NASHVILLE – Defender Chris Applewhite, who has started seven matches and appeared in eight for Huntsville City Football Club, has been named an MLS NEXT All-Star.

Applewhite has logged 544 minutes for Huntsville City FC, which plays in the developmental MLS NEXT Pro league. The All-Star Game presented by Allstate is July 23 and will stream on MLSSoccer.com. The match, which kicks off at 10:30 a.m. in historic Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio, is part of MLS All Star Week, with each member of the team playing 45 minutes.

Applewhite is one of 44 players chosen from a pool of more than 5,000 eligible players born between 2007 and 2009. He joined the Nashville SC Academy in 2022 as a member of the U-17 Team. In addition to Huntsville City FC, he has represented the U-17 Gold Mine club during the 2023-24 season.

MLS NEXT is a youth development league consisting of 29 MLS academies, including Nashville SC’s The Gold Mine, 114 Elite Academies (143 total clubs), 677 teams, and over 15,000 players across the U.S. and Canada.

To qualify for the All-Star game, players must have competed in the MLS NEXT regular season and played in at least one of the MLS NEXT premier events this season – MLS NEXT Fest, MLS NEXT Flex, Generation adidas Cup, or the MLS NEXT Cup Playoffs and Showcase.

MLS All Star Week takes place from July 20-24 and features the MLS All-Star Concert, MLS NEXT All-Star Game, MLS All-Star Skills Challenge, and MLS All-Star Game.