With the launch of Sounders FC, a relationship was constructed between the new professional soccer team and Washington Youth Soccer. The previous elite team structure within Washington Youth Soccer came in the Olympic Development Program (ODP). For years, ODP has served as the top identification and development program for youth players in the United States aspiring to attain state, region, and national team status. With the recent launch of the USSF Development Academy, regional leagues, and alternative identification programs for players, there are now different avenues to collegiate, professional, and National Team levels.
The Sounders FC Youth System incorporates Washington Youth Soccer ODP in four age groups for the boys and all five age groups for the girls. The new relationship unites the very best avenues to high level soccer through a Regional Training Center (RTC) model incorporating the top youth clubs across Washington State and upper age group Academy teams that will be formed in the spring of 2010. Both boys and girls will benefit from the commitment from Washington Youth Soccer and Sounders FC. The RTC’s will launch in September 2009. Southwest Washington will have a Sounders FC Youth System RTC. Players will receive invitations from Sounders FC to participate in the training and players may be invited from any league or affiliation with inclusion based solely on playing ability.
Youth Club soccer in Washington state will be unaffected by the inception of the RTC’s outside of offering a player centric training day each week The RTC’s will bring the very best players together once per week to train with the top coaches in the state in each of the 5 locations. These players will train, be evaluated, and develop with the ultimate goal of achieving the state pool of players for each of the age groups designated. The pool that is designated in each age group will become the ODP/Sounders FC youth team pool and the very top players will travel as the ODP/Sounders FC youth teams to competitions commensurate with ability level. There will also be an open tryout for the RTC’s to make sure that no player is excluded or missed within this opportunity.
Sounders FC will be fielding U15/U16 and U17/U18 boys Academy teams starting the spring of 2010. These teams will apply to the USSF Academy League following the other MLS youth teams that participate in this league. Per the MLS Youth Initiative, players may be signed to a professional contract out of this programming for the full professional team for Sounders FC. The girl’s older Washington State ODP teams will serve as the top teams for this program.
For questions regarding the Southwest Washington Sounders FC Youth System please contact Gary Osterhage, WSA Director of Coaching, at directorcoaching@cwsoccer.com or 360-608-8073
