While the first team chugs along with a home game against Orlando City on Saturday, the talk and focus continues to be on the future with the third homegrown signing of the past two weeks announced on Thursday. It’s one that has been talked about pretty much ad nauseam for weeks with reports the sought after 14-year-old would be staying home and the Union played up their off the field “win” like never before. Welcome to the first team, Cavan and congrats to the Sullivans.

In the email today:

1. 🤩 Cavan Sullivan’s Day

A couple years ago I stopped over at YSC Sports to grab a water bottle my son had left there and hung out for a few minutes watching a training session that was a mix of older and younger academy players. The youngest player out there was a 12-year-old Cavan Sullivan.

I knew who Cavan was, I had seen some of the videos of him dominating players 2-3 years older than him at FC Delco, had seen him play with the U13 team and he was a regular fixture on the sidelines and running onto the field at halftime of his older brothers’ games.

What I saw that day though in that brief encounter on my walk to the Lost and Found box struck me. After a run forward with the ball in the attack had died, Cavan was in the face of his much older teammate pointing and giving him a hard time about not making a run.

With most normal kids you might be concerned about a 12-year-old giving a 17 or 18-year-old an earful like that but Cavan has never really been a normal kid. He was, after all, absolutely right. The other kid should’ve made that run because Cavan was ready to play him in to a 1v1 chance with the keeper.

I was thinking about that moment and many others watching Cavan play while sitting in the press conference room at Subaru Park on Thursday after his first team signing was officially announced. He’s the youngest in team history to sign with the first team - other than Zach Pfeffer significantly younger than most every other signing - and the reported $500k a year figure has surely been talked about by agents in negotiations with more experienced and decorated players in the locker room in Chester.

Like a lot of things in MLS there’s a lot more than soccer at play here and there’s plenty of questions to ask around this monumental event. The level of hype and attention it is getting is unprecedented but there are many signs pointing to why this 14-year-old is different and why his determination, grit and off the chart skill might just propel him to lofty places never imagined for a kid first introduced to organized soccer at the famed Lighthouse Soccer Club. As he and everyone in his family acknowledge, he has a long way to go but the beginning of this journey as a pro soccer player and the promise of sharing a field with his big brother playing for a coach his dad and grandpop once coached at Villanova really is the making of something uniquely special.

2. 🐍 When Will He Play?

It was no surprise that the question of when Cavan might make his first team debut would be asked in his introductory press conference and it was also even less of a surprise that head coach Jim Curtin didn’t reveal much in his answer.

Curtin isn’t into tipping his hat on any of his lineup decisions as any coach is but his standard “the game doesn’t lie” response is one that certainly applies in this case.

No, Cavan won’t play on Saturday night against Orlando City. Or the game after that or even the game after that.

But his chance will come and he’ll continue to play for Union II as he is fully integrated into first team training and being a pro.

Curtin’s common line around young players is that they wouldn’t be on the first team if they didn’t think they could play when called upon but we also know that minutes aren’t handed out for charity and that getting more than a cup of coffee for young players is never guaranteed.

This probably won’t stop the “We want Cavan” chants any more than it did the “Roger Torres!” ones of yesteryear but having a measured approach is always advisable. Play the kids when ready and trust the process.

3. 🐐 Tweet of the Day: Making it About Messi

4. 💧 Water Cooler: Opting In for Leagues Cup? Results

5. 🔗 Link Roundup

• Matt DeGeorge’s article on the Cavan Sullivan signing for Delco Times.

• Jonathan Tannenwald on Cavan’s decision to stay with his hometown club (for now).

• Tim Lutz has his latest lower league roundup.

• TheCup.us recaps the fourth round of the U.S. Open Cup, a round that saw the last team from Pennsylvania in the field exit.

• Palumbo Soccer is rebranding as Philadelphia City FC.

• Free pickups are happening on weeknights at the WSFS Bank Sportsplex by Subaru Park in Chester. Join the Meetup group for updates.

• If you are interested in local lower level soccer and fan culture there’s a newsletter launching soon called For the Love. Subscribe at forthelove.beehiiv.com/subscribe.

Celebrate Philadelphia Soccer heritage with shirts available at OldSchoolShirts.com.

Thanks for reading! Have an item or suggestion for the newsletter? Email [email protected].

Want to support this newsletter? Upgrade your account 
for $1 per month or $10 per year.