Victor Pineda signed with the Chicago Fire.
By Curt Herron
A year ago, Victor Pineda was a talented high school junior with national level experience who was competing on the varsity team at Plainfield East.
This past week, he signed a professional contract on Tuesday and wore a Chicago Fire jersey the next day when his new team defeated New England at Toyota Park.
Tuesday's signing marked a special day for both Pineda and the Fire organization as the 17-year old from Bolingbrook officially joined the professional ranks.
His move to coach Carlos de los Cobos's first team is significant since he's the Fire's first home grown player to earn a roster spot under recent rules changes.
"I'm really excited about this and now I know that I need to start working even harder, Pineda said. "I was lucky to be in this position, but I kept working hard and didn't want to change as a person and just keep being myself.
"This is really rewarding after all of the hard work that I've put in, especially these past three years with the Academy and in residency with the national team. I've put in a lot of sacrifice in order to play soccer every day.
"My family is really excited about this and sometimes I think they're even more excited than me, especially my parents. But they deserve this since they've always supported me and been through a lot with me, so I'm really happy for them."
Under Major League Soccer's Home Grown Player Initiative, that was implemented in 2007, he can take up one of the two additional roster spots for such players.
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