Two RSL academy standouts joined the U.S. under-20 men's national team on the same Sandy training fields where they won a historic championship double last year, as the squad prepared for a tournament that could punch its ticket to the World Cup and the Olympics.

U.S. Soccer brought its 21-player roster to Real Salt Lake's America First training ground for a pre-tournament camp ahead of the CONCACAF Under-20 Championship, which begins July 24 in Mexico. Head coach Gonzalo Segares told KSL Sports he chose Sandy specifically for the altitude.

"The altitude, obviously," Segares said July 21. "As we go into Mexico, we wanted to make sure we could replicate a little bit of that."

RSL opened its facilities for the week and loaned several academy players to fill out training sessions. Among them: attacker Rylan Hashimoto, the 2025 MLS NEXT All-Star who was named Generation Adidas Cup MVP after scoring five goals in that tournament, including a brace in the final. Goalkeeper Konstantinos Kyriazis, named Best Goalkeeper at the same event, also joined. The two helped RSL's U16 squad become the first club to win both the Generation Adidas Cup and MLS NEXT Cup in a single season last year.

Former RSL midfielder and Real Monarchs assistant coach Jordan Allen watched the session alongside RSL sporting director Kurt Schmid. Allen coached that U16 title-winning team before his promotion to the Monarchs staff for 2026. After the MLS NEXT Cup final on June 21, 2025, Allen said: "To win one trophy in a year is really special, to win two doesn't happen without a contribution from every single player on the field and everyone that is not getting on the field."

The camp also brought back Santiago "Santi" Morales, an Inter Miami attacker who spent a decade at the America First complex as a kid while his father, RSL legend Javier Morales, played for the first team. Morales said he sent his dad a video on the first day of training, recalling weekends watching professionals work on the same pitch.

The 12-team tournament determines four CONCACAF qualifiers for the 2027 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan. The champion also earns a spot at the 2028 Summer Olympics, though that berth would pass to the runner-up if the U.S. wins because the Americans already qualify as Olympic hosts.

The U.S. opens group play against Haiti on July 25, faces El Salvador on July 28, and closes against Cuba on July 31. All three matches kick off at Estadio Cuauhtémoc in Puebla and will be broadcast on FS2.

Sandy residents can follow the tournament run on FS2 starting with the Haiti match on July 25.