Podcast: Revolution back Damario McIntosh on being an MLS NEXT All-Star

New England Revolution II back Damario McIntosh during a training. (New England Revolution)

The latest guest on New England Soccer Journal’s “The Goal” podcast is New England Revolution II defender Damario McIntosh.

McIntosh, a 16-year-old product of the Revolution Academy, became the fourth New England player to be selected to the MLS NEXT All-Star Game in its three iterations, joining Esmir Bajraktarevic (2022), Jack Panayotou (2022) and Olger Escobar (2023). 

McIntosh is originally from Jamaica and came to the Revs from Newark, Calif. He became the 12th player to ascend from New England’s youth ranks to the Revolution II roster, as he signed his first professional contract with the MLS NEXT Pro side last month. During the 2024 season, McIntosh had accrued the second-most minutes played for Revolution II across 14 appearances, 12 of them starts, for the club’s developmental team.

MLS NEXT provided the players with unique opportunities during MLS All-Star Week, which included a full slate of programming events and activities in advance of the match. The MLS NEXT All-Star game is scheduled for today (11:30 a.m.) in Columbus, Ohio, while the MLS All-Star Game will be played tomorrow night.

McIntosh joined host Matt Langone to discuss the honor of being chosen as an all-star and his journey to this point.

The full podcast can be accessed below and is available on all major platforms. If you enjoy it, please leave a rating and a review.

Here are some highlights from our discussion with McIntosh:

On what he’s looking forward to most about the all-star game:

McIntosh: “Just having a good time with some of the guys, seeing the skills challenge and the MLS All-Star Game with some of the pros, obviously. I’m looking forward to having a good time.”

On how he joined the Revolution Academy:

McIntosh: “I put together a highlight video; my agent sent it out to a couple clubs and the Revs were one of the ones that came back interested, and I got set up for a visit out here and Philadelphia. When I left the visit here, I just knew that I saw how invested they were in me, how nice everyone was just from the visit. It just felt like a place that I wanted to be, and then I moved out here. It was a little bit stressful, obviously, because I wasn’t close to family at all. It took me a while to get settled in, but I feel like now I’m settled in.”

On his mindset during his development:

McIntosh: “Just staying level-headed. I’m always looking to learn from teammates, coaches, and then I’m going into games and just applying things I learned from practice. Even if it’s a bad game, just going back and looking at the things I could have done better and then just make it better the next week.”

On how he describes his game:

McIntosh: “I would say I’m a very fast, strong and physical player. I like to get up and down the field, get balls in the box and create opportunities for my team to score.”