Zinedine Kroeten, a former St. Louis Park midfielder who detoured around the typical youth soccer development path, signed with Division I program Missouri-Kansas City.
Kroeten, son of Minnesota Thunder player Ted Kroeten, spent most of his formative years playing with teams through his father's Joy of the People foundation. The free-play model encouraged creativity and allowed players such as Kroeten to flourish. He was a member of the Star Tribune All-Metro team last fall.
Kroeten and Emmanuel Iwe, a childhood friend and Joy of the People alumnus who moved to Texas, trained last November with Werder Bremen, a club in Germany's top professional league.
Iwe also signed with Missouri-Kansas City.
Rick Benben, Missouri-Kansas City coach, said in a release, "Zinedine is a crafty attacking player. He has the ability to make and score goals. We are looking forward to him having a positive effect on our team in the attacking third."
