Standout Barca Residency Academy defender, Miles Lyons, has signed his first professional contract with USL Championship club El Paso Locomotive.
“I feel really excited to have signed my first professional contract with a club like El Paso Locomotive,” said Lyons. “I have worked most of my life to get to this moment but I know that I will have to work even harder in order to accomplish the goals that I have set for myself.”
An Arizona native, Lyons spent the past four seasons with Barca Residency Academy playing a crucial defensive role on the Academy’s US Soccer Development Academy (USSDA) and MLS Next teams. An academy veteran and vocal leader, Lyons most recently helped lead the U-19 team to back-to-back MLS Next Southwest Division Championships and consecutive MLS Next playoff berths.
“After 4 years within our Academy, it is great to see Miles given an opportunity at El Paso Locomotive to take the next step in his career,” said Ged Quinn, Barca Residency Academy Director and U-19 Head Coach. “He has been a tremendous role model for our younger academy players and has worked extremely hard to get to this point. Miles will fit perfectly with Coach John and the Locomotive’s style of play and he will continue to excel within their environment. Our academy as a whole is excited to continue our support for the Locomotive group and we look forward to following Miles’s success within the USL Championship.”
Lyons, 19, joins Locomotive as an outside back, helping fill a role on the defensive backline for the Locos. He becomes the second Barca Residency Academy player to sign a professional contract with Locomotive, following in the footsteps of former teammate Diego Luna.
“We invited Miles [Lyons] in for pre-season after our friendly with the Barca Academy and we were very happy with him,” commented John Hutchinson, Locomotive Head Coach and Technical Director. “We know he has a had an excellent football education with the Barca Academy and thank them for helping us and Miles with his first professional club. Miles has the potential to be a very good prospect for us moving forward and we look forward to seeing his development.”
Lyons becomes the fifth player this season to make the jump from Barca Residency Academy to the pros. He joins former teammates, Korede Osundina (Orange County FC), Brooklyn Raines (Houston Dynamo FC), Emmanuel Johnson (Hibernian FC), and Luca Sowinski (FC Tulsa) who are already making names for themselves at the professional level.
Lyons’ first chance at action with the Locos will take place on Saturday, July 16 as they take on Oakland Roots SC at 7:00 p.m. MST on ESPN+.
