Back in 2014, the Seattle Sounders launched a player development initiative called the Sounders Discovery Program. Working in conjunction with local clubs, SDP invites the top young players between the ages of 11-13 to train together twice per week with Sounders Academy coaches. These players remain with their teams throughout the four-month cycle, bringing the lessons learned and skills developed in SDP back to their respective clubs.
The current cycle contains players from a wide array of local clubs, including Washington Premier, Pac NW, Seattle United, Seattle Celtic and Crossfire.
“One of the reasons that we wanted to start SDP was so we could have an influence with these players technically and tactically at a younger age,” said Sounders Academy Technical Director Marc Nicholls.