Photo PSP archives from 2020

Richie Graham is one of the secondary owners of the Philadelphia Union under the general aegis of principal owner Jay Sugarman. In 2013 Mr. Graham founded the Philadelphia Union’s soccer academy, an entity that comprises two parts one academic called YSC Academy and the other athletic often referred as the Union Academy.

Over the ten years this writer has covered the Philadelphia Union’s professional-level, developmental soccer team, he has conversed with Mr. Graham in person only three times and communicated by gesture while passing above and below each other on the same pedestrian bridge system a fourth. We recognize each other and smile cordially, but otherwise do not know each other personally.

Those few conversations imparted that the former all-Ivy four-year soccer player from Dartmouth modeled his first foray into the education industry on a skiing school he experienced somewhere in Germanic-speaking Europe earlier in his life. Given the last two weeks he should conclude that he has implemented his idea well.

From an outsider’s perspective the past two weeks since United States Men’s National team head coach Mauricio Pochettino announced his world cup squad should have brought a smile to Mr. Graham’s face. Four of his early academy graduates are training with Pochettino’s side and are preparing to play as called upon for FIFA’s showcase tournament. A fifth is in Pochettino’s camp as a training goalkeeper, ineligible to play but cannon fodder for practices. And yesterday, Monday June 8^th, a scratch Union II side that was two-thirds academy-produced players provided a credible 90 minutes of opposition while scrimmaging world cup participant Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast). It was Les Elephants’s second and final pre-tournament scrimmage and was held at Subaru Park.

Not only has the initially expressed hope from back in 2016 that Graham’s Academy might someday contribute to an American World Cup been realized. The academy’s high schoolers and graduated collegians emphatically avoided slaughter by the 33^rd-ranked men’s national team in the world. One goal came early from the field. One goal came later from the spot. And a third was disallowed for offside.

Not only does Mr. Graham have proof of concept. He has a strong suggestion of sustainability as well.

Details

Honesty requires mentioning that four first teamers played with Union II during their Monday evening 2-0 defeat to Cote d’Ivoire. The devil lies in which four.

Three of them have seen all their 2026 regular season game minutes with Union II in the farm-team league called MLS NEXT Pro. The three were center back Finn Sundstrom, striker Eddy Davis, and striker/attacking midfielder Sal Olivas.

The only true “ringer”among Union II’s starters was attacking midfielder 16.7-year-old Cavan Sullivan who has just graduated from Graham’s academy and only this year has become a first team starter or primary reserve. Sullivan played 8/9^ths of the scrimmage and was clearly Union II’s most dangerous attacking creator.

The other dressed player who at first glance might be considered a ringer was the “without-club” Academy graduate striker/attacking midfielder Anthony Fontana who has been training at the club while his agent seeks out new opportunities. “Ringer” Fontana replaced “ringer” Sullivan for the last 1/9^th of the contest.

Everyone else fitted within what we presume to be Sporting Director Jon Scheer’s normal Union II qualifying parameters. The other four Academy graduates all graduated in 2024 or 2025 and are rostered collegiately. All the current academy players should be rising seniors.  In scrimmage minutes 61 through 90 after both coaches had removed most of their presumed top players, Union II emphatically represented Mr. Graham’s academy, overwhelmingly so by the end of the match with nine of the final 11 being current academy students or academy graduates.

Cote d’Ivoire is not Spain, France, or Argentina, but neither is it Gibraltar, Andorra, or San Marino. It is a team of world class, fully adult players. Mr. Graham’s academy should be proud of its performance, as should its founder.