St. Louis CITY’s Youngest Player Is Homegrown

Miguel Perez, 17, goes to Pattonville High School in the mornings and plays pro soccer in the evenings

Written by JULIAN TREJO

At 17, midfielder Miguel Perez is St. Louis CITY SC’s youngest player. But his youth belies his experience. Miguel has been playing soccer for 13 years. Miguel’s parents remember little Miguel scoring a penalty kick on his parish team at age 4. Rather than celebrate, Miguel went back to sucking his thumb, but not for long. “The minute the whistle blew, it was all business,” Miguel’s mother, Jackie, says. “He’d pull that thumb out, go get the ball, and score.”

That all-business attitude prepared him for a hectic start to 2023, during which he signed his first professional contract, debuted in Major League Soccer, started in his first MLS game, played for the Under-19 United States Men’s National team, and scored a goal for his country — all while still enrolled at Pattonville High School.

Miguel starts his day at 7:20 a.m. with English and Team Sports classes. When his classes are over at 8:45 a.m., he rushes to CITY’s training facilities in the Downtown West neighborhood. “I train, eat, then I’ll go back home. I’ll take a nap and then do some schoolwork,” Miguel says.

The Perez Family

Miguel Perez was born on April 28, 2005, to Jackie and Luis Perez. The pair were both born and raised in the city. But Luis is a second-generation American, the 9th of 10 siblings. Luis’ grandparents immigrated to St. Louis from Michoacán, México, in the 1930s. “I come from a very big family. We’re very proud of our culture,”

Luis says. “Familia to us was always number one.”

Jackie attended St. John’s High School, while Luis attended St. Mary’s High School just a mile away. The two had mutual friends and met at a carnival hosted by St. John the Baptist Catholic Church. They have been married for 22 years.

Luis is a lieutenant in the Jennings police with 25 years of service. He’s three years away from retirement. “I don’t like sitting in the office for 8 to 10 hours. So I actually get out and engage the community and support my officers. That’s what I do,” Luis says. “Community engagement is so important these days. It gives the community a chance to see us in a different light, and so I try to continue that as a lieutenant. That’s what it’s all about … building relationships.”

For 17 years, Jackie has worked in the foot and ankle division in Washington University’s Orthopedic Department. “If you have a broken bone or anything, she’s the one you need to go see,” Luis says proudly. She routinely puts in 50- to 55-hour weeks.

Jackie and Luis have four boys. Their eldest, Tony, is 25 years old and graduated from Missouri Baptist University in 2020. He’s followed by Louie, 21, who will graduate from Missouri Baptist University in May.

Then comes Miguel, followed by

11-year-old Cruz. Miguel is not the first soccer player among his siblings. Louie holds the record for the most goals scored in a single season at Pattonville High School with 34. He also racked up 44 goal contributions in 63 games at Missouri Baptist University. Miguel was looking to follow in his brother’s footsteps.

Encountering Adversity

Miguel and his family lived in the Bevo Mill neighborhood in south St. Louis for the first five years of his life. This is where his soccer career started at the age of four. “He was a natural at it. It was like he had been playing for years,” Luis recalls.

The Perez family relocated to Maryland Heights when Miguel was five. A year later, Miguel joined the St. Louis Scott Gallagher Soccer Club. Miguel started for the top teams in his age group until age 14 when he encountered a setback.

“Miguel was told by the director at the time that he was only going to be a part-time player,” Luis recalls. “It was a demotion. They told him he was going to be a bench player, and he wasn’t going to be guaranteed any playing time.”

Miguel recalls how he felt: “It hurt,” he says. He wondered how he would be able to continue in a sport he loved so much with so much less time on the field. “Since

I was so young, I felt down because I wasn’t old enough to get through that.”

Luis recalls: “I looked at him, and I said, ‘Miguel, you’re gonna be fine. Nobody defines you. Nobody defines what kind of player you are. We know what kind of player you are. You know what kind of special talent you have. Nobody works harder than you.’”

Redemption

In the fall of 2020, Miguel moved to a club that believed in him: JB Marine. Miguel reunited with some of his former Gallagher teammates and played well. In early 2021, Miguel joined Missouri’s Olympic Development team — a program that provides players in Missouri a platform to gain regional and national recognition.

The ODP team held training sessions in Boonville, which is where CITY sporting director Lutz Pfannenstiel first scouted Miguel. Pfannenstiel monitored Miguel’s progress for more than a month and attended the most important match of Miguel’s career at the time — a match against St. Louis Scott Gallagher.

“Miguel scored a hat trick, and we beat them 3-2,” Luis recalled. After Miguel’s brilliant performance against his former club, Pfannenstiel offered him a spot on CITY’s inaugural U-17 academy team, a youth team for boys be-

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Miguel Perez

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Miguel’s development skyrocketed due to high-level coaching in CITY’s academy. “He always liked those hard-nosed coaches that believed in him,” Luis says. “He always performed well under those coaches, and once he started with CITY, his progression just kept moving really fast.”

Miguel’s journey has been unconventional, but Luis believes destiny led Miguel to CITY. “The stars have aligned for him. I mean, everything had to be right.”

Professional Career

Miguel performed well in the academy’s inaugural season and earned a spot on CITY2’s inaugural MLS NEXT Pro roster, a developmental league for MLS teams, in January 2022. In short, he became a pro. Despite a successful season with CITY2, the Perez family believed Miguel would enroll in college to play soccer. “We were under the impression that we needed to start seriously looking at maybe some programs for him to go to college. We had to have college as a backup in case this didn’t work out,” Luis says.

Miguel’s college options in early January 2023 included Saint Louis University and the University of Maryland. Miguel came onto Maryland’s radar via Taylor Twellman, a St. Louis native and United States soccer icon.

“Taylor Twellman called the head coach [at Maryland] and said, ‘You need to get a look at this local kid in St. Louis, Miguel Perez,’” Luis recalls. Miguel started to arrange for an official visit to Maryland.

But plans changed a few weeks later when Miguel joined CITY for the MLS preseason in Florida. “I was actually sleeping when Coach [John] Hackworth called me. He’s like, ‘You’re gonna go to the preseason with the first team,’” Miguel remembers. “I woke up and said, ‘All right.’ Then I got excited and told my parents.

“I was a little nervous,” Miguel recalls. “But I was so happy to be there. That has been my dream my whole life, to play professional soccer.”

College is still a possibility for Miguel. “He could do an online degree if that’s what he wants,” Jackie says. Jackie’s employment at Wash U ensures that the university will support tuition costs for all of her kids. Miguel could pursue an online degree through Wash U’s University College.

Even if Miguel, who the team nicknamed Miggy, felt nervous during preseason, his play on the pitch didn’t show it. “Actually, I was waiting for the nerves,” head coach Bradley Carnell says. “I was waiting for the bad touch. I was waiting for something to be like, ‘OK, this is the MLS, Miggy.’ And it never happened.”

Miguel shined in preseason, so CITY rewarded him with a profes- sional contract on February 21. Four days after signing his contract, Miguel played 31 minutes in CITY’s 3-1 victory against Austin FC, making him the first-ever St. Louis native and academy graduate to play for the club in MLS.

“I was happy to just be on the roster. I didn’t think I would get in,” Miguel says. Miguel’s debut also surprised his family. They couldn’t make the trip to Austin but watched the match together in St. Louis. “We looked up at the TV and there he was. I couldn’t believe it,” Luis recalls. “I didn’t cry until after the game. I thanked God, and I just broke down. I couldn’t be more proud of him. He gets to play the sport that he loves for his job.”

Miguel made his home debut on March 4 against Charlotte FC. CITYPARK erupted as Miguel came into the match in the 88th minute. “My whole family was there,” Miguel recalls. “People yelling my name, it was amazing.”

Miguel made more history when he started against the Portland Timbers on March 11 at Providence Park. He became the first CITY homegrown player and St. Louis native to start an MLS match.

“It was an amazing feeling being out there,” Perez reflected after the match. “Being able to start for the new expansion team, I mean, it’s been an amazing feeling, and I couldn’t thank the organization enough.”

Miguel’s progress with CITY earned him a call-up to represent the United States U-19 Men’s National Team in March. Miguel traveled to Argentina and started in the team’s 2-0 victory against Racing Club. Miguel scored a goal and received the Man of the Match award for his stellar play.

Despite his recent success, Miguel stays grounded. “Some players dream a little bit and start getting sidetracked,” Carnell says.

“But I think Miggy Perez is not that character. I don’t think he’s the one to dream and start floating around and think he’s arrived.

“He seems to be a guy with a lot of sensible maturity — like the way he plays.”

Adapting to a New Reality

Miguel is facing fresh challenges off the field as well. “It’s new having a camera in his face. It’s new having a microphone in his face,” Luis says. “He’s still a kid. He’s 17.” Miguel’s youth leads to a degree of discomfort when speaking to the media: He tends to be brief. Miguel wants his play on the field to speak for itself.

“I just go out on the field and do what I do. I try not to get cocky. I stay humble, and I just go out on the field and work hard,” Miguel says.

Luis still has a hard time believing his son is a professional soccer player. “What a blessing playing for the home team. I would have never ever imagined Miguel playing for a professional soccer team in St. Louis.” n

This article was produced in partnership with the River City Journalism Fund.