Irving Garcia called to US Beach Soccer National Team for 2017 CONCACAF Championship

Was the New York Red Bulls' 2010 US Open Cup squad the original "Baby Bulls"? Certainly, it was the name applied to the fringe players Hans Backe chose to send into USOC that season (and every season during his time with RBNY) - applied by some combination of the coverage of the team provided by Seeing Red and Empire of Soccer. The link between those two august RBNY-watching institutions is Dave Martinez, who carried a torch for one Baby Bull in particular during the 2010 season: Irving Garcia.

Sadly, Garcia only got one year with RBNY, and only four competitive appearances - all in USOC. But he carried on with his pro soccer career, following an interesting path that took him to places like Antigua GFC in Guatemala (one of RBNY's CCL opponents last year, incidentally; Garcia had long moved on) and Portland Timbers 2.

And now he is one of 12 players selected to the USA Beach Soccer National Team for the 2017 CONCACAF Beach Soccer Championship.

The tournament kicks off on February 20 in the Bahamas. It will see 16 teams competing for the regional title, as well as two spots at this year's Beach Soccer World Cup.

The teams are divided into four groups of four for the opening stage of the tournament. The USA is grouped with Antigua and Barbuda, Trinidad and Tobago, and the US Virgin Islands. The top two teams from each group progress to the knockout rounds of the Championship.

All matches can be watched at beachsoccer.com.