Watching them grow up

In the before times I worked for Tacoma Defiance. Mere days after my official hiring date, Danny Leyva – expected to be a consistent starter at Cheney Stadium – signed as an HGP with the first team. My first big job was to hype the pathway. I was back at Starfire, but as an employee, kinda.

And there was Danny with his family who watched him leave for Puget Sound from Las Vegas a couple years before.

Leyva made six appearances with the first team that year. Fourteen times he suited played for Defiance in the USL Championship. He scored!

Danny was young, like the whole team. There were struggles, both by the team, Leyva and the players. At the end of the year Danny and Josh Atencio (now Rapids) were dragged up on stage by Justin Dhillon (now retired) to sing 'Bluest Skies' at MLS Cup 2019's victory celebration.

The trio were Defiance and Sounders at the same time, a sign of the development pipeline's potential. Little did we know how great that 2018-20 pipeline would be.

Players still in the org in 2025 that played for Defiance for development back in 2018 include Alex Roldan, Leo Burney, Peter Kingston, Jacob Castro and Danny Robles. Another 19, at least, went on to play professionally for Sounders or other teams.

In 2019 another six players would go on to be beyond-Defiance pros. Reed Baker-Whiting entered the picture in 2020 and another handful of players would take steps from Defiance to Sounders and other pro clubs on multiple continents.

Leyva is the pipeliner that took the biggest set of trophies – Josh and Justin didn't get Leagues Cup. Others didn't get that MLS Cup.

Beyond just playing on the field, we fans were able to watch the youth grow into men. Danny's rides with Raúl Ruidíaz to practices and games became routine. His sister went from showing up for games occasionally to constantly when she enrolled at UW. Andrea now has 36 appearances for the Dawgs.

Like so many of that group from Defiance's awful years, Danny pops into their Instagram, cheering each other on as they earn honors and grow their careers. They bonded through the black and green.

Over time we've learned that Danny practices hard. He stays late. He does the film work. He put the effort into improving. His reputation and performance improved.

Off the field the biggest symbol of who Danny Leyva became is his going away message.

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As expected, the men of Defiance are in comments. As we've learned, the maturity of Leyva is on display.

In that process, I also got to share in the responsibility to bring the city glory. I take pride in knowing I contributed and while I leave Seattle now, Seattle will always be a source of pride and knowledge for me.

The Danny Leyva of 2019 wouldn't write that. Similar to how his soccer developed, his personality developed. A young boy at 14 moved a thousand miles from his family. Now he leaves as a Sounder and a man.

This is the Seattle Sounders legacy as much as any trophy. And just like trophies, they're going to keep racking up those wins too.