Seattle Sounders FC 2 announced at tonight’s Alliance Annual Business Meeting that a Sounders Community Trust representative on the S2 Executive Board will also serve on the USL PRO Board of Governors during the 2015 season. The Sounders Community Trust is a charitable, fan and supporter-managed, non-profit organization with a 20-percent interest in S2. The Trust will appoint one representative to contribute to the making of key strategic and policy decisions related to USL PRO.
“We are committed to involving the Sounders Community Trust in all S2 operations decisions. This includes our involvement in league operations,” said S2 General Manager Andrew Opatkiewicz. “The Trust has a vested interest in S2, and the league we compete in, and I have no doubt this representative will bring real value to USL PRO meetings.”
The USL PRO Board of Governors meets on a regular basis to discuss and decide key strategic and policy decisions related to the governance of the league. USL PRO is a United States Soccer Federation-sanctioned league that is currently in the midst of a multi-year partnership with MLS that features individual team affiliations, inter-league play, and the opportunity for MLS clubs to field a second team in USL PRO. Each team in the league sends two representatives to the USL PRO Board of Governors meetings. Representing S2 will be Opatkiewicz and the SCT member representative to S2, who has yet to be announced.
“Based on Sounders FC’s history of embracing and empowering the role of their supporters in key aspects of the club, it is no surprise that S2 would take the groundbreaking step of a taking a leader from within the Sounders Community Trust and having them play a very direct and active role in its executive decision-making process,” said USL PRO President Tim Holt. “We look forward to this individual’s input and contributions at the league level.”
The appointed Sounders Community Trust member will also serve on the S2 Executive Board that oversees all team operations.
MORE ON S2 AND THE SOUNDERS COMMUNITY TRUST:http://sndrs.com/bq78
Additionally, several upcoming Sounders FC club announcements were revealed during Saturday’s Alliance Annual Business Meeting at Seattle’s iconic Paramount Theatre. Among these news items delivered by Sounders FC Majority Owner Joe Roth, Owner and General Manager Adrian Hanauer, Owner Drew Carey and Chief Operating Officer Bart Wiley were the addition of former player Roger Levesque as the club’s new Director of Community Outreach; details surrounding the team’s new Clubhouse on the first level of its Pioneer Square headquarters; and jersey information regarding Sounders FC’s 2015 MLS kits.
Complete information regarding these announcements will be officially unveiled in the weeks ahead. Further coverage of tonight’s event can be found via SoundersFC.com: http://sndrs.com/ndh7
ABOUT SOUNDERS FC 2
Announced on October 14, 2014, Sounders FC 2 is the club's Second Team, playing in USL PRO starting in the 2015 season. Known as S2, the team represents a link between the Sounders FC Academy and Sounders FC First Team. Playing its home matches at Starfire Stadium, S2 emphasizes development and community involvement, and will provide a consistent and competitive professional environment for promising Academy players and certain First Team players to progress. The team will operate under the management of Sounders FC and the Sounders Community Trust, an unprecedented, fan-owned organization that will hold a 20-percent interest in the team.
ABOUT THE SOUNDERS COMMUNITY TRUST
The first organization of its kind in MLS, the Sounders Community Trust is a charitable, fan and supporter-managed, non-profit organization that will assume a 20-percent interest of Sounders FC 2. The Trust will elect one representative to sit on the Second Team Executive Board with the purpose of both influencing and supporting the direction of Sounders FC through S2, as well as helping support access to soccer in the community.
ABOUT USL PRO
USL PRO is the strongest U.S. men's professional soccer league on and off the field below and in support of Major League Soccer (MLS). Focused on league stability and franchise performance longevity, USL PRO featured 14 teams in 2014, including expansion teams in Los Angeles, Oklahoma City and Sacramento. Teams have already been announced for 2015 in Austin, Charlotte, Colorado Springs, Louisville, Portland, Salt Lake City, Seattle, St. Louis and Tulsa, with more additions expected soon. Through aggressive and deliberate growth in adding teams fully capable of meeting USL and U.S. Soccer standards, USL PRO is building a robust, national professional soccer league in a format that promotes the benefits of regional league play. In 2013 USL PRO began a groundbreaking, multi-year partnership with MLS that features individual team affiliations, inter-league play, and the opportunity for MLS clubs to field a second team in USL PRO. In addition to league play, USL PRO teams compete in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup as well as various domestic and international exhibitions. USL PRO is the longest-standing pro league affiliate member of U.S. Soccer.
