When I interviewed Kelyn Rowe prior to the 2012 MLS SuperDraft, he all but openly campaigned for the Seattle Sounders to move into a position to select him. The Federal Way native had grown up watching the Sounders in USL, got to see their ascent to MLS first-hand, and had even trained with them when he’d come home from UCLA for the summer. If he were a year younger, he likely would have played in the Sounders Academy instead of Redmond-based Crossfire.
It may have taken nine years to come to fruition, but Rowe was practically beaming on Friday when talking about finally getting to play for his hometown team.