San Diego FC on Thursday appointed Tyler Heaps as the expansion club’s first sporting director and general manager.

Heaps, 33, will become Major League Soccer’s youngest sporting director.

He will oversee the club’s player recruitment and squad building, as well as scouting, player acquisition, personnel management, salary cap and budget issues.

Heaps previously worked at AS Monaco Football Club as the team’s director of analytics and insights and was director of sports analytics and head of analytics for the U.S. Soccer Federation.

San Diego FC also thanked Heaps for being part of the scouting and analytics team for the United States women’s national soccer team that won the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in France.

Most recently, he worked at Right to Dream, a youth football academy, as Group Recruitment and Insights Manager.

“I am incredibly proud and honored to be named San Diego FC’s first sporting director,” said Heaps. “After my time at Right to Dream and throughout the group, there is no doubt that this project and the group of individuals involved are a good fit with my background and values, and I look forward to continuing to lead our sporting efforts here in San Diego.”

San Diego FC’s first training camp begins in January. The club currently has five players under contract, including award-winning Mexican star Hirving “Chucky” Lozano.

The club states that Heaps was involved in these signings and the search for the team’s first head coach.

Mohamed Mansour, owner and chairman of San Diego FC, said in a statement: “Tyler has proven during his time at Right to Dream that he is one of the brightest minds working in world soccer today. He fully understands the Right to Dream values ​​that we will implement in San Diego, which are based on investing in youth and building a winning team that plays an attractive brand of soccer.”

– City news service