There’s a new pre-professional soccer team in Snohomish County, and it’s an organization that’s been established in the area for more than 35 years.
Snohomish United, which currently operates a youth premier soccer program compromised of teams that compete in the Elite Clubs National League (ECNL), Regional Club League (RCL) and North Puget Sound League (NPSL), recently acquired a USL League Two franchise and will field a team in May.
“We have a bunch of graduates that have come through our youth program that are playing in the league,” coaching director Anthony Sardon said. “You could definitely be able to put a team here. It’s a really good location, especially with the proximity of Stocker Fields to downtown Snohomish. And it could be a small European-club type atmosphere.
“We have the ECNL program, which is the top level in the country, and our kids can move off to where now we have a first team that kind of completes that youth pathway to the next level,” he continued. “And it’s perfect timing as far as May through July with weather because we do have a grass facility.”
Snohomish United coaching director Anthony Sardon talks during a press conference at Haywire Brewing to announce that the organization acquired a USL League Two franchise. (Photo courtesy of Anthony Sardon)
The addition of Snohomish United also marks another opportunity for a local semipro team to be stationed north of Seattle. Other clubs include men’s teams Bellingham United, Morelia de Skagit and Everett Jets, which compete in the Evergreen Premier League (EPLWA), and two additional men’s squads, Gala FC and Snohomish County FC, which compete in the Cascadia Premier League (CPL). Gala FC recently moved to the United Premier Soccer League (UPSL) this past season. On the women’s side, there are three teams, Bellingham United, Northwest United and Gala FC, that also play in the CPL.
To put into perspective the level that Snohomish United will be playing at as a USL League Two club, it is the fourth tier from the top of the U.S. Men’s Soccer Pyramid, according to Sports Recruiting USA, the equivalent of the teams in the EPLWA, CPL and UPSL. The Seattle Sounders are a Major League Soccer club at the top with NCAA, NAIA and NJCAA institutions at the bottom.
The Men’s Soccer Pyramid displays the different tiers of soccer in the U.S. USL League Two is pre-professional soccer. (Graphic courtesy of Sports Recruiting USA)
Competing in the Northwest Division, Snohomish United will have regular-season matches against clubs like Ballard FC, Tacoma Stars and West Seattle Junction FC to name a few. And joining the pre-professional ranks not only allows Snohomish United to provide high-level soccer to local fans, it also gets players in the eyes of professional scouts for opportunities to be selected into USL League One and beyond.
“(USL League Two) did a ton of research on not only our history of player development but players going on to play in Sounders Academy or go on to be playing at a high level in college or drafted into the MLS or kids going on to play USL League One or USL Pro that have come through our system,” Sardon said. “They (also) did research on our (annual) Bigfoot Tournament and can we handle a big event like this and our brew festival because it’s important that we’re able to create amenities to enhance the atmosphere.”
According to the USL League Two website, more than 70% of all MLS draftees since 2010 have experience playing in the pre-professional environment, and there were 199 league alumni who competed in the MLS in 2020. In the 2019 MLS SuperDraft, 61 players who had previously played in the pre-professional league were selected by MLS clubs, which made up about 80% of all the players chosen in the draft. And U.S. stars such as FC Cincinnati defender DeAndre Yedlin, a former Sounder, Norwich’ center-forward Josh Sargent and Atlanta United goalkeeper Brad Guzan are all USL League Two products and have had the honor of suiting up for the men’s national team.
“It’s a great opportunity for the kids to aspire to play and also for the coaches to maybe one day be able to coach in the league,” Sardon said. “When you’re a coach, you can learn from any level of play, but if there’s a higher level, you can learn how to organize your team better. Coaches can definitely go out and watch training sessions and pick up different things here and there that can help them enhance their own training environment. So all those things are really available for our coaches, which I think is great for coaching education, as well as for the players to go to the games and learn from really good players that are going to be future pros.”
Sardon said there will be an event to announce the team’s name and logo on Dec. 4 at Haywire Brewing Company (738 Rainier St., Snohomish, WA 98290). For more information, email Sardon at anthony@snohomishyouthsoccer.org.
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