First-year Sounders hit the practice pitch for first time
Seattle Sounders FC will take the pitch for the first time today. The Major League Soccer expansion team’s first practice at 10 a.m. will open a training period that will span two months, two states and two continents.
The new Seattle Seahawks facility in Renton – officially the Virginia Mason Athletic Center – will be the Sounders’ first training ground because the permanent facility under construction at the Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila is not yet finished.
That home at Starfire eventually will include a locker room, lounge, training room, coaches facilities, 11/2 natural grass fields and a FieldTurf field.
For now, it remains a work in progress, much like the team itself.
The Sounders’ roster began with the signings of goalkeepers Kasey Keller and Chris Eylander, midfielder Freddie Ljungberg, midfielder/forward Sebastien Le Toux and midfielder Sanna Nyassi. Last month, 10 veterans were added from the MLS expansion draft. Last week, four college players were taken from the SuperDraft.
And Tuesday, the Sounders announced invitations to 17 non-contract players: 21-year-old Columbian forward Freddy Montero and 16 members of the old Seattle Sounders USL first division team, including Taylor Graham, Leighton O’Brien, Roger Levesque, Nik Besagno and Danny Jackson.
Thirty-one players are expected to report this morning, including eight from the expansion draft and Sounders’ top two picks from the SuperDraft.
Expansion selection Peter Vagenas has been given permission to join his new team next week, while Jeff Parke remains unsigned. Third- and fourth-round SuperDraft picks Jared Karkas and Michael Fucito will join the team Feb. 2.
Ljungberg will not practice while rehabilitating from hip surgery.
Trying to mold that collection of players into a team will be coach Sigi Schmid and his recently completed staff: assistants Brian Schmetzer, Erza Hendrickson and goalkeeper coach Tom Dutra.
“We want to be successful right from the beginning,” technical director Chris Henderson said. “We’ll have our growing pains, (but) I feel that the players we’ve chosen are wanted players. They’re quality, and other teams have noticed that; so that’s a good start. The chemistry of it, the coaches Sigi and Brian have to work on that daily. And how that plays out, I think that’s an art of the coach: You have to touch the right buttons.”
After training in Renton through Jan. 31, the Sounders will shift to Oxnard College in Oxnard, Calif., from Feb. 3-14. The first week there will be devoted to fitness, and the second week to games against MLS and international teams.
The only game announced so far is a Feb. 13 match against the San Jose Earthquakes at 7 p.m. Feb. 13 at San Luis Obispo, Calif.
The Sounders will return to the Northwest on Feb. 18-19 before traveling to Argentina from Feb. 24-March 5.
The completed Starfire facility is expected to be ready in early March. Practices are closed to the public.
The Sounders will kick off the MLS season March 19 against the New York Red Bulls at Qwest Field.
Don Ruiz, 253-597-8808
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