White Salmon’s Isaac Reynoso reps United PDX

Isaac lives with his family in White Salmon and will begin his first year at Columbia High School as a freshman this fall, but he has already played for the Bruins as an eighth grader. Although he played junior varsity high school soccer last spring, Reynoso thinks he will continue to play full-time for United PDX. He aspires of playing Division I soccer in college and Reynoso believes United PDX will give him the best opportunity to achieve this goal.

Before Reynoso was recruited by his current club, he joined the Portland Timbers’ Olympic Development Program (ODP) in the fourth grade. The ODP Timbers team plays other clubs from around the state. He continued with that program until early 2020 when COVID-19 hit.

“COVID was a hard time for, I would say, a lot of athletes, including myself,” said Reynoso.

When athletes were finally allowed to return to the pitch, Reynoso was more motivated than ever.

“I wanted more,” he said. “I wanted to move to a higher level.”

United PDX is a development club that was associated with the United States Youth Soccer National League (YSNL), but next year the club will move to the Elite Clubs National League (ECNL). According to sporting director for United PDX and Reynoso’s coach, Brandon McNeil, the move was spurred by an opportunity to play in more tournaments and national showcases. It also allows teams from Oregon to play other squads from Washington.

“Players will have the opportunity to play in front of every division in college soccer,” said McNeil, who also held high praise for Reynoso.

“His commitment and passion for the game are there,” he said. “He (Reynoso) has a bright future and has set himself up for success at the next level.”

Last month, Reynoso and the United PDX team qualified for the YSNL national tournament in Orlando, Florida. During the fall and winter months they were put into groups and played each team in the group stage once. United PDX came out on top of the group and earned a spot in nationals, where again it faced another group stage with teams from all over the country. Reynoso recalls the game against FC United (Des Moines, Iowa) as the most difficult, despite United PDX pulling out a 2-1 win. It wouldn’t be the last time they would face FC United.

Again, United PDX finished atop its group and entered the single-elimination tournament with high expectation and a lot of momentum. It advanced to the semifinal where it met FC United. This time around, the Iowa-based boys team enacted its revenge with a 3-0 win and advanced to the final against the Michigan Tigers.

“We just had a rough game,” said Reynoso. “They (FC United) were a great team and they obviously wanted it more than us.”

There will be chances to bounce back. Next summer Reynoso will travel overseas to Spain and Sweden to play against some of the best international competition.

“I’m just really excited to play against the big teams in Spain and see what European soccer is like, compared to soccer here, in the U.S.,” said Reynoso.

He added his favorite professional team is Real Madrid and loves to watch Brazilian winger Vinícius Júnior. While playing overseas, United PDX will play against La Liga — Spain’s top flight of soccer — academy teams and Reynoso looks forward to matching up with some of the best young players in the world.