If you need any more proof that supporters' club culture has taken root for good in MLS, look no further than Sunday’s matches involving the Seattle Sounders. That’s the Sounders Under-16 and Under-18 academy teams.
The Emerald City Supporters are sending more than 100 fans to back their academy teams when they face their counterparts from the local Crossfire Premier club at Lake Washington High School (11 a.m. PT). The matches are part of the US Soccer Development Academy season.
"The academy games do provide an extra bit of fun in the closed season," Emerald City Supporters co-president Keith Hodo told SoundersFC.com’s official blog. "Hopefully they can draw on the energy like the first team does and get a positive result for the Sounders FC.”
The ECS is promising to have an “fully-charged supporter section” for the matches which should prove a rare sight for any matches outside the professional ranks and the elite college programs. Whether they match the intensity of the fans at the Under-12 Lech Cup in Poland is to be seen.
WATCH LECH POZNAN FANS AT UNDER-12 LECH CUP
The Sounders and Crossfire Premier, based in nearby Redmond, Wash., are considered to be two of the top youth programs in the Pacific Northwest. Seattle’s U-16 and U-18 sides are in first place in the Northwest Division, while Crossfire comes in at second and third in each respective age bracket.
The Sounders are the only MLS academy team to see action this weekend.
Down south, in California, the current incarnation of the Cosmos will take the field, with the Academy West squad lining up against the California Development Academy U-18 and U-16 sides at Pasadena High School. It will be the first set of games for Cosmos Academy West in 2011.
In other US Soccer Development Academy action from the Southeast, the University of South Carolina will host Atlanta Fire United, Charlotte Soccer Academy, South Carolina United FC and North Meck Soccer Club on Saturday and Sunday.
