New Mexico United signs academy talents Winston Starr and Fabian Mata

New Mexico United turned one of its sharpest academy moments into a roster decision, signing Winston Starr and Fabian Mata to academy contracts on July 8 and making both players eligible for first-team selections. The move puts two local prospects directly into the senior conversation, with Starr already carrying the kind of timing that changes games and Mata now positioned as the next academy player in line to prove he can stick.

The club’s message was plain: this is not a ceremonial nod. New Mexico United says its academy is built to give New Mexican youth players a no-cost route to the first team, and a USL academy contract lets a player train and play with the senior squad while keeping amateur status and college eligibility. That makes the signings more than symbolic. It gives the coaching staff another layer of flexibility and gives the academy a real reward structure for producing players who can handle the jump.

Starr’s name already has weight because of what he did against Atlante FC. In New Mexico United’s July 1 friendly at Rio Grande Credit Union Field at Isotopes Park, he scored the 89th-minute equalizer in a match that ended 3-3 in front of 6,720 fans. New Mexico had trailed 3-2 before Starr pulled the club level late, a moment that underscored why the academy pathway matters: the player who helped save the game is now officially in the first-team pool. Starr said after that match that he had always wanted to represent the state on that field and that scoring there was amazing.

Mata’s inclusion in that same friendly showed the club is not just waiting on one standout. He was on the field against a Liga MX opponent, and New Mexico United followed that up by giving him a contract and a specific roster number, No. 58. Starr will wear No. 61. Those details matter because they show the club is moving these players into the system as active pieces, not keeping them in the background.

Sporting Director Itamar Keinan framed the signings as a reward for academy players who have earned the chance, saying Starr and Mata had put in a lot to get to this point and that the club wants to see how they perform in the first-team environment. It also fits a broader pattern in Albuquerque. New Mexico United signed three other academy players, Grady Gilchrist, Kyle Hofmann and Taren Wente, on March 11, and the club had previously identified Derek Lozano as the 12th academy contract player in its history. Starr, a La Cueva graduate and Albuquerque native, is the clearest example yet of how the pipeline is supposed to work: grow nearby, get seen, get signed, and make the first team chase local talent instead of just importing it.