As mentioned by Yuya, most of the players in the youth team were academy players who had been playing for the club since they were 5 or 6 years old. Meaning most of the players in the club were local players from around the same region as the club.
And the reason why none of the players in the club knew of him was because they were academy players as well. Since the players of the youth club could only compete against players from other school's from middle school onward, non of the players in the youth club had participated in the nationals.
During elementary school level, the academy players could only compete against other youth academies and occasionally some elementary and middle schools from their region.
"What!!! You have participated in the nationals?" Yuya intoned with his eyes wide open and mouth agape.
"Yeah!! I've participated in five of it." Hiro replied casually.
