Mai Cachila

Taking control of the ball, junior striker Riley Baroldy plays during one of last season’s Varsity soccer playoff games. That season was his last one playing for the school, as he is now playing for Capital City’s MLS Next team. “I miss spending time with my teammates on the Cedar Park soccer team,” Baroldy said. “I’m excited for the rest of junior year though because I’m an upperclassman so I feel like it’s easier and I have more rights so it’s more fun.”

Navigating through the other players, he dribbles down the field, engulfed in the intense game. Approaching the goal, there’s nothing left to do but shoot the ball and hope the opposing team’s keeper is unable to block it. He raises his leg to take the shot, but even before he kicks, his team, coaches, and the crowd all know the scoreboard is about to go up in his favor.

After only two seasons of playing for Cedar Park, junior Riley Baroldy hangs up his Cedar Park jersey in trade of a Major League Soccer one. Leaving behind familiar faces on the school team, Baroldy now takes on a whole different level of playing field. After a long twelve years of soccer and two years of playing for the school, Baroldy now plays for Capital City’s team in the MLS Next league.

“I’ve played for both the school and now MLS,” Baroldy said. “MLS is a lot more intense than high school soccer. Practices are fast-paced, high intensity, and more physically demanding.”

The MLS Next Pro league was launched by Major League Soccer in 2020 and serves as a gateway for young soccer athletes to play at the highest competitive levels for their age. Capital City soccer club announced its joining of the MLS Next League in March and its season is now in full swing.

“I’ve always wanted to play [soccer] at the highest level and I wanted to play for Austin FC but they already had a lot of players from other states,” Baroldy said. “Then Cap City made a team and they had open spots.”

Before this year, Baroldy played for the school’s varsity soccer team during his freshman and sophomore years. Because of the MLS Next contract, players are only permitted to play with their team, and not be a part of any other. In addition, the league only allows you to play on one team within the club, and cannot play in a lower-level league. Since the contract states that MLS athletes are not allowed to play for middle school or high school soccer teams, Baroldy’s Cedar Park Soccer career comes to an abrupt stop in his junior year.

“Playing on the high school team freshman and sophomore year helped me because on varsity I was playing with the older kids,” Baroldy said. “The thing I’m gonna miss most about high school soccer is my friends, playing with them, and the late-night games.”

The MLS Next system covers age groups from under-13 through under-19. Across 133 clubs, there are 590 teams. Baroldy plays in the under-17 group and his team roster contains 20 people. 

“My chemistry with my MLS team isn’t as strong as my school team’s because I didn’t really know any of them before being on the team,” Baroldy said. “But we’ve gotten really close this year and I’ve grown up with the high school kids so I’m really close with them.”

Sports athletes are never guaranteed success through their programs, but MLS Next League is a step closer to the commitment of an even higher-level team. While Baroldy has decided that he wants to continue his soccer career in college, not every soccer season has been smooth sailing.

“Before I played for MLS I played for a level that was the step before MLS Next, but then I got dropped down and decided to focus on myself and played for the school for a bit,” Baroldy said. “I tried really hard and focused so I could get better. I think my work ethic has gotten better through the help of coaches and my dad who motivates me. I would say I’m not the most dedicated person but Coach Foxworth put me into shape.”

Baroldy’s team started playing games in August and will continue until the start of summer. He practices every day of the week except for Friday and has games almost every weekend. On the weekends his team doesn’t have games, his coach will set up an activity for them to do. The team travels almost every weekend and is currently in eighth place out of all of the teams in his age group. In order to qualify for playoffs in June, his team will need to stay in top eight.

“Our season has been alright, we’re like 50/50 right now,” Baroldy said. “We do pretty good against the normal teams but the academy teams are really good so we lose to them most of the time. I’m looking forward to the rest of the season. I have to say I’m excited because we have to go to the Florida IMG Academy for a tournament and I have some college showcases that I will go to.”

While his absence is a loss for the school’s soccer team, he is moving on and taking a step forward in a more challenging direction. Despite his inability to play for the school, Baroldy continues to find ways to contribute and support his Cedar Park teammates. He has made the commitment of being the soccer team’s manager.

“I decided to be a manager instead of taking off periods because I wanted to still be able to practice and see all of my friends,” Baroldy said. “I just wanted to be a part of the team still. I am still going to be able to go watch the Friday and playoff games when the season starts, where I’ll motivate them and help them warm up.”

Baroldy has been playing soccer since he was five years old and has had many different achievements even when playing for the high school.

“Some of my accomplishments on the CP soccer team were starting my sophomore year, going into the third round of playoffs, and scoring a penalty kick in playoffs,” Baroldy said. “I enjoy scoring goals and making my parents proud.”