The rising success of Chester’s Major League Soccer team has even caught the attention of the professional sport’s commissioner — and most impressive is the program producing the future stars of the Philadelphia Union.

MLS Commissioner Don Garber recently visited the Union Academy after its first graduate, Derrick Jones, started in the team’s season opener at Vancouver, according to a Philly.com report by Marc Narducci.

“When I saw that academy, I could have been in Barcelona, I could have been in Manchester and we have it here today [with the Union],” Garber said in the article.

After an 11-14-9 record last year, the Union have begun their eighth season with expectations of returning to the playoffs, and the praise of the Union Academy only bolsters hope for the future of the soccer franchise.

“They have certainly exceeded a lot of our expectations with what they have done at the Academy and their whole structure,” Garber said.

Read more about the Union Academy and its first success story on Philly.com here, and check out previous DELCO Today coverage of the team here.