Since the Sounders Academy first began play in 2011, Seattle has signed several players to Major League Soccer Homegrown Player contracts. In this series, SoundersFC.com sits down with each of club’s Homegrown Players to speak with them about it what it means to play for their hometown club. In the second installment, we caught up with rookie and University of Denver standout Jordan Schweitzer to discuss his experience as a Homegrown Player for the Sounders.
SoundersFC.com: Talk a little bit about your experience coming up through Sounders Academy.
I started off the inaugural year [2011] with [Aaron] Kovar. He was on the U18s and I was on the U16s. It was great. We got the best guys in the state coming out to play for one team. So it was all the guys you found on the state team, or the ODP team, coming together and training every single night, so that’s exciting. You get to test yourself and play with the best guys in the state and wear the Sounders badge. So I think the Homegrown guys have a better understanding as far as how much it means.
SoundersFC.com: Do you think the Academy prepares you well for higher levels of soccer?
Definitely. We played in [USSDA] games where you’re looking to impress so you can get reserve games, with the U-23s back then and S2 now, or to get to train with the first team. You just want to keep developing. I think we were fortunate to have such good staff at the Academy, they taught us good habits and we kind of just kept going from there. I wouldn’t trade that experience - those two years in the Academy - for anything. It was great. And being on the Sounders Academy, you are going to get more looks for college, which is great. I think that helps. Then you find a good [college] program and go from there.
SoundersFC.com: Do you think having the Homegrown system adds extra motivation for players to pursue professional careers?
Yeah, I think for everyone it is different. For me, I understood that I just needed to keep developing at whatever level it was. For me to go off for four years and be in an environment that continued to push me and challenge me was awesome. It was huge for my development. I think for everyone it’s different. Whether you go to school for a little bit or you get picked up from the Academy to the first team, it doesn’t matter. You just want to keep developing. I think it adds to it because there is an extra incentive. It’s ‘If I keep training, if I show, if I play well, then I can continue to make an impact and then hopefully get that contract’. Yeah I think it’s a huge incentive. To be able to come back [home], that’s awesome.
SoundersFC.com: As someone who came up through the Academy, what does it mean to be back in Seattle and playing for your hometown club?
It’s huge. It’s the thing that I grew up wanting to do. Especially coming up and watching them back in the USL with guys like Taylor Graham and Roger Levesque. I’m definitely proud to be back and playing in front of family and friends. That’s something that won’t ever change and it’s definitely been exciting.
SoundersFC.com: As a local player who has progressed through the ranks, do you see yourself as a role model for young kids who grow up playing soccer in Seattle?
My thing is I just want to be a part of the community as much as I can. It’s an amazing soccer community and an amazing community just in general. To be a part of it is special. No matter where you are from, you come in here and you see the fans, you see the organization, and you see what it means to everybody. Definitely growing up here adds a little extra. I’m just going to try and do as much as I can and enjoy the process.
SoundersFC.com: Do you think the Academy and Homegrown Player systems, which focus on developing local players, help to give a club an identity?
Yeah, I think when you have an opportunity to start the kids young, and more and more they are building the ‘process’ [of the Sounders player development system]. You can start the kids young and figure out what kind of player you want them to become, and they can get used to the [playing] system. I know the Academy is playing the same system that both [professional] teams are. So those extra years with the club helps in the long run and absolutely eases the transition. You want to be able to stick an Academy kid into an S2 game and he feels comfortable doing it. That’s definitely something that’s helpful.
SoundersFC.com: Do you think the goal of the Homegrown Program and Academy systems should be to produce top-level stars for the national team? Or do you think it should be to produce a lot of quality soccer players that holistically raise the level of play of MLS?
I think if you have the overarching focus on development, and you focus on that and do all of the little things, I think you do both. From the time that I have been here, they [Sounders Academy] have done both. Where, you know, the Kovar's and the Jordan Morris', those guys were definitely getting better, and so was everyone else. You push each other. That’s one of the best things about coming out with the best guys in the area and being able to train every day.
