PHOENIX — Phoenix Rising Football Club has signed two Valley players to USL Academy contracts pending league approval, the club announced on Wednesday.
Jacob Harris and Josh Martinez joined the Phoenix Rising Academy upon its inception in 2012 and are the eighth and ninth academy players to sign first-team contracts, according to the club.
Academy contracts allow players to retain their amateur status while also being eligible to play for the first team.
Harris, 18, is a senior at Cactus League Shadows High School while Josh Martinez, 17, attends Hamilton High School.
“I love playing with Josh,” said Harris in the team release. “We have a lot of chemistry and history playing together. I’m super excited to have the opportunity to play with him at the next level."
Both midfielders saw a lot of time this preseason against teams like Valley United FC and Detroit City FC.
“I was actually in class when I received the news,” said Martinez. “I was supposed to be learning something at the time, but I was really excited, and it was hard for me to focus.”
Martinez joins Channing Chasten and Niall Dunn on Rising's first-team roster, giving the team two Hamilton grads and one that will graduate next month.
Arizona sports
The city of Phoenix is home to five major professional sports league teams; The NFL's Arizona Cardinals, NBA's Phoenix Suns, WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury, MLB's Arizona Diamondbacks and NHL's Arizona Coyotes.
The Cardinals have made the State Farm Stadium in Glendale their home turf and the Footprint Center in downtown Phoenix is home to both the Suns and the Mercury. The Indoor Football League’s Arizona Rattlers also play at the Footprint. Phoenix has a soccer team with the USL's Phoenix Rising FC.
The Valley hosts multiple major sporting events on a yearly basis, including college football's Fiesta Bowl and Cactus Bowl; the PGA Tour’s highest-attended event, the Waste Management Phoenix Open; NASCAR events each spring and fall; and Cactus League Spring Training.