"It's exciting to add a pair of local, Homegrown Players who grew up in the Seattle soccer community," Vice President of Soccer & Sporting Director Chris Henderson said in a statement. "Both players started from the ground level of our Academy system and are great examples of how to take the pathway to the First Team."

 

Atencio and Dobbelaere both helped the Sounders Academy to a pair of competitive milestones, winning the Development Academy Under-17 championship in the summer of 2018, and played for the side that capture the Generation adidas Cup in April 2019.

 

A defensive midfielder that can also play center back, Atencio originally signed with the Tacoma Defiance prior to the start of the 2019 USL Championship season. He's made 29 appearances for the Defiance across three seasons, and is ranked as the No. 20 player in the 2020 Boys IMG Academy player rankings.

 

A member of the Sounders Academy since 2016, Dobbelaere surged to prominence in 2019, earning a spot on the Under-17 MNT for last year's World Cup. He came off the bench against Senegal and started versus the Netherlands as the United States failed to progress from its group. Dobbelaere was ranked as the No. 9 player in the most recent update to the 2021 Boys IMG Academy player rankings.