Seattle Sounders FC Academy

Seattle Sounders FC Academy

Full name	Seattle Sounders FC Academy
Nickname(s)	Rave Green
Founded	2010
Stadium	Starfire Sports Complex
Ground Capacity	4,500
Director of Development	Darren Sawatzky
Head Coach	Dick McCormick
Website	Club home page
Home colors Away colors Third colors

Seattle Sounders Football Academy is the academy team of the Seattle Sounders FC. The current Youth Academy team manager is Dick McCormick, who was appointed in 2010 after working with the Crossfire Premier Soccer Club in Redmond, Washington following his retirement from playing in 2004.^[1] His assistants are Sean Henderson and Bill Crook, who are both former Seattle Sounders players.^[2] The technical director is Darren Sawatzky, a former Colorado Rapids and Seattle Sounders.^[3]

History

Beginning (2010-2012)

In October 2010, the Seattle Sounders FC Academy was founded. The 2010 U-17 Sounders were part of the SUM U-17 Cup, a tournament with all the sixteen reserve Major League Soccer teams. They were grouped with the reserve teams of FC Dallas, Columbus Crew, and Philadelphia Union. Following a successful first season, 10 players committed to play soccer in college.^[4]

Home Grown Players (2013-present)

The Homegrown Player Rule (HGP) program allows MLS teams to sign local players from their own development academies directly to MLS first team rosters.^[5]

At the start of the 2013 season, DeAndre Yedlin became the first Sounders Academy player to sign a HGP contract.^[6] In his first professional season with Seattle, Yedlin was part of the United States squad for the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup and the MLS squad for the 2013 MLS All-Star Game. Yedlin appeared in all three of the U-20's games and played 24 minutes against A.S. Roma in the All-Star Game.

In 2014, Aaron Kovar and Sean Okoli followed Yedlin in becoming the next Academy players to sign with the full team.^[7] Yedlin was called up to the United States squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, making him the first HGP to have been called up to a World Cup roster. Yedlin was once again named to the MLS squad for the 2014 MLS All-Star Game.

Current Squad

U-18 Squad

The following players are eligible for the U18 Academy League in the current 2015 season. As of July 2015.^[8]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 1 GK Tor Saunders 3 DF Henry Baldwin 4 FW Habib Barry 5 DF Davis Behnke 6 MF Tyler Black 7 FW Handwalla Bwana 9 MF John Dale 10 MF Burke Fahling 11 DF Kasey French 12 MF Joe Hafferty

No. Position Player 13 FW Roko Bedalov 14 MF Harrison Kurtz 15 MF John Magnus 16 FW Connor Noblat 18 MF Lorenzo Ramos 19 DF Ivory Randle 20 MF Johnny Reynolds 21 MF Diego Silvas 22 MF Brady Henderson 23 FW Maliq Cooper

Board and Staff

Position	Staff	Nation
Technical Director	Marc Nicholls	England
Administrator	Julia Roberts	United States
Head Coach, U18 Academy Team	Dick McCormick	United States
Head Coach, U16 & U15 Academy Team	Sean Henderson	United States
Head Coach, U14 Academy Team	Othoniel Gonzalez	United States
Assistant Coach, U18 & U16 Academy Teams	Shannon Murray	United States
Assistant Coach, U16 & U15 Academy Teams	Michael Morris	United States
Assistant Coach, U14 Academy Team	Brayton Knapp	United States
Goalkeepers Coach	Ben Dragavon	United States
Head Athletic Trainer	Sheila Tatsunami	United States

Source: Coaching staff

Notable alumni

The following list reflects players who have graduated from the Seattle Sounders FC Academy and subsequently signed a professional contract. Appearances and Goals are cumulative totals for first-team Sounders FC games in Major League Soccer, US Open Cup, CONCACAF Champions League, as well as playoff games.

As of March 29, 2015

Name	Years at Academy	Appearances	Goals	First Professional Club	Current Club	International
Gustav Brandt	2012–2013	0	0	IF Limhamn Bunkeflo	IF Limhamn Bunkeflo
Jamael Cox	2010–2011	0	0	Seattle Sounders FC U-23	Burlingame Dragons FC
Nick Hinds	2015-	0	0	Seattle Sounders FC 2	Seattle Sounders FC 2	United States U-20
Darwin Jones	2010–2011	0	0	Seattle Sounders FC U-23	Seattle Sounders FC
Aaron Kovar	2010–2012	7	0	Seattle Sounders FC U-23	Seattle Sounders FC	United States U-23
Victor Mansaray	2012–2015	2	0	Seattle Sounders FC	Seattle Sounders FC	United States U-20
Duncan McCormick	2011–2014	0	0	Seattle Sounders FC 2	Seattle Sounders FC 2
Jordan Morris	2012–2013	0	0	Seattle Sounders FC U-23	Seattle Sounders FC U-23	United States
Sean Okoli	2010–2011	4	1	Seattle Sounders FC U-23	New England Revolution	United States U-23
Pablo Pelaez	2015-	0	0	Seattle Sounders FC 2	Seattle Sounders FC 2	United States U-20
Victor Rojas	2012-2014	0	0	Coras de Tepic	Coras de Tepic
Justin Solomon	2010-2012	0	0	Sunshine Coast F.C.	Sunshine Coast F.C.
DeAndre Yedlin	2010–2011	69	3	Seattle Sounders FC U-23	Sunderland	United States

International level is based on the highest level of the international setup that the player has reached.

References