Hello Sounders FC Nation.
Yesterday I had the opportunity to attend the first Sounder FC workout at their brand new facility at Star Fire in Tukwila. What an amazing first class facility it is.
Before I go any further, I want to thank Aaron again for the nice introduction. I am excited to be part of the Next Season Sports team providing you some great inside information, perspective, commentary for our favorite soccer team, Seattle Sounders FC.
To Continue...
First and foremost, I am a fan. I have played the sport since I was a young one. I currently play for Three Lions FC in the GSSL over 30 Division and am the assistant manager of the team. I am also an assistant coach for a U11 Girls Select team for The Lake Hills Soccer Club in Bellevue and of Course I am a Seattle Sounder FC fan. I grew up with the Sounders in the old North American Soccer League. For about 8 years the team captured the imagination of the Emerald City until 1983. The North American Soccer League went out of business due to mismanagement and there was no top flight soccer until the MLS opened for business in 1996.
I was passionate about the Sounders back then, followed the Sounders when they were in USL and am even more passionate about the newest incarnation of our Seattle Sounders FC.
I work with a network of great fan journalists, bloggers, coaches and hard core supporters. I want to bring you something that may not make it to other news medians: my experience, my knowledge of the game, MLS and this team. I will provide interviews, photo content and my take on what is going on with the team as we take this journey together as soccer lovers and fans.
New Facility
Yesterday, as I mentioned above, I had the opportunity to attend the first ever Sounder FC workout at their new facility at Star Fire in Tukwila. There is a full international size real grass pitch, a full size field turf pitch with the same identical field turf that is currently in Qwest Field. In addition there are some smaller field turf practice fields for smaller scrimmages.
Having a grass pitch allows the team to train opponents that play on grass when the team goes on the road and of course the field turf allows the team to train on a surface identical to Qwest Field. The team has its own locker room and training room that is separate from the main Star Fire complex. It may be the best training facility in the league, which is to be expected given everything this team has done, is best in it's class.
Practice
I had a chance to chat with Technical Director, Chris Henderson as well as co-owner and General Manager, Adrian Hanauer. They are great guys that know and love the game. Even though we are an expansion team, Hanauer and Henderson want to win now and this team is built to compete, year one. Their expectations are probably higher than the fans.
From what I saw today at practice, the players feel the same way, they played hard, crisp and intense. While watching a short field practice match, the players ran hard, barked out directions and let the others know where the other needed to be on the pitch during play. This really looks like a bunch of guys that are starting to feel comfortable and play together as a team. Most of the starting lineup is locked down but I got the feeling that even coach Sigi Schmid doesn’t know what the lineup will be until Thursday morning.
Midfielder Freddie Ljungberg showed no
signs of a player recovering from a surgery that just started working out with the team last week. It is possible he may make an appearance on Thursday but none of us will really know until then. If Schmid is intending on using him, it is only known to him and a handful of others.
I may be going out to Qwest Field tomorrow to take more photos and see if I can get any other tidbits of information for you to munch on. It is going to be a fun and exciting year of Seattle Sounders FC Soccer. I look forward to providing interesting content and information and sharing your thoughts on the team. As a fan, let me know what you are looking for in terms of information and content and I will do my best to provide you with what you are looking for. I this for you! Until next time, Scarves Up and give us your full 90!Reach Greg Roth at nextseasonsports@gmail.com
