Darwin Jones was among the Seattle Sounders' recent cuts from preseason training camp, but that doesn't mean he'll be going very far. The 19-year-old has joined the University of Washington's 2012 recruiting class, giving the Huskies four Sounders Academy products in this class alone. Jones will be accompanied by Michael Gallagher, Ian Lange and Dom Dismuke. Along with Drew White, who will be entering his sophomore season at UW, the Huskies will have five Sounders Academy players on the 2012 team.

The addition of Jones is particularly noteworthy. When the list of commitments was originally released last week, Jones' name was not included. Jones spent last season at Highline Community College, where he led the team with 15 goals and 10 assists.

"In my opinion, Darwin is likely the best attacking player entering college soccer next year," UW coach Jamie Clark said in a school release. "He has electric pace and great feet, which makes him a very tough matchup defender. He had a great season with Highline CC last year and before that was a standout for the Seattle Sounders Academy. He has big shoes to fill with the departure of Brent Richards, but I believe he's ready to make a big impact. "

Asked directly what excites him most about his new opportunity to be the Coach of the Seattle Sounders U-23 side Darren Sawatzky gives two answers. The first isn't a surprise. As the Technical Director of the Sounders Academy his passion for player and personal development is a strong fit in this new intermediary step between Academy and Pro. The second item was simple "I like to win things."

So does his new ownership group. The Sounders U-23 side is not owned, nor operated by the Sounders. Though they will be in Sounders kits, receive some marketing cache from the name and are obviously coached by some one who has significant roles with both organizations the ownership of the former Tacoma Tide is not solely focused on helping the MLS side. Sawatzky points out that while the players may primarily be Academy Alumni, they will not solely be so.

This club is owned by different owners than Sounders FC and they obviously want to win. We're allowed eight over age players and we may or may not use those depending on what makes sense. There's players calling me from all over the place and we'll make decisions based on what makes the most sense.

Yes, Alumni like Darwin Jones, who is on track to be a U23, or Jamael Cox, depending on his European trials, will be on the squad. Former members of the original U18 side that went off east like Nick Palodichuk, Deandre Yedlin, Sean Okoli and Troy Peterson are likely to return to wear the Rave Green as well.

Sawatzky will get to reconnect with players that he both coached and managed prior to the creation of the Sounders Academy. That's part of the appeal of this new role.

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The Seattle Sounders have added a PDL team to their youth development program, partnering with the Tacoma Tide and rebranding the team as Sounders FC U-23. The team will be coached by current Sounders academy director Darren Sawatzky and play somewhere in Pierce County, although a permanent home has not yet been determined.

"The intent is to fill one of the gaps in development that we felt we had at this time," Sounders GM Adrian Hanauer said. "Most importantly for us, it's to bring some of our academy grads who are in university back for the summer so we can observe them, maybe train a day or two with the first team and to just keep tabs on those players."

"Secondarily, there's the potential that a player who doesn't make our team can stay in the area and train and get games with a PDL organization and keep tabs on them."

Hanauer noted that while the U-23 team will be fully amateur, meaning that players can not be paid, the Sounders host several youth camps that could help supplement any non-soccer income players may be receiving. More likely, the team will be heavily stocked with the likes of former Sounders Academy players such as DeAndre Yedlin (Akron), Sean Okoli (Wake Forest), Nick Palodichuk (Duke), Ryan Herman (Santa Clara) and Troy Peterson (College of Charleston).

"For a lot of these guys it's a place they can come back to," Sounders coach Sigi Schmid said. "It's also an opportunity to watch other college players play some of their summer soccer. It becomes a logical progression, it bridges that gap from the Academy teams to MLS and becomes a great enhancement for the college players."

In our recaps of Seattle Sounders FC's Academy Alumni the focus was primarily on the players within the NCAA system. Players like Sean Okoli (second leading scorer on the U18s in 2010/11), Deandre Yedlin and Nick Palodichuk are following typical American collegiate paths. Yedlin and Okoli even got picked for the recent United States U-20 path. Darwin Jones and Jamael Cox are doing things a bit differently, and both seem to have a shot a pro career. Previously Sounders academy director Darren Sawatzky raved about Jones.

It comes as little surprise that after a stellar season with Highline Community College Jones is now in preseason camp on trial. A trial that Jones said today may lead to something more:

I'm here for a week on trial. If I do well and go to Arizona I won't be going to Highline or I'll go back to school at Highline and finish off Winter and Spring Quarter and then I'm off to the UW in the fall.

Jones was the second-leading scorer on the first-ever Sounders U18 team. Third on the team was right mid Jamael Cox, who is on trial with Glasgow Rangers after a previous trial with FC Nurnberg. His representative Ricci Greenwood describes the process of getting Cox those trials:

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The Seattle Sounders Academy shows early promise as two Alumni were selected to the United States National Team's U-20 Camp in January. Forward Sean Okoli, currently with Wake Forrest, and rightback Deandre Yedlin, of Akron, will both get to prove themselves to coach Tab Ramos. While the Sounders have a very tight roster for 2012 it is clear that they hold some cards from within their own Academy.

Okoli and Yedlin are two of 15 college players who will join with 12 pros from MLS, Bundesliga, Mexican and Norwegian Premier leagues. This includes one time University of Washington commit Villyan Bijev. There are also nine current Academy players on the roster.

As the Sounders continue to recruit and track potential pros down to the U-11 level they can point to the recognition of players like Okoli, Yedlin and others who get the call to perform in not just the green and blue but also our nation's colors.

Jalen Markey of the Sounders U-16s is called into US U-18 camp as well.

The first part of Sounder at Heart's recent conversation with Darren Sawatzky featured a few players from this year's U-18s. This second section is more about what the Academy is and how Seattle Sounders FC is handling it. The conversation is lengthy, but shows the efforts the team is taking to develop not just future pro players, but men. It is also presented as a question and answer so that the focus on can be on Sawatzky's words in his role with the club.

SaH: How young is the organization recognizing talent?

Sawatzky: We'll look at any kid at any age if they fit into the Academy System and they have the potential to be an elite level player. We watch club soccer daily so it really doesn't matter what the age group is. We're aware of players all the way down to the 2001 age group right now that are talented in Washington State and fit into our territory. At the end of the day we want to get players into the system as soon as we can because it gives us more time to develop them.

SaH: Adrian Hanauer mentioned at the End of Year Meeting that seven Academy players were called up to US Youth National Team camps or tournaments. As the Academy kids spend more time with organization, not just being coached by some of the coaches, will that number grow?

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As Seattle Sounders FC's Academy enters its winter break to rest and recharge they stand in strong in the standings. The U-18s are first in the Northwest Division and seventh by PPM among teams with 10+ games. At the U-16 level the team is dominating tied for first by PPM with 10+ games and in first in the division. While Seattle hasn't pulled the trigger on a HomeGrown Player signing yet, there are a few players in college now who would be on a short list if we got to see inside the offices of the organization. On Monday Darren Sawatzky (Academy Technical Director) spent nearly twenty minutes on the phone chatting about a few players suiting up for the 18s now as well as the general philosophy of the club. After watching the U-18s against CDA, reading reports of their performance against the Vancouver Whitecaps Residency and that chat it seems a good time to highlight a few of the players who could become First Team Sounders in the future.

Aaron Kovar is sidelined with an injury so hasn't played much this season. But he's also probably the most known of this Academy class. He won many accolades in 2010-11 - State Gatorade Player of Year, three time All KingCo team, three time scholar athlete at Garfield High, 2011 KingCo MVP, ODP player, played up while with Emerald City FC. The Stanford commit is also an academic standout. He took the pitch four times with the Sounders Reserves. Based just on resume the left mid belongs on any short list of fan attention.

There are other players that fans should learn as well. Dom Dismuke (pictured after recieving a "Supa Dom" cape from an ECS member) netted 9 goals all last season. This year he's already at 11. The biggest changes are two fold - he's developed physically and he's now the focus of the offense. Sawatzky notes that he has ton continue that physical improvement, but has more to offer.

One thing about being a striker in the Academy, college and professional level is that you have to be able to finish and Dom's gotten better and better at finishing. The statistics show that this year. There's another piece and that's the physical side. He's getting stronger and bodying up better but he's still going to have to improve that because the NCAA is a hard place to play. You're going to get knocked around by very athletic players. In that part he needs to build and get stronger. But, if you score goals you are always going to have a place to play. Right now Dom's on fire, I believe on Sunday he had a goal and two assists. He's involved or finishing off just about everything we're doing up front. If he keeps that up that skies the limit for him.

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Tukwila, Wash.-- Seattle Sounders FC U18 Academy team (6-4-3) overall and U16 Academy team (9-2-2) overall played Vancouver Whitecaps FC today in a northwest division showdown in United States Development Academy (USSDA) play.

The U18 team lost by a score of 1-3.

Goal Scorers: Ian Lange

The U16 team won by a score of 4-0.

Goal Scorers: Isidro Prado-Huerta, James Nosack, Denis Kalamar (2)

Both teams are back in action Sunday against California Development Academy at Starfire Sports. The U18 team kicks off at 11 am, followed by the U16 team playing at 1:30 pm.

Game photos:

http://www.soundersphotos.com/2011_U18_VWC