Canberra FC goalkeeper Sam Brown is among the 18 players named in the inaugural CU Academy squad to play in the National Premier League.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Brown established himself as Canberra FC's first-choice 'keeper after moving across from Woden-Weston FC in search of more opportunities midway through the season.
The CU Academy squad was unveiled on Thursday following a three-day scholarship selection camp at Southwell Park.
Seven of the 18 players have come through the Senior NTC program including Antoni Timotheou, who is the younger brother of Young Socceroos and Sydney FC National Youth League defender George Timotheou.
The remainder of the squad has been drawn from Canberra FC, Monaro Panthers, Belconnen United, Canberra Olympic, Gungahlin United and Tuggeranong United.
CU Academy coach Pat McCann, who is also the assistant technical director for the boys' program, said potential players had been scouted over the past 12 months.
"We're happy with the year-long process that we went through of identification," McCann said.
"What yesterday represented was a chance to refine some of the original thinking on some of those players, see how they performed in the environment we intend to create for them and see how they responded.
"We collaborated among the coaching staff to come up with what I think is a pretty talented group of players."
The formation of the CU Academy is the first step to a Canberra team in the National Youth League.
Separate trials will be held for a CU Academy NYL team if it is admitted into the competition.
"My hope is to be able to give them the opportunity to perform in a full-time football environment," McCann said.
"I think the project always was to provide an environment for players who aspire to be professionals beyond just the ACTAS age group.
"We always identified that the 15-19 age group was a gap and for them to have any chance in professional football they needed to be full-time in that age range."
CU Academy: Sam Brown (Canberra FC), David Carder (Monaro Panthers), Ross Constanzo (Belconnen United), Daniel Fabrizio (Senior NTC), Josh Gulevski (Senior NTC), Ridwan Hannan (Senior NTC), Finn Jurak (Senior NTC), Niko Kresic (Canberra FC), Tom Krklec (Senior NTC), Adrian Macor (Canberra Olympic), Tony Maddafari (Gungahlin United), Pat O'Rourke (Senior NTC), Daniel Subasic (Canberra FC), Antoni Timotheou (Senior NTC), Jonathan Turek (Tuggeranong United), Niko Udjur (Belconnen United), Sam Whithear (Belconnen United).
