10 MLS homegrowns excelling in MLS NEXT Pro in 2023
2022's inaugural MLS NEXT Pro season has provided many young players with the platform to take their games to the next level, and there’s been no shortage of that once again in 2023.
Emmings signed as Minnesota United's first Homegrown Player in club history ahead of the 2020 season. The Saint Paul native began his soccer career as a striker. As he grew, his size gave his coaches a reason to move him to goalkeeper. Emmings earned a spot on the Development Academy in the summer of 2017 and spent the majority of the summer of 2019 training with the first team. A product of the MNUFC Academy, the keeper saw the majority of his game action in MLS NEXT Pro contests with MNUFC2 during the 2022 season. For MNUFC2, he made 13 appearances in the net, all starts, leading the side in wins earned with four and saves with 52. Emmings featured for MNUFC in the second half of their international friendly against SC Paderborn 07 of Germany’s Bundesliga 2 on June 11, 2022.
INTERNATIONAL: Emmings has been invited to train with two youth national teams. He was invited by the U.S. U15 national team to training camp in January of 2018. In 2019, Emmings spent two weeks with the U16 Luxembourg national team. With dual Luxembourg/United States citizenship, the opportunity to play both European and American soccer places him in a unique pool of players who are called up for international duty by their home countries throughout the season.