Huntsville City FC’s Sipic heads to All-Star game

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WAFF) - Huntsville City FC in conjunction with Nashville Soccer Club and Major League Soccer announced its first homegrown to compete in the MLS Next All-Star Game.

Adem Sipić, HCFC forward, has been selected to compete in Allstate’s second annual MLS NEXT All-Star Game on July 19 at 9:30 a.m. at the Naval Academy’s Glenn Warner Soccer Facility in Annapolis, Md.

The game will be streamed live on MLS NEXT’s (@mlsnext) TikTok account and on TikTok LIVE, providing a world-class experience for Sipić and the rest of North America’s rising stars to showcase their talents in an East vs. West format.

With the selection, the 17-year-old becomes the second Nashville SC player to appear in an MLS NEXT All-Star Game after Alejandro Carrillo represented the club last season.

Sipić and the other 43 players were selected by MLS NEXT personnel following the conclusion of the 2023 MLS NEXT Cup Playoffs and Showcase. To be eligible for selection, players had to be born between 2005-’07, had competed in the MLS NEXT regular season, and played in at least one of the MLS NEXT premier events this season – MLS NEXT Fest, MLS NEXT Flex, Generation adidas Cup, or the MLS NEXT Cup Playoffs and Showcase.

Sipić became the first player to complete the pathway to the pros by developing through the club’s Academy onto Huntsville City Football Club, the club’s MLS NEXT Pro affiliate, and finally by signing a First Team contract with Nashville SC on June 13.

The academy player joined The Gold Mine in 2020 as a U-15 player and quickly moved onto the U-17′s. The forward helped propel Nashville’s U-17′s through the GA Cup qualifiers and ultimately to the 2023 GA Cup in Florida where he registered two goals.

As the captain of the U-17′s, Sipić appeared in 14 matches scoring 16 goals throughout the season. This season with Huntsville City FC, Nashville SC’s MLS NEXT Pro affiliate, Sipić has appeared in eight matches and scored one goal and the winning penalty in the tiebreaker shootout in the club’s inaugural match at Crown Legacy FC.

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