MARIETTA, Ga. – When the USL Academy expanded the roster requirements to create a U20 reserve team platform for the club’s senior team, SSA Swarm FC Technical Director Garreth Barker knew it was an opportunity. 

“At the initial outset, we wanted to get a U20 group and use both external and internal players,” said Barker. “Previously, we only used internal players for the U19 group, but once it went to U20 it gave us an opportunity to recruit externally and use some older players from the USL League Two side to give us experience.” 

While the program's initial goal was to create a U20 reserve team for the USL League Two side, it soon became more than that, as the USL Academy League provided a platform for the club’s most talented players to continue their development and train in a higher-level environment with the senior USL League Two players. 

“We would have the USL Academy team train with the USL League Two team and had full 11v11 training games, so the USL League Two coaching staff had an opportunity to see those younger players and a couple of the boys played a significant role for the League Two side,” added Barker. 

Barker believes the experience of Academy players training with the USL League Two side and the roster flexibility to bring them into the senior environment was central to the team’s confidence throughout the USL Academy League season. 

“We didn’t have a large group in the USL League Two team, so when an injury happened, we would pull up one of the U20s and those players were able to play League Two and drop back into the Academy. I think it gave those players an extra bit of confidence to perform at a high level and an aura with the other players after dropping back into the Academy side to give the whole team some extra confidence.” 

SSA Swarm FC went 6-1-1 through the 2024 USL Academy League season with the club’s lone loss coming against crosstown rivals East Atlanta FC.  Despite the club’s strong record, the team still needed at least a point in the last game of the season to qualify for the USL Academy League Finals, which created a key moment of the season and extra pressure for a young group of players.

That final remarkable result is a culmination of the great work both on the field and in the locker room by Jack Coulton, Trey Joyner and Lazlo Halmi. A strong defense anchored SSA Swarm FC as the team only conceded eight goals and kept three clean sheets across the eight games of the regular season. 

Also central to the club’s success was Colton Ellison, a 2007-born midfielder who pulled the strings for the side and recently accepted a scholarship to play for Mercer University in 2025.

“Colton is a great player and a really interesting case study,” said Barker. “He was playing on a team in a lower program last year, and we identified him to pull into the U20 program and his development hit an exponential curve because of the staff, environment and culture. As a U17, he worked hard and showed the attitude and quality to compete at the higher level.”

Now, the foundation of U17 players that gained experience at the U20 level might prove pivotal as the club competes for the first time in the USL Academy League Finals at IMG Academy this upcoming December.