You’ve heard of the local professional mens soccer team, Sounders FC, but have you heard of Sounders Academy? The Sounders Academy team is a youth soccer team affiliated with Seattle’s major league soccer team.
Logan Caltpito and team captain Cody Baker are both sophomores who are on the Sounders Academy team. But to Baker and Calpito being a part of the team is more than that.

“It’s the closest I’ve ever been to a group of people. Even our coaches say that we are closer than most teams are,” Baker said.
Sounders Academy is one of the best youth soccer systems in the United States. So, being on such a high-level soccer team has its strict rules. One of them pertains to what they wear.
The Sounders are sponsored by Adidas and that also applies to the Academy team. “On trips, we’re only allowed to wear Adidas. We can’t even wear Nike socks. Any gear that we have has to be Adidas,” Baker said.

It may seem like the team is just a group of 21 boys around the age of 15 to 16 who play serious soccer, but they also make time to have fun. On longer trips, the boys like to put on talent shows. The acts range from reenactments of Romeo and Juliet to synchronized swimming in the hotel pool.
Uniquely, Calpito is not from Washington but from Honolulu, Hawaii.
When asked how he got onto a Washington-based team he said “I was in a tournament up in Seattle and one of the recruiters saw me play. He kept calling my dad and we finally moved up two years ago.”
It’s clear to see that the boys are not just any other team. They are a family.
“It feels great to be a part of something,” Baker said. “To be a part of a team that’s good and that’s looked up on.”