After joining Leicester City for the 2013-2014 season, New Jersey native Kyle Gruno has etched out a role with the recently crowned Premier League champions.

The defender emerged as a stalwart with the club’s youth squads over the previous seasons, and his play recently earned a call-up to the U.S. U18 Men’s National Team for a camp in Chula Vista, California last week. 

Gruno was back in England on Monday when Leicester City was crowned champions of the Premier League for the first time in the club’s history. The Foxes needed a draw in the game between Chelsea and Tottenham to claim the crown with two games left on the schedule. The dramatic finish to a dream campaign resulted in some euphoric scenes in the English city. 

“When Leicester City won the title, we were all watching the game in our dorm rooms,” Gruno said in an interview on Tuesday when asked about where he watched the Tottenham-Chelsea game, which clinched the title for Leicester. “Before the game, we had very high hopes and then Chelsea went 2-0 down and we almost turned the tv off until Gary Cahill scored. Finally, [Eden] Hazard scored [the equalizer] and everybody just went insane. I think everybody was a Chelsea fan that night.”

Gruno and his fellow scholars at the club enjoyed the historic moment with the rest of the city. 

“As soon as the final whistle went, the city went insane,” Gruno said. “It was a mad rush and everybody was in the streets heading towards the first team stadium. I think the entire city was outside the stadium singing till about four in the morning.”

The teenager has been through the trenches with Leicester. He joined the club during the season when they won the Football League Championship - the second division of English Football. Now, he is still a part of the club as they became one of the legends of modern game. 

“The season has been the same besides the fact that the security at the training ground has gone up and there are more and more people at the training ground everyday,” Gruno said. “When I first joined, Leicester were in the Championship and I never thought for a second we would have won the league this year. It's been a fantastic season for the first team.”

Even though the club got out to a great start to the campaign, it took a while before the members of the club imagined that they had a realistic shot at the title.

“We really started to believe when we broke up for Christmas,” Gruno said. “I think everybody at the club did.”

While the first team enjoys the spoils of an incredible season, Gruno had his own trials with the club during his first year as a scholar at Leicester. 

“This season has been a challenge for me mentally and physically,” Gruno said. “Being a first year scholar and trying to prove yourself can be challenging sometimes but if you get your head down and work hard things just get easier as the year goes by. I played 17s and 18s games and have trained with 21s squad that have been around the first team numerous times so all in all its been a great learning year for me.”

Next season, Gruno enters as a second-year scholar, which means that his minutes will go up as the club assess whether he could be a professional with the first team. This offseason, he is hoping to keep his level up so he can return to the club and push to make an impact immediately. 

“My plan for the offseason is to just continue training and maintain the fitness level that I'm at now,” Gruno said. “I'll go back to New Jersey during the offseason to see family but training is the main priority for me at this point. Next season is going to a huge test and I need to be ready for whatever gets thrown at me.”

As for the national team camp, it was the first for Gruno since January of 2015. The absence did not mean much to him though. He said it was business as usual with the U.S. Youth National Team last week. 

“It was great to see the team and meet some new players,” Gruno said. “My main goal is to be a part of the core group heading into the U20 World Cup. Personally, I thought the camp went really well and I'm looking forward to the future with US soccer.”

Before the U20s though, Gruno has a bright future ahead at the club level. The defender also gets to enjoy the banner year of the first team for next season. He is hoping to push for a spot on the club’s U19 squad, which will compete in the UEFA Youth League for the first time.