Seattle Sounders FC Academy

This article is about the Academy team. For the history of this name, see Seattle Sounders (disambiguation).

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 a 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. His assistants are Sean Henderson and Bill Crook, who are both former Seattle Sounders players. The technical director is Darren Sawatzky, a former Colorado Rapids and Seattle Sounders.

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.

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.

At the start of the 2013 season, DeAndre Yedlin became the first Sounders Academy player to sign a HGP contract. 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. 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.

Players and staff

U-18 Squad

The following players are eligible for the U18 Academy League in the current 2016 season. As of February 2016.

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

No. Position Player 25 Chase Fjetland 27 Alex Bradbury 29 Bekele Dowty 30 Cayman John 31 Sam Johnson 32 Shuma Katori 33 Alex Kirtsov

No. Position Player 35 Stephen Murray 37 Sam Rogers 38 Stirling Russell 39 Kei Tomozawa 40 Oscar Zepeda 41 Alec Zimmerman Wilson Harris

U-16 Squad

The following players are eligible for the U16 Academy League in the current 2016 season. As of February 2016.

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

No. Position Player 26 Sam Fowler 28 Khai Brisco 34 Cameron Martin 36 Roger Pulido 49 Gage Nardi 51 Jared Butler 52 Omar Carillo 53 Sakari Carter 54 Sam Catherall 55 Gus Diehl 56 Vincent Duyungan 57 Esai Easley

No. Position Player 58 Keeton Heggerness 59 Aden Hiatt 60 Ben Huynh 61 Jesus Jeronimo 62 Ethan LeClair 63 Lagu Nagami 64 Borislav Stoyanov 65 Dylan Teves 66 Gabe Threadgold 67 Allesandro Tomasi 68 Max Weinberg

U-15 Squad

The following players are eligible for the U15 Academy League in the current 2016 season. As of February 2016.

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

No. Position Player 1 Noah Thomas 3 Leo Burney 4 Dylan Chavez 7 Connor Drought 9 Azriel Gonzalez 10 Mitchell Hutter

No. Position Player 12 Peter Kingtson 16 Joseph Richardson 19 Camilo Santiago 20 Jacen Stein 23 Jourdan Furukawa 89 Jonathan Perez

U-14 Squad

The following players are eligible for the U14 Academy League in the current 2016 season. As of February 2016.

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

No. Position Player

No. Position Player

U-13 Squad

The following players are eligible for the U13 Academy League in the current 2016 season. As of February 2016.

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

No. Position Player

No. Position Player

U-12 Squad

The following players are eligible for the U12 Academy League in the current 2016 season. As of February 2016.

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

No. Position Player

No. Position Player

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 Academy Team	Sean Henderson	United States
Head Coach, U15 Academy Team	Wade Webber	United States
Head Coach, U14 Academy Team	Junior Gonzalez	United States
Assistant Coach, U18 & U16 Academy Teams	Shannon Murray	United States
Assistant Coach, U15 Academy Teams	Michael Morris	United States
Assistant Coach, U14 Academy Team	Brayton Knapp	United States
Goalkeepers Coach	Troy Perkins	United States
Head 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.

As of February 29, 2016

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
Michael Gallagher	2010-2012	0	0	Portland Timbers 2	Portland Timbers 2
Ryan Herman	2010-2011	0	0	FC Dallas	FC Dallas	United States U-18
Nick Hinds	2015-	0	0	Seattle Sounders FC 2	Seattle Sounders FC 2	United States U-20
Darwin Jones	2010–2011	9	0	Seattle Sounders FC U-23	Seattle Sounders FC
Aaron Kovar	2010–2012	9	0	Seattle Sounders FC U-23	Seattle Sounders FC	United States U-23
Victor Mansaray	2012–2015	3	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	United States
Sean Okoli	2010–2011	3	0	Seattle Sounders FC U-23	FC Cincinnati	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	56	1	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.