Community sports: Partnership helps develop soccer players
Monday, November 2 | 11:14 p.m.
BY PAUL DANZER
COLUMBIAN STAFF WRITER
Nick Palodichuk’s contribution to the national under-17 soccer team demonstrates just how far the game can take a local kid.
Palodichuk is a starting midfielder for the United States team that will meet Italy on Wednesday in the knockout phase of the under-17 World Cup in Nigeria.
Thanks to the arrival of Major League Soccer in Seattle, there is a new avenue for local kids who dream of following Palodichuk to the sport’s most elite level.
Sounders FC has partnered with Washington Youth Soccer (www.wsysa.com) to form a regional training program for players ages 11-17 who aspire to play at elite levels, and one of their regional training centers (RTC) is in Vancouver.
The program is part player pool for Washington’s Olympic Development Program teams, and part development program for future Sounders players. In Vancouver, it is currently meeting on Thursdays at Kiggins Bowl, and according to the man in charge has been well received.
"Kids are knocking at the door trying to get in," said Troy Maxcy, who is overseeing the Vancouver operation.
And why not? It’s free. The commitment is 90 minutes each week. And it might eventually be the fast track to big things in soccer.
It is not, however, for everyone. Participation is limited to players who are recommended by a coach or invited by the RTC staff.
"It’s about the best of the best," Maxcy said. "If they’re good enough, they’ll be invited out to participate."
Darren Sawatsky, the Director of Youth Development for Washington Youth Soccer and Seattle Sounders FC, is charged with establishing and developing the regional training centers. Major League Soccer, he noted, has encouraged its teams to support development of youth soccer.
Some MLS teams have done that by taking over local youth clubs and folding them into the MLS club. Sawatsky said the Sounders wanted to avoid that path. The Regional Training Center approach allows them to include players regardless of their club affiliation — and to give players added elite training without taking those players away from their club teams.
The inclusive philosophy stretches to the coaching staff for the local RTC, which includes two coaches from Columbia Premier Soccer Club and two from Washington Soccer Academy-F.C. Vancouver, the two largest youth soccer clubs in the county.
Unlike those clubs and their teams, participation in the Sounders FC-Washington Youth Soccer Regional Training Center is fluid. The coaches regularly add and release players.
"The beauty of the RTCs is there’s fluidity," Sawatsky said, explaining that released players are given a thorough evaluation and have the opportunity — through improved skill — to be invited back to the RTC roster.
"It adds an extra quality that we haven’t quite had around here before," explains Sunny Dulai, the coaching director for the Columbia Timbers and one of four coaches hired to lead the weekly training sessions.
The weekly RTC sessions emphasize individual skill development. Defensive skills and ball possession have been emphasized during the first two months, with Sawatsky providing points of emphasis for each session.
"It’s a true player development tool," Sawatsky said, noting that players get plenty of exposure to team drills and tactics with their club teams.
The RTCs also will become a point of entry into the state’s Olympic Development Program teams. The ODP program is a U.S. Youth Soccer program designed to identify potential national team players.
The ODP door remains open to players outside the Sounders FC program. There will still be tryouts for these statewide teams, which are formed each year for boys and girls ages 12-16.
Players who want to learm more about the Sounders regional training program can constact Maxcy at 360-909-4439, or tmaxcy@wsysa.com.
Clark County players are allowed to choose between the Oregon and Washington ODP programs. Dulai noted that many choose to participate in Oregon because it means less travel. His advice for local players already in the Oregon ODP program is to stay put — at least until the Sounders FC program gets established.
The choices for local soccer players might become more interesting in a couple of years. The Portland Timbers are scheduled to join MLS in 2011, and the league will need to determine if Clark County is hometown player territory for the Sounders, the Timbers, or neither.
By establishing a regional training center here, the Sounders are laying an early claim here.
"Our kids are in Washington. We’re Washington’s team," Sawatsky said. "If it becomes a free market, then great. It’s up to us to put a product on the market" that attracts the top players in the area.
In the long run, the winners will be local soccer players, who without leaving home or their club team can get an extra assist on the path to college, professional, even international soccer.
