Francis Wesley has incredible soccer skills for a 17-year-old. His lifelong dream has been to play professional soccer, but those efforts have been upset recently as Wesley is locked into a fight with lymphoma.

But as he continued to try and overcome cancer, the Make-A-Wish Foundation and D.C. United came together to check one lifelong goal off his bucket list: Wesley is getting a chance to play pro soccer. On Thursday, the Major League Soccer team added him to its official team roster.

Wesley will be on the roster Saturday, when the team plays the Philadelphia Union.


Wesley spent Friday training with the club. He primarily plays midfield and forward, and the team was impressed by the teenager's skills.

United Manager Ben Olsen was impressed with Wesley's footwork, saying he did much better in the team drills than most players his age would.


The experience was also very positive for the team.

"It was great. We take ourselves so serious, especially in the sports industry," Olsen told Black and Red United. "And to have reality checks like Francis come in is great for us, great for him. Make-A-Wish does a fantastic job with this stuff."

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