Defiance will be crucial proving ground

Charis Wilson / Tacoma Defiance This is set up to be a pivotal year in the Seattle Sounders’ youth movement. Josh Atencio has had a star turn to start the Sounders season — although a muscle injury has put a temporary pause on his break-out — and Ethan Dobbelaere already has more appearances than he did in 2020 while Danny Leyva showed well in his 11-minute cameo against the LA Galaxy.

The Sounders’ youth movement is much more than a handful of players in the First Team, though. The development pipeline runs through Tacoma Defiance, where new head coach Wade Webber is uniquely suited to the task of helping prepare young players for the next steps in their careers.

“I think he’s had about as…