From his second-floor office at the Sharp HealthCare Performance Center in East County, San Diego FC sporting director Tyler Heaps can gaze out at the five full-sized practice fields. Starting last week, he saw more than the SDFC first team training there. Outside his window were 18 youth players born in 2012 and 2013. “From Day 1,” Heaps said, “we want these kids to feel a part of this project, because they’re the heartbeat of it.” They are the first class of SDFC’s Right to Dream Academy, a bedrock of the club’s philosophy to develop and integrate young players internally and holistically. Major League Soccer clubs are required to have youth academies, but this is a different animal altogether: a fully residential model in a $150 million, state-of-the-art facility where players as young as 11 live, eat, study and train while learning the same, unique tactical style as the first team. The idea is to recruit another, younger class of prospects in each subsequent summer until the academy has teams at all age groups. Then the idea is to play some of them once they hit 18 … or 17 … or 16 … or even 15. And if you don’t believe SDFC and coach Mikey Varas will bloody teenagers in an MLS game, that the academy’s lofty stated ambitions are merely performative, actions speak louder than words. SDFC (16-7-4) has the league’s best record as it hosts Portland Timbers on Saturday night at Snapdragon Stadium, and it also ranks first in the percentage of minutes played by under-20s at 10.5%. “And that’s without an academy,” Heaps said. “Some of these clubs have had academies for 20 years. So I think that’s a pretty big statement from us right off the bat that we have an organization and also a head coach that really trusts and believes these players are ready to make an impact. “Because it’s not that we’re just playing these players and we’re in the bottom of the league, right?” Earlier this week, SDFC signed defender Leo Duru, yet another member of the U.S. under-20 national team who was toiling in the English soccer’s fourth division. “He comes with a ton of hunger as a young player to prove a point,” Varas said. “He’s looking to make the next step in his career, and this is a place that provides those opportunity to young, hungry, talented players.” Heaps has been looking elsewhere for those diamonds, simply out of necessity with only a first team and no academy or even reserve squad. Sooner than you might think, though, he’ll be looking outside his office window for them. It comes at a time when the pro game is skewing younger across the globe. Yamine Lamal made his debut for Barcelona at 15 and for Spain’s senior national team at 16. Max Dowman appeared in a preseason game for England’s Arsenal this summer at 15. Midfielder Cavan Sullivan made his MLS debut for the Philadelphia Union last season at 14 years, 293 days. “I think you’ll see some of these guys at 16 definitely training every day with our first team or at least the majority of the time,” Heaps said of the inaugural Right to Dream class of 11-, 12- and 13-year-olds. “And then it’s about finding the right moment and the right opportunity. Sometimes that’s presented because of injury, sometimes it’s presented because these guys are just challenging day in and day out and they earn it. “But I don’t think it’s totally unrealistic to say that three years from now and especially four years from now, some of these guys are making their debuts and playing for us at a first-team level. There are other clubs that have an academy, but the strategy is very first-team led, where our strategy is from the bottom up.” MLS territorial rules limit the scope of the recruitment, so most of the 18 players come from San Diego County. A few are from “open territories” like Las Vegas and Sacramento. A couple are from Tijuana, allowed by FIFA rules because the academy is based within 30 miles of an international border. The players introduced themselves to the first team roster. They share a dining hall. They practice at 7 a.m., then watch the first-team practice while eating breakfast from the deck overlooking the fields. There are plans to incorporate academy members in position meetings with the first team. When they get older, the top prospects will be invited to participate in training with them. Others will branch off into an academic fpcus, with an eye for playing college soccer. “Now it’s about choosing the right ones,” Heaps said of the recruitment efforts. “It’s not about just bringing 30, 40 (per age group). This is not a mechanism where we just try to bring in mass numbers, and a few of them make it. We want to be very selective about the players that we bring and ensure that they have a path to play.” The heartbeat of the club is now thumping. “We don’t want to overvalue them quite yet,” Heaps said. “They still have a lot of learning and growing to do. But we’re off to a good start. And it’s nice to see it happening. It’s no longer a matter of if or when.” SDFC acquires forward from San Jose The club signed 35-year-old striker Amahl Pellegrino from the San Jose Earthquakes for $300,000 in General Allocation Money (GAM). Pelligrino, who is out of contract after the 2025 season, had nine goals and five assists in 51 appearances (32 starts) over the past two years with the Earthquakes. He did not play in SDFC’s 2-1 comeback win at San Jose on Sunday. Before MLS, Pellegrino played in his native Norway. To make room on the roster, SDFC waived defender Hamady Diop, who was selected from Charlotte FC in the MLS expansion draft last December. Diop was the No. 1 overall draft pick in the 2023 Superdraft by Charlotte but was left unprotected in the expansion draft and played sparingly for SDFC, totaling 225 minutes in seven appearances. San Diego FC (16-7-4) vs. Portland Timbers (10-9-7) When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday Where: Snapdragon Stadium TV: AppleTV Radio: 760-AM (English), 1700-AM (Spanish)