THE UNITED STATES NATIONAL team is currently assembled in California for a rare December camp and the roster has youthful flavor with eight players also eligible for U.S. U-20 team that will attempt to qualify for both the 2023 U-20 World Cup and the 2024 Olympics. Among these players is Kobi Henry.

Henry, 17, was among the more surprising roster selections but the central defender arrived in camp on the heels of a solid camp with the U.S. U-20 team as well as being a member of the Orange County SC team that won the USL Championship title on November 28.

Shortly afterward, he received a call from Gregg Berhalter telling him that he was called up for the camp that will conclude with a friendly against Bosnia & Herzegovina.

“I'm really excited to go, prove myself and hopefully mark my spot at the men's team,” Henry said of his opportunity in the national team camp. “I was a bit surprised because how things went recently and just coming off winning the USL Championship - I've been having a lot of great news recently, so I'm really grateful for the opportunity.”

Henry did not play in the USL final, but he finished the season with 19 appearances, 16 starts, and 1494 minutes in the USL Championship. Orange County built their success on a combination of youth and veteran leadership – particularly on the backline which is anchored by former U.S. national team defender Michael Orozco, former Rangers center back Rob Kiernan, and former New England Revolution fullback Kevin Alston.

“Playing in the USL has been a great learning experience for me. I think it's definitely a very tough league to play in and it's really physical,” Henry said of USL. You have to learn how to not only be talented but play smart…It's a really competitive league and especially with our run throughout the playoffs, I just got to experience what it feels like to be a champion, as most people my age couldn't say.”

Of course part of what drove Henry to sign for Orange County was his desire to go to Europe and the club has worked with other young players like Bryang Kayo (now at Viktoria Berlin on loan from Wolfsburg) to help them move abroad at an earlier age. Henry was previously in the youth set-up at Inter Miami but felt Orange County offered him the path he was looking for.

“I was in Miami and it was a great club,” Henry explained. “I was treated very well, but I knew that I have a passion to go to Europe in the future. MLS is a really good league but I I've just grown up watching Premier League every weekend with my brother.”

“Orange County has the pathway to Pro, where they could send the young players out on different trials and there is connection with Rangers,” he added. “That was dream - as well as having the personnel on the team and veterans such as Michael Orozco and Rob Kiernan - just learning from those players. It just drew my attention and it certainly played out to have gone in my favor. I've learned a lot from those guys.”

Growing up, Henry lived in nearly 10 different places with his parents, both teachers, moving frequently. He was born in Florida but has also lived in places such as New York, New Jersey, and even Bermuda.

While moving around frequently, soccer has always been a constant theme in his life as the sport runs in his family. His father played semiprofessionally and his brother, Jazz Henry, is a forward on the men’s team at Occidental College in Los Angeles. His mother ran track. Perhaps most interestingly, his grandfather, Ken Henry, was the former strength and conditioning coach for the Trinidad & Tobago national team and was on the staff in 1989 when the United States national team registered a historic 1-0 win over Trinidad & Tobago to qualify for the 1990 World Cup.

Next year, however, will be a big year for him as he turns 18 and will be eligible to make a move overseas. There is also the U.S. U-20 team and Henry is expected to be in the plans for new head coach Mikey Varas. Last month, Henry was part of the team’s first camp of the cycle in Mexico where they lost to Brazil 4-0, drew Colombia 1-1, and lost to Mexico 2-1.

The team had a makeshift nature during that camp as many of the players had never played together given that most of the youth national teams had been inactive since January 2020 due to COVID. Varas was only hired two days before the team travelled for Mexico and was also getting to know the team.

“Despite the results, I actually think that the trip was a success,” Henry said. “Just because I believe that as a group from the first day to the last day, just how we operated as a team - there was just a big difference. We grew together as a family. We got to know how each others playing style and certain things like that, what type of players people are. So I think it was a good tournament in order to build a foundation for the U-20 cycle. If we get a little bit more practice in and understand the tactics, we will be a real threat."

“[Mikey Varas] is a really good communicator and made sure to talk to every single player and have a good relationship with all of us,” he added. “It was definitely a comfortable environment and it was easier to go in and play our game.”

With another U-20 camp taking place next month and with big part of the team’s core with the current U.S. team, it is a priority. For now, however, he is happy to be surrounded by many of the full national team’s veterans and learn from them.

Arriving in camp after playing with the U.S. U-20 team and winning a USL title with Orange County, he feels as if he is in a very good place to being taking important steps on hte international stage.

“Being a champion so early in my career, it just gives me a real confidence boost and it allows me to have standards of where my mentality should be going forward,” Henry said. “That I should always hold myself to a higher standard because I've been with a team that has won a championship.”