From the (edited) CSUDH press release:

West Torrance High alum and former Cal State Dominguez Hills grad Jaret "JT" Minami died Aug. 2 at Torrance Memorial Hospital at the age of 25, four days after suffering a stroke and slipping into a coma.

A standout player for head coach Joe Flanagan and the Toros, Torrance native JT made 47 starts in 61 games played in his career, capping a four-year stint with 1st-team NSCAA All-Region and 2nd-team All-CCAA honors during his senior season.

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Thought I'd point you to a young man getting plenty of attention following the completion of the US Soccer Developmental Academy Finals last week. The Baltimore Bays won the U18 age group and were led by Chris, who recently completed his high school degree a semester early at private school McDonogh in Baltimore, who he also led to a State title last November.

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The Bays defeated west coast rivals LAFC in the final match of the 2008 Development Academy tournament in a nail biter that went to overtime before the boys of Baltimore could scrap out the 4-2 victory.

But in a match closer to home for many of my readers, in the battle of two fires, North Atlanta's Concorde Fire took the fifth place spot with a 3-2 victory over the Chicago Fire. Click to continue reading...

Baltimore Bays (U-18) and Carmel United (U-16) are the first Development Academy champions, winning their finals at the Home Depot Center over weekend.

The top MLS-affiliated team was the Columbus Crew's U-18 side, which placed third.

The U-18 final had a bit of controversy, with runner-up LAFC claiming their players were too often carded for fouls on Chris Agorsor, the Gatorade player of the year who shook off a knee sprain to come off the bench in the final.

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Hot young Maryland prospect Chris Agorsor proved again last week why he could be one of the most exciting young prospects in US Soccer, helping his team win the Development Academy U-17/18 championship at the Home Depot Center in southern California. Jaime Cardenas of the LA Times has a great writeup on the tournament here. Click to continue reading...

Galaxy beat writer Scott Wolf gave a few tidbits of today's story in blog posts Friday and here we learn just how happy Coach Ruud Gullit is to punt Abel Xavier. So are we, Ruud, so are we.

A massive crowd is expected in New York for David Beckham, sorry, today's game (3:30 p.m. live on Fox Soccer Channel).

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The Baltimore Bays, led by 2008 Gatorade Player of the Year Chris Agorsor, will be facing LAFC in the U-18 championship match after both teams clinched the top spot in their respective groups this afternoon. The inaugural Development Academy championship on the Mooch Myernick Field at The Home Depot Center will be shown live on ESPN2 at 8 p.

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As I'm typing, the first Development Academy finals are kicking off in Carson, Calif. This is the much-ballyhooed effort to get the top youth clubs to play in a more structured environment with competitive games. Several MLS clubs have entered their youth squads, and ESPN's networks will broadcast the last games.

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With a pair of wins in their first two games, the Springfield SC U17 Boys sit atop their group today with six points. They'll face off against AYSES 91 Gold (from North Texas) at 8:30 pm this evening needing a tie or a win to go through to the knock-out round.

AYSES 91 won their State Cup while going 0-1-2 in the Region III tournament last year.

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