Recently retired as a player, Ezra Hendrickson will stay in Major League Soccer as an assistant coach with the expansion Seattle Sounders FC, completing the staff for head coach Sigi Schmid.
Hendrickson played for Schmid the past three years with the Columbus Crew, winning the MLS Cup last season. He retired as a player on Jan. 8.
The Sounders FC’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.
Thirty-one players are expected to report this morning, including eight from the expansion draft and FC’s top two picks from the SuperDraft.
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 match against the San Jose Earthquakes at 7 p.m. Feb. 13 at San Luis Obispo, Calif.
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