Stars Sound Partnership Announcment

by Pete Richmire

Sound Football Club is proud to announce a partnership with Tacoma Stars which will bridge futsal and indoor soccer for fans and players alike. 

The first program under this new partnership is the Stars Futsal Academy (SFA) for players born 2006-2011. SFA is a four-month futsal-specific training program lead by Sound Football Club technical staff with competitive play against other futsal academies in the Pacific Northwest region as well as talent showcases. All training will take place at the brand-new Sound FC Clubhouse in Woodinville, WA which includes a regulation-size futsal court. SFA players will have the opportunity to join US Youth Futsal (USYF) academy program to gain opportunities to be evaluated by USYF to attend talent identification events. 

“Futsal as a sport has been around forever,” said Tacoma Stars Head Coach Nick Perera. "Futsal is an invaluable technical training tool. The confined field size and speed of play sharpens decision making, all whilst focusing on technical improvement. Futsal improves players across the board, be it for arena, beach soccer or outdoor soccer, with players like Pele, Messi and Ronaldinho all having Futsal in their formative training roots”.

Sound Football Club Director of Soccer Jason Farrell looks forward to how the Tacoma Stars partnership will bring more attention to the value of futsal for young athletes. “By building futsal into our curriculum, we really open up the pathway for where players can go with their future in sports beyond just college soccer and MLS aspirations. The Tacoma Stars brand goes back to the 1980’s and has always been synonymous with the indoor game in our region.  The obvious synergies between indoor soccer and futsal, and the resources and expertise that the Stars organization will bring to the table, make this unique partnership a big win for Sound FC and for those that love the sport of futsal,” he said. 

Tacoma Stars owner Lane Smith echoed the enthusiasm for the partnership. “In just their first year, Sound Football Club is already making a huge impact in the state. We are proud and excited to team up with them on bringing futsal to Washington in their brand-new facility. The whole youth soccer community in the Puget Sound area is going to benefit from building these bridges between soccer, futsal and indoor and Sound FC is the perfect partner for us to make this happen.”

The program is sponsored home grown Seattle Sounders alumni and current US Men’s National Team player, DeAndre Yedlin, under his new lifestyle brand Roselle, as part of his commitment to providing high-quality development opportunities to young players from his home town.

Tacoma Stars are part of the Major Arena Soccer League (MASL). Their indoor soccer season runs from December- April, with home matches at ShoWare Center in Kent.

Sound Football Club is the only premier soccer club chartered by Washington Youth Soccer to serve the Northshore and Edmonds School districts at the highest level of play. SFC also provides soccer and futsal programming and competitive leagues for youth and adults from all over the Puget Sound area