SJ Earthquakes Sign Youngest Bay Area Pro Sports Player Ever
SAN JOSE (CBS SF) -- The San Jose Earthquakes signed 15-year-old Quakes Academy product Cade Cowell as a Homegrown Player, the club announced on Wednesday.
At 15 years and 102 days, Cowell is the youngest player ever to be signed by any Bay Area professional sports team and the fourth youngest to be signed by a Major League Soccer team.
Three years ago, he was in the stands.
— San Jose Earthquakes (@SJEarthquakes) January 23, 2019
Today, he's the youngest pro in club history.
Life comes at you fast. pic.twitter.com/hHvdbtPRhF
The Quakes have made 3 of the 14 youngest signings in MLB history. Cowell is the sixth product of the Quakes Academy to sign with the first team.
Matias Almeyda, Earthquakes head coach, had high praise for the teen. "Cade has a bright future ahead of him and it is up to him how far he will go," he said in a press release.
"He adds to what I believe is a very talented group of young players here in San Jose and we're anxious to see him develop with us."
Cowell, who is from Ceres, California, enrolled in the Quakes Academy after a nation-leading goal scoring season in 2017-2018 with Ballistic United U-15's squad--he netted 34 goals in 32 appearances. He commuted an hour and a half every day to train with the Quakes.
Cowell is (as of now) a 5'9", 150-pound Forward. He's rated as a five-star prospect by TopDrawerSoccer.com and ranked as the #2 player in the U.S. for the Class of 2022. He's also the third Homegrown Player signed by the Quakes from Ballistic United.