Seattle Sounders FC and Washington Youth Soccer have partnered to integrate new programs into the youth soccer development system in Washington State. The new programs will begin in September 2009 and will bring the MLS Youth Initiative program to Washington State, creating additional levels and avenues to elite play for local youth soccer players.

The partnership between Seattle Sounders FC and Washington Youth Soccer will unite the very best avenues to high level soccer in the state through a Regional Training Center (RTC) model that will bring the top players together once a week to train under elite coaches.

The RTC system, launching in September 2009, will include 5 locations across the state and will incorporate the top youth clubs in Washington State and upper age group Academy teams. The RTC program is designed to identity the very best players in Washington state across all leagues, affiliations and geographic locations.

At the RTCs, players will train, develop and be evaluated with the ultimate goal of creating a state pool of players for each designated age group. The pool for each age group will become the ODP/Sounders FC youth team pool – the top players from these pools will travel as the ODP/Sounders FC youth teams to competitions commensurate with ability level. Additional information on this program can be found at www.wsysa.com.