The Seattle Sounders Academy is on the doorstep of making history, a feat that’s not exactly foreign to the organization. Competing in the inaugural MLS Next Cup — the single-elimination tournament serving as the centerpiece of the league’s new player development league that replaced the Development Academy system — the Sounders U17 side has reached the semifinals and now face New Jersey’s Players Development Academy.
Back in 2019, the Sounders Academy made history when the U17 team, boasting an embarrassment of riches in terms of professional experience with Ray Serrano and Alfonso Ocampo-Chavez both already on USL deals at the time, beat Valencia to become the first-ever MLS-affiliated team to win the Champions Division.