunity to be with the first team, and we truly believe we’re producing players who have professional soccer in their futures. For us to ease them in and manage their progress is the ideal scenario.”



With just over seven weeks remaining until the start of the regular season, NCFC’s current squad includes forwards Robert Kristo and Hadji Barry; midfielders Ben Speas, Nazmi Albadawi, Steven Miller, Graham Smith, Pecka and Luke Hille; defenders Sam Brotherton, Alex Comsia, Caleb Duvernay, Conor Donovan, DJ Taylor and Adam Armour; and goalkeepers Alex Tambakis and Trace Alphin



NCFC opens up its 2020 campaign at home against Louisville City FC on Saturday, March 7 at 2:30 p.m. at Sahlen’s Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park. Single-game tickets for the 2020 season will go on sale on Feb. 3.