by Paul Sheirich

The San Jose Earthquakes announced March 12th that they signed former San Francisco Seals youth player Colin Mitchell to the tream roster.

Mitchell was selected by the Earthquakes in the January Supplemental Draft and evaluated by the team in camp prior to signing earlier this month.  He spent his college career at Oregon State where he appeared in 71 games with the Beavers, tying him for 9th on the schools all-time list for games played. 

Beavers head coach, Steve Simmons noted that "Colin is one of the most athletic players I’ve ever coached. His 5 years at OSU have evolved him from an attacking player to a defender. His ability to play on the left side has helped us in many ways.”

While with the Seals, Mitchell typically played on the left side in the mid-field with occasional stints as left back.  His speed, aggressiveness, and powerful play made him a forceful presence for the team. 

In 2006 Mitchell was a member of the U17 team that played in the prestigious Milk Cup in Northern Ireland, playing Sheffield United's youth team as well as national teams from Lichtenstein and Malta, Northern Ireland's County Antrim, and the Otago from New Zealand.  The team placed third in the Premier section Dunluce Trophy group. 

A San Francisco native, son of Alison Amonette and Robert Mitchell, Mitchell graduated from San Francisco University High School in 2008, and majored in New Media Communications.

In his "Senior Spotlight" YouTube video, Mitchell notes that he wanted to play professionally, and it's clear that the love of the game he displayed as a youth player stayed with him through college. 

We look forward to following Mitchell's MLS career, and wish him all the best!

by Dave Nugent

On a chill December evening at Crocker Amazon, a combined U17-U18 Select SF Seals Squad hosted a visiting English team from Oundle, north of London. Oundle’s website boasted training under the Aston Villa Academy and Derby County FC, two historic pillars of English football.

The match settled into a tactical game of give and take. But it didn’t take long for Coach Shani Simpson’s Seals squad to assert themselves as the more dangerous team with quick & creative passing, on-the-ball skill and the more aggressive attack. With the many scoring opportunities the Seals created, it was a bit ironic that the one goal came from forward Will Slotterback’s quick flick of a loose ball to lift it into the box for a header or tap-in. Instead, the ball found its own way just under the crossbar, past the keeper’s outstretched hand.

The English Keeper’s solid and assertive play resulted in several critical saves to keep the game close. Yet, though the game remained a tight 1-0 through the remainder of the first and the full second half, the Seals never truly felt threatened. The Seals back line and midfield control of play did an excellent job of keeping the English lads to only 2-3 shots on goal the entire game. Seals Keeper Aldo Encizo finally had a chance to show his stuff towards the end of match, leaping high to deftly tip a blistering 20-yard volley – Oundle’s best shot of the day - inches over the crossbar.

There was smart execution & clean play displayed by both squads, with players & coaches mingling after the game to exchange congratulations for a game well played. 

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