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Neil Patrick Ignacio (born January 21, 1993) is an American-Filipino soccer striker from California, USA, playing for the Stallion FC in the Philippines Division-1 United Football League (UFL). Although primarily a roving striker, he originally excelled as an attacking mid-fielder during his early Olympic Development Program (ODP) years.

Early Life: Neil Ignacio was born in West Covina, California to Filipino parents. His Father hails from Negros, and his mother from Batangas, Philippines. He grew up with three other siblings, two sisters and a brother, in the city of Diamond Bar, where he was exposed to different kinds of sports as a young kid; soccer, football, golf, basketball and baseball, to name a few. He first played recreational soccer at a local American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO) league at the age of five. He moved up to competitive soccer at the age of 11, playing for the Orange Junior Soccer Club (OJSC), but moved to a nearby team, Stampede Soccer Club of Chino Hills, a year later. Stampede SC eventually merged with the Legends SC, and he continued to play with them for the next four years; he helped elevate the team to the succeeding levels up to Premier, where they won the Boy’s U-17 Premier League for Southern California.

ODP Life: Neil was first identified and invited to the Olympic Development Program at the age of 12, for the CalSouth ODP Boy’s U-13 Summer team. He went on to make the team for the CalSouth Boy’s U-14, U-15, U-16, and U-17, which won numerous inter-state tournaments. He also qualified for the Region IV ODP teams for the same age groups representing nine other western states of the US. He also made the Olympic National pool for the Boy’s U-15 and U-16 US National team.

High School Life: When Neil hit high school, he excelled in other sports, during the off-seasons of soccer. He tried track and field, and excelled in the 100- and 200-yd dash. He tried football, and played as a running-back or a field-kicker., and scored multiple touchdowns and field-goals. His soccer life in high school was very limited due to his LA Galaxy Soccer Academy commitments; however, the few years that he was allowed to play high school soccer, he was awarded the school’s Diamond Bar HS Offensive Player of the Year in JV-Soccer 2008, and Diamond Bar HS MVP Varsity Soccer Player of 2009 and 2011. While playing varsity soccer, he obtained the Varsity-Soccer MVP Sierra League Offensive Player of 2009 award as a Sophomore, and the Varsity-Soccer MVP Hacienda League and Varsity-Soccer MVP San Gabriel Valley Division Player of 2011 award as a Senior.

Soccer Academy Life: US soccer was going through a change, and soccer academies were starting to get formed. Neil tried out and joined the LA Galaxy U-15/U16 in 2010, which had just formed its academies the year before. He excelled as an attacking midfielder, and was the top assist player for the club’s U-15/U-16 academy. On his next and last year with the club, he was the club’s top goal scorer and assist player for the LA Galaxy U-17/U-18 club, for the 2011 season.

College Life: Neil joined the University of California, Riverside Soccer Men’s team on scholarship but played sparingly as a Freshman and Sophomore student. Even with limited playing time, he managed to obtain a high percentage of 67% on-goal shots. During his two years with UCR, the soccer program obtained their highest NCAA national rankings respectively, 39th in 2011 and 24th in 2012. During the summer off-season of 2013, he practiced and played with the US-based Brazilian Corinthians FC U-23 Men’s team, and placed second in California’s Coast Soccer Premier League, behind Chivas USA FC’s U-23 men’s team. With his parents’ blessing, he took time-off from school to pursue the dream to represent his country through soccer. He “went home” to the Philippines to trial with the Stallion FC in September 2013 and also get a chance to showcase for the Philippine National Team Azkals.

International Life: Neil has had exposure to international competition and training during his early soccer life. His first exposure was to Costa Rica, where the ODP’s Region IV arranged for training and competition with the locals and the ODP Boy’s U-15 team. The next year, the ODP’s Region IV program again arranged for an Argentina trip for the ODP Boy’s U-16 team. Both trips were a couple of weeks long. During the summer of 2009, he was invited and participated in the Adidas International Invitational Program that went to Spain and trained at, and with, Real Madrid training staff and facilities. The next year, the LA Galaxy Boy’s U-17/U-18 invited a few U-15/U-16 players to go with them to England, one of which was Neil, to train and compete with other English academies. In 2011, right after high school classes, Neil set out to try out for the Philippine Men’s national football team, the AZKALS. He made it through the trials and was in the pool for the team, but had to go back home to complete High School graduation before the final cut. He never made it back to further compete for a slot in the team due to academic obligations.

-	Diamond Bar HS stats http://www.maxpreps.com/athlete/neil-ignacio/OWoyJ_TrEeKZ5AAmVebBJg/default.htm -	UC-R profile: http://www.gohighlanders.com/roster.aspx?path=msoc&rp_id=2386 -	College Stats http://www.topdrawersoccer.com/college-soccer/college-player-profile/neil-ignacio/cpid-30052 -	LA Galaxy – top scorer: http://www.lagconfidential.com/2011/9/30/2459105/la-galaxy-academy-rated-three-stars -	LA Galaxy vs Manchester City http://www.lagalaxy.com/news/2010/04/academy-falls-2-1-manchester-city -	LA Galaxy vs Blackburn Rovers: http://thelagalaxy.blogspot.com/2010/04/galaxy-academy-falls-to-blackburn.html -	US Soccer Development Academy stats: http://ussda.demosphere.com/teams/17276140/17297557-17276234/20097395.html -	Legends FC U-17 champions: http://www.legendsfc.net/team/bu16bizzaro/index_E.html -	Argentina games: http://www.socceramerica.com/article/31111/region-ii-93s-opens-with-win-in-argentina.html -	ODP National Championship : http://www.calsouth.com/en/news-detail/254-id.209715207.html#.UkjWyoasgus -	http://www.usyouthsoccer.org/news/champions_crowned_at_2009_us_youth_soccer_odp_championships/ -	2010 SUM U-17 Cup: http://m.mlssoccer.com/news/article/sum-u-17-cup-group-d-preview