Casa Grande, AZ (September 27, 2021) – Barca Residency Academy announced today that midfielder Brooklyn Raines will join El Paso Locomotive FC for the remainder of the 2021 USL Championship season as a USL Academy signee.
“This is an excellent opportunity for Brooklyn to be in a top-level professional environment and hopefully get some valuable minutes playing in the USL Championship over the next couple of months,” said academy director Ged Quinn.
“The environment that Mark Lowrey has created will be one that Brooklyn will thrive in as they come into the final stretch of their regular season and begin to prepare for their playoff run. We look forward to welcoming Brooklyn back to Barça Residency Academy at the end of the USL Championship season, I’m sure this experience will benefit all of the parties involved in a positive way.”
Raines, 16, joined Barca Residency Academy in 2018 from Inter FC Chicago. A standout in his three years at the Academy, Raines has made a name for himself at the national and international level as the No.3 ranked 2005 in the nation. He has been invited to trial at La Masia on two occasions and receive a U-14 USYNT call-up in 2019. Most recently, Raines was named Honorable Mention on Top Draw Soccer’s MLS Next Cup All Age Group Best XI for his excellent performance with the U-19s.
“Brooklyn is a young player from the same Academy that helped develop Diego Luna. It will be great for him to be in our environment for the remainder of the season so we can take a look at him up against our guys. He has a very bright future.” Locomotive head coach Mark Lowry said in a release.
Raines will reunite with Barca Residency Academy alumnus Diego Luna on Wednesday night when the Locos host Real Monarchs SLC at Southwest University Park.
