South Philly Review

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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart began composing at 5. Raimondo Partito could call the Austrian a slacker, as he started scoring goals before turning 4.

The Packer Park resident has booted and headed his way to prominence over the last seven years and just finished his sixth month on the YSC Union Juniors, a training squad under the watchful eye of Major League Soccer’s Philadelphia Union.

Designed for 8- to 12-year-olds, the program marks the first phase of the Chester-based unit’s Union Academy. The youth development model offers players from local clubs guidance and competitive opportunities if the youngsters somehow represent the Union.

“Being on the Union Juniors is probably the biggest honor for me so far,” Raimondo said Monday from FDR Park, Broad Street and Pattison Avenue, where he engaged in adept footwork before heading to Northeast Philadelphia’s Jardel Recreation Center for a Futsal session.

Originating in Montevideo, Uruguay, Futsal stresses ball control, improvisation, passing and technique as it consists of indoor contests on a hard court surface, a smaller ball with less bounce and fewer players. It hones the agility Raimondo has displayed ever since he first donned cleats at the Southeast Youth Athletic Association Sports Complex, Seventh and Bigler streets.

“Raimondo started indoor play in January 2004,” father Joe Partito said of his son’s early athletic introduction.

The boy partook in baseball and basketball, too, but dropped both because soccer offered more chances to enlist his feet. Focusing on the world’s most popular sport has benefited the resident of the 3100 block of South Uber Street so much it has given even his academic life a boost.

A sixth-grader at Philadelphia Performing Arts Charter School, 2600 S. Broad St., the 11-year-old majors in ballet, a bona fide discipline for enhancing flexibility. He approaches each practice and game as an affirmation of his skills.

“I have never had a doubt about my ability to play soccer,” the confident striker said.

He owes his attitude to SEYAA, where he often battled older competitors.

“I always enjoyed facing older kids,” he said of “playing up.” “I preferred the challenge.”

Goals and championships proved his talent and inspired a desire to face even tougher opponents, so Raimondo joined the South Philadelphia Strikers and the Fox Chase Rampage. Success did not become a stranger to Raimondo, who so impressed his Rampage coach Charlie Ritter that the leader sought permission to submit the boy’s name to the Union. Ritter went on to nominate him in May 2010.

“I was happy coach Ritter thought highly of me,” Raimondo said of being recommended to test his talents against those of more than 100 other dynamos.

The athlete earned an invitation and impressed observers. The Union Juniors does not construct teams for leagues, though contests against other MLS youth or international professional academies could occur. Raimondo, one of 20 selections, practices at YSC’s Wayne facility and will continue to try to wow Union personnel through March.

“I’m having fun,” the youngster said. “I want to have more.”

His hectic schedule means Raimondo has many opportunities to enjoy himself and to become fatigued, but he relishes his packed days.

“He trains four times per week and has a minimum of two games,” Joe Partito said of his son’s commitments.

His participation with the Union Juniors does not prevent Raimondo from extending his relationship with SEYAA, so he continues to bury shots there. His feet also work their magic for the U12 Danubia Soccer Club, a member of the DELCO Soccer League’s Division I.