From his second-floor office at the Sharp HealthCare Performance Center in East County, San Diego FC sporting director Tyler Heaps can gaze out at the five full-sized practice fields. Starting last week, he saw more than the SDFC first team training there.

Outside his window were 18 youth players born in 2012 and 2013.

“From Day 1,” Heaps said, “we want these kids to feel a part of this project, because they’re the heartbeat of it.”

They are the first class of SDFC’s Right to Dream Academy, a bedrock of the club’s philosophy to develop and integrate young players internally and holistically. Major League Soccer clubs are required to have youth academies, but this is a different animal altogether: a fully residential model in a $150 million, state-of-the-art facility where players as y

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