Sounders Academy returned to USSDA action this week on the back of an impressive showing at Generation adidas Cup in Frisco, Texas. And while the results and performances certainly warrant excitement, the importance of GA Cup lies in the developmental opportunities for the top prospects in the club.
Last summer, Sounders Academy competed in the Youdan Trophy, the oldest tournament in the world, and won the event by toppling historic clubs like Newcastle United and FC Basel. The Rave Green also collected two more pieces of silverware in England, as midfielder Danny Robles earned Player of the Tournament honors while striker Azriel Gonzalez won the Golden Boot. For both players, the Youdan Trophy experience served as a launching pad for a successful 2016-17 season in which the pair have become key contributors for the U-16s and regulars with U.S. youth national teams.
GA Cup provides similar invaluable developmental experiences-- such as competing against the best youth teams around the world, exposure to the highest levels of soccer and world-class facilities -- so the Academy staff opted to bring along a young squad composed of elite prospects with high ceilings.
“We were able to give our young players some great experiences by playing four foreign opponents,” said Academy Technical Director Marc Nicholls. “We beat Pumas, tied Monterrey and lost to Chivas, so I think it’s safe to say we’re closing the gap with Mexico and we’re quite pleased with that.”
Arguably the most exciting aspect of GA Cup for the U-16s was the impressive showing from some of the youngest players on the squad. In fact, Sounders Academy had the third-youngest team at the event, and were the only side to hand significant minutes to a U-13 (2003) player, Sota Kitahara.
Technically speaking, Kitahara is still eligible to be a member of the Sounders Discovery Program pool, which acts as a precursor to the full Academy teams. His composure and reading of the game warranted a call-up to the U-14s.
Sounders Academy’s approach to GA Cup was to bring along the best and the brightest to expose them to the highest levels of youth soccer. And with Kitahara impressing in a 10-minute spell in the win over Pumas UNAM, the coaching staff rewarded him with starts against Chivas de Guadalajara and Monterrey.
In addition to Kitahara, a number of players eligible for the U-14s were key contributors to the successful showings for the U-16s.
“Danny Robles (2002) played particularly well over the week, he had three or four assists, and was influential in a lot of our attacking play,” said U-16 head coach Chris Little. “Josh Atencio (2002) played the most minutes in the center of midfield and did really well for us.”
Both Robles and Atencio, as well as striker Alfonso Ocampo-Chavez, are regulars with the U-16s from the 2002 age group. Playing up against bigger, faster and smarter opponents has accelerated each of their development, and all three have earned numerous U.S. U-15 national team call ups since breaking into the Sounders Academy U-16 team in the Fall. Attacking midfielder Ray Serrano scored a lovely goal against Chivas de Guadalajara courtesy of a perfectly-weighted pass from Robles.
Needless to say, there’s plenty of attacking talent rising through the ranks in the Academy.
The takeaways for the Sounders Discovery Program U-12 team, which competed in GA Cup for the first time in club history, were slightly different from their elder counterparts.
SDP is not a full-time team, but rather an initiative in which Academy coaches invite elite prospects from local club sides to train twice a week, exposing them to the Academy curriculum. It serves two primary purposes: to facilitate the improvement of talented players during a crucial developmental period (ages 10-13) and to improve the efficacy of scouting and evaluation. The GA Cup, and all that it offers, fulfills both mandates for SDP.
“We grew into the event, had some good individual performances, and I think it was a good step for our Academy to test ourselves at the youngest ages,” said SDP Director Brayton Knapp. “Especially with a group of players that’ve never played a game together before.”
The lack of familiarity didn’t show in the results for the young Sounders, with wins against full-time Academy sides like New York Red Bull, Houston Dynamo and Philadelphia Union, as well as a 1-1 draw against eventual champions, Malaga CF.
But above all else, the performances are what should leave supporters excited about the bright future of the club. The technical acuity, tactical understanding and overall ability of 11 and 12-year-old players is at a level that was unimaginable even a few years ago.
SDP has already begun to bear fruit for the club with guys like Robles and goalkeeper Sam Fowler coming through the program. In fact, 50% of the squad that won the Youdan Trophy, which served as a launching pad for some of the individuals who starred in this edition of GA Cup, came through the ranks of SDP. And now that the program is impacting the soccer education and development of the best local players as young as 10-years-old, the future of player development in Seattle, and ultimately with Sounders FC, is something that should leave every supporter excited about #TheFuture.
