It wasn’t just another trophy for the Dallas Texans U18 Academy team last week.

Winning the U19 age group of the 30th Dallas Cup, Hassan Nazari’s squad was able to lift a coveted tournament title in its own back yard, which until then it hadn’t tasted.

“Obviously that is a very special team. I’ve had that team since they were U11,” Nazari said of the group. “They have developed tremendously. The only thing missing from the trophy cabinet was winning the Dallas Cup. That team has been a (U.S. Youth Soccer) national champion (U17 last year), Regional champion, won State Cups, Premier League, Disney, almost everything. Personally I’m happy and pleased and proud at what they have accomplished.”

Nazari said the team’s involvement in the USSF Development Academy League, as a U17 team playing up in the U18 age group, was great preparation for winning in an older age group at Dallas.

“Because of the USSF Academy and that team playing up, it gave them the experience physically and mentally to play in the U19 age group. To be honest, this team should have been in the SuperGroup. Their results against the top teams in that age group, including the national champions Andromeda (who were in the group), and that’s taking nothing away from Andromeda who are a great team, but that shows we could have been there too.”

Winners of the Dallas Classic League qualify for the Dallas Cup, and the SuperGroup entrant this year was an older Dallas Texans team.

Now Nazari and the team look ahead to the rest of the Development Academy schedule. After a shaky start, the squad is now in 2nd place in the Texas Division, with the top three teams qualifying for the June playoffs in Greensboro, NC (which lead to the July national finals in Carson, California). Texans have seven matches left to play in the regular season.

There’s no question that adding yet another trophy is a major goal of the team.

Texans’ standout Mark Daus said the team has had a few roster changes and the group has coalesced well.

“We’ve become more connected as a group. A lot of stuff happened over the season and we’ve bonded well. We’ve had a core group of players for the past few years, and now we have a few add-ons who have really bonded with us now.”

Texans midfielder Zach Barnes said the Academy format is a plus for his team as they progress.

“I would like more games, but I like the competition of each game that we have,” he said. “We know that if we go out and don’t give it our all, the worst could happen. So every match becomes more important, and the training is even harder.”

Daus added that the Academy represents a bigger challenge.

“You can tell it’s different than what we’ve done,” he said. “We know we need to make our name known not just across Texas but across the nation. Hassan has put us in the environment where we’re professionals and we have to act like it. Practices became a lot harder and more intense. Since we’re playing a year up, we have to get used to it because that’s what we’ll be playing like in college. You have to think more and play faster and be better soccer players.”

Barnes said the format is helping the team perfect it’s aggressive and possession-oriented style.

“We keep the ball very well. We don’t give the ball away cheaply. We take advantage of our chances. We’re a very tight group, like a family,” he said. “We are physical but it’s not like we try to go out and hurt people and give away free kicks every 30 seconds. But we do compete with the other team and go in for every challenge. I wouldn’t say we are totally direct. If it’s on we go for it, but if not we can keep it and move it around.”