The Real Salt Lake Youth Development Program is just days away from participating in the JRS World Cup-Comunidad de Madrid (U-18 Club World Cup) competition in Madrid. After winning last summer’s SUM U-17 Cup in Colorado, Real Salt Lake earned the right to represent Major League Soccer in this year’s edition of the prestigious international youth tournament, with the Americans leaving for Spain today in advance of group D contests against Spanish sides Rayo Vallecano and RCD Espanyol and Serbian giants Partizán de Belgrado.

This year’s fifth edition of the U-18 Club World Cup includes youth teams representing some of the most successful clubs on the planet, with the other dozen teams in the competition including Spanish powers Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, and Atletico de Madrid; two-time tourney champion Boca Juniors (Argentina); Brazilian giants Sao Paulo FC and Corinthians; traditional European contenders AC Milan (Italy), Werder Bremen (Germany), and Dynamo Kiev (Ukraine); in addition to Goyang NFGC (South Korea), Peñerol de Montevideo (Uruguay), and Mamelodi Sundowns (South Africa). Pool play for the tournament will run from May 31 through June 5, followed by the quarterfinals of the competition on June 7, the semifinals two days later and the championship on Friday, June 12.

This year marks the third season for the RSL Youth Development Program’s Utah U-17 squad, which will look to follow up the budding success it enjoyed across it first two summers. This year’s squad will again compete in the annual SUM Cup tourney, featuring academy teams representing nearly every MLS squad, in addition to taking part in friendlies against local club and USL Premier Development League teams. The purpose of the RSL Under-17 Boys developmental squad is for the Real Salt Lake coaching staff to recognize and identify some of the up-and-coming young players from across the area, with the possibility of one day playing for the Real Salt Lake first team. This year’s RSL-Utah U-17 team will be under the direction of RSL Assistant Coach/Youth Development Technical Director Brian Johnson, while RSL U-17 Head Coach Greg Maas returns with his assistant coaching staff for a third season with the program. Click here for roster. Utah players listed in red.