The U.S. Under-19 National Football Team began play Monday against Mexico in the International Federation of American Football Under-19 World Championships in Kuwait City.

Representing Northwest Missouri State are redshirt freshmen Jordan Harold (St. Louis, Mo.), Nicholas Turner (St. Louis, Mo.) and Myles McIntyre (St. Louis, Mo.). At the conclusion of training camp, Harold and McIntyre were named team captains.

“It’s an honor to be selected as a captain,” McIntosh said in a release. “I was a three-year captain for my high school, so I am familiar with the responsibility that comes with it. It is a motivator for me to be honored my teammates this way.”

“The team is bigger than any one individual,” said Harold in the release. “It’s an honor for sure, but I’m just one part of the team. I just want to keep playing hard and do the right things and help the team be successful.”

Team USA also features former Bearcat Jay Eilers, who will serve as the offensive line coach for Team USA. Eilers, who holds the same full time position with Angelo State, was a four-year letterwinner at Northwest and a member of the 1998 National Championship team.

U.S. players and coaches will departs for Kuwait on July 2. The United States’ pool play schedule is:

Monday, July 7 – 1 p.m. (ET) vs. Mexico
Thursday, July 10 – 4 p.m. (ET) vs. Germany
Sunday, July 13 – 4 p.m. (ET) vs. Japan

Games begin at 8 and 11 p.m. local time. The gold medal game is 4 p.m. (ET) Wednesday, July 16, between pool winners.

A national team exemption granted by the NCAA allows current college players to take part and for high school seniors to play for USA Football and not have their participation count among their two permitted all-star game appearances. The IFAF Under-19 World Championship is recognized as a national team competition.

— Northwest Sports Information —