After a historic season with Real Salt Lake’s U16 squad—one that saw them lift both the Generation adidas Cup and the MLS NEXT Cup—midfielder Rylan Hashimoto has emerged as one of the most exciting young players in the country. From all the success, their is still immersive dedication and grind. We caught up with Rylan to hear about his journey so far, the challenges of academy life, and what it’s like to deliver under pressure on some of the biggest youth soccer stages in North America.

Hashimoto does not originally come from Salt Lake, and in fact his family resides in Northern California. We asked him about this experience moving away from home: Before you joined Real Salt Lake, where did you play, and how did the move to RSL’s academy influence your development? “Making the move to RSL was a huge step in my soccer career,” Rylan said. “Moving away from home into the residency forced me to learn more about myself and to become independent. Since joining, I can see huge developments in myself as a player and also as a person.” Going into this season, everyone knew Real Salt Lake would be a good team, but their paramount success was largely unprecedented. When asked about preseason Ryland recounted : “Coming into the season, the squad as a whole faced a lot of adversity such as losing and injuries,” he explained. “But through the adversity everybody kept working hard and our hard work was rewarded.”

Generation adidas Cup provides the opportunity for MLS sides to compete against some high level clubs from around the world. Through the years, various MLS and interning clubs have won, and the tournament has seen stars like Kobbie Mainoo, Enzo Fernandez, and Ricardo Pepi have all participated. Hasimoto was named MVP of the U16 Generation adidas Cup after scoring five goals, including two in the final. We asked what was going through his mind in those decisive moments? “During the final, everything felt like a blur to be honest,” Hashimoto recalled. “But I remember after scoring my second goal, the reactions of everybody on the team, and our U18s in the stands being that we were going to win—and it was the most priceless feeling ever, especially since our team had grown so much since the beginning of the year.”

RSL would continue this success through the year going onto win the MLS Next Cup as well. Hashimoto commented on this historic run saying “To be part of a history-making squad, I am filled with gratitude,” he said. “I’m lucky to have worked with such an incredible team and coaching staff that fought together against adversity to obtain our success.” Obviously, this success comes with pressure to perform not only from peers, but form the country who are tuning in: “The times I play in high-pressure games and moments, I always remind myself that I can do all the things I am good at no matter the situation,” Hashimoto shared. “I imagine myself being successful in every moment of the game prior to kickoff.” Hashimoto clearly does not feel the pressure as he also went onto be included in the MLS Next Cup next XI alongside his teammate Van Parker. Hashimoto will also undoubtedly be a front runner to win the MLS Next MVP award.

From professional Jordan Allen is the coach of this Salt Lake team, and has been a hug contributor to their success. Rylan praises him saying. “Coach Jordan having gone through the entire academy pathway and signing for the first team provides an invaluable connection and understanding between himself and the players,” Rylan said. “He understands what it’s like to be away from home and to play for RSL—but also what it takes to move forward in the program into the first team.”

Looking ahead to next season, it will be difficult for this Real Salt Lake group to achieve similar success. Going into next season, Hashimoto stated: “For me, since I’m still very young, I’m focusing on improving myself in every category,” he said. “But if I were to choose a single category it would be mental, as I believe it is the most important skill and is what divides youth players and amateurs from professionals.”Looking ahead, what are your goals for next season—both personally and with the team?” Some goals I have going into next season are to continue to improve and to fill in the gaps in my game,” he said. “From a team standpoint, I want to win everything we can during the season and try to replicate the same success we had this year in GA Cup and MLS NEXT Cup.”

The MIC Cup’s first edition in Central America just concluded with brand new winners across all levels. The MIC Cup began this past week for its first edition near the United States, and many notable clubs partook in the tournament. From the likes of River Plate, Inter Miami, Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Barcelona all partook at least one level in the tournament. The under-12 edition Real Madrid came out on top. Real Madrid took on FC Barcelona in the final, and came up on top. Real Madrid defeated FC23NXTERAFOOTBALL and The Soccer Lab on their way to the final. In the U13 bracket we saw many big name teams including Thiago Messi and Inter Miami. They would unfortunately loose out to River Plate in the quarterfinals. Rive Plate would go onto win the entire tournament in dominate fashion. They went 10-0 on aggregate on route to the final. In the U14 division, LA Galaxy became the champions over Aston Villa in the final. LA Galaxy defeated Aston Villa in the final after many dominating performances on the way there. Another American side took the victory in the U15 bracket when Inter Miami defeated Club American in penalties in the final. Club America defeated Bayer Leverkusen on route to the final, but they could not get it done when it mattered.

The MLS NEXT All‑Star Game, formerly known as the Homegrown Game, pits the top youth talent from MLS NEXT East against those from MLS NEXT West. It is scheduled as part of the All‑Star Week in July 2025, but it won’t be in Austin. Instead, the 2025 youth matchup will return to Historic Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio, on Tuesday, July 23, 2025 at 11:30 a.m. ET — a free event open to the public and streamed. This setup marks another year where the league highlights emerging prospects, giving 44 rising stars (22 from each conference) a national spotlight and experience alongside the senior All-Stars and Skills Challenge . It complements the main MLS All‑Star Game, which features the top professional players facing Liga MX All-Stars that same day in Austin.

Last year, the east took the victory over the west with Cavan Sullivan taking home the MLS Next All Star game MVP. This year, MLS has already announced some names who will partake in the game including Barca Residency midfielder Graham Ford. Here are five more names we could to see on the list come July 23rd.

LeBlanc has been a pivotal piece to the Philadelphia Union’s success over the years. LeBlanc plays attacking midfield. He has already been utilized by the Union’s second team, and he will likely continue this role for the rest of the season.

There will more than likely be a few Real Salt Lake players at this year’s MLS Next All Star game, but it will be hard to leave out the leading goalscorer and MVP at MLS Next Cup. Parker took over bagging multiple braces for Salt Lake, and helped lead them to the MLS Next Cup trophy.

From one MLS Next MVP to the next Lukas Robbins will likely be on the roster. A dynamic attacking midfielder Robbins is electric on the ball, and he helped Inter Miami lift the MLS Next Cup.

Caraballo may be the first name on the MLS Next All Star team sheet. He has exploded this season from the U18s all the way to the first team. He has already scored multiple times for the first team and won Ga Cup MVP.

Vanney is coming off a MLS Next Cup win and a MVP award. Vanney has not played a ton of MLS Next since the MLS Next Pro season started, but he will more than likely be granted a spot due to his play at MLS Next Cup.