PHOENIX (January 31, 2019) — Phoenix Rising Football Club announced today it had added local goalkeeper Brandon Keniston for the 2019 season. Keniston becomes the first former Phoenix Rising Youth player to join the first team. By registering as a USL Academy Player, Keniston can play competitive matches for Rising FC without jeopardizing his amateur status. The addition of Keniston is pending federation and league approval.

Keniston spent the last year in Almunecar, Spain, playing for FC Malaga City Academy. Featuring as the academy’s No. 1 goalkeeper, Keniston played against some of the top Spanish youth academy teams: Real Madrid U-18’s, Atletico Madrid U-19’s, Malaga CF U-19s, and Sevilla FC U-19’s. He also had trials with Malaga CF, Marabella FC and Alcegrias FC.

Before playing in Spain, Keniston played with Phoenix Rising Youth in Scottsdale on the 01 ECNL Team. In his last year with the team, they won the 2017 NPL Southwest Region championship and went to the 2017 NPL championships in Indianapolis. He played his high school soccer at Chaparral High School, where he was the starting varsity goalkeeper as a sophomore for eight matches before leaving for Spain.

With the addition of Keniston, Phoenix Rising’s roster now stands at 20 players for the 2019 season.

About Phoenix Rising FC

Phoenix Rising FC is the highest-level professional soccer franchise in Arizona’s history and currently the defending USL Western Conference Champions. The club is owned by legendary Chelsea and Ivory Coast striker, Didier Drogba, Advantage Sports Union CEO, Alex Zheng, Executive Chairman of Kona Grill, Berke Bakay, and an impressive collection of business leaders and international celebrities. Established in 2016, Phoenix Rising FC is one of 10 cities applying for Major League Soccer (MLS) expansion and currently plays in the USL Championship, the largest Division 2 professional league in the world. In October 2017, Phoenix Rising FC acquired FC Tucson and is bringing USL League One professional soccer to Tucson beginning in the spring of 2019. For season tickets or more information call 623-594-9606 or visit PHXRisingFC.com. You can also follow the team on Facebook (PHXRisingFC), Twitter (@PHXRisingFC), Instagram (@PHXRisingFC), Snapchat (PHXRisingFC) and YouTube (PhoenixRisingFootballClub).

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