On Sunday, the Merced Atlas Soccer Academy colors officially changed to green and blue, matching those of their new Major League Soccer partners, the Seattle Sounders.

Dozens of community members cheered as the Merced Soccer Academy president, Fernando Aguilera, put his new Merced Sounders jersey on.

Finalizing the deal brings a soccer developmental academy to players in the Atlas Academy between ages 15 and 19, said Henry Brauner, Sounder Academy scout and coach.

The developmental academy acts as a bridge to MLS teams, Brauner said. Sounders staff will be coming to Merced to work with players and coaches to influence and help develop the players skills.

“When it gets to older age groups, it’s difficult to get to developmental academy status,” Brauner said. “We felt it would be a good opportunity for us as well as them. This is opening up the scouting territory.”

Partnering with the Sounders is a way to give the youth in the community more opportunities, Aguilera said, because it creates a way for young soccer players to take their skills to the next level and have a pathway to being on MLS teams.

“Today will be historic,” Aguilera said. “I hope the community feels just as blessed to have this opportunity for the youth.”

A Merced teen signed an all-inclusive contract with the Sounders last summer, joining their academy. Now, 15-year-old Alfonso Ocampo Chavez is on the roster for U-15 Boys National Team for the U.S.

“He’s doing real, real good this year,” Aguilera said. “We want to give that kind of opportunity to the other kids.”

Taking this step is just as important for kids as it is parents, said Rosa Barragan, a parent leader for the academy, because now they can see the “roadmap” of how to take their soccer skills to the next level.

“Here in the Central Valley we have this opportunity,” she said. “People no longer have to travel out of the county. That opportunity is here for our children.”

The Sounders partnership can also have an economic impact on the city and county, Aguilera said. The academy’s soccer tournaments bring people from outside the area to Merced, he said, bringing more money to local businesses.

“Just getting this brand is something huge for the community,” Aguilera said. “The kids are the most important piece to this program.”

Supervisor Rodrigo Espinoza said the partnership with the Sounders is something “really exciting” because it gives kids more hope and a way to follow their dreams as well as giving them an outlet and helping them to stay out of trouble.

“Merced Soccer Academy has done a great job with their core program,” Espinoza said. “It brings families together from all areas.”

When the Sounders decide to affiliate with a club, Brauner said, they look at the community and leadership in the area. The people running the academy in Merced are “truly invested” in the players and want the best for them, he said, and that’s the “ultimate goal.”

Over the weekend, Brauner was in Merced watching soccer games and said he saw a “exceedingly high level of talent.”

As Brauner looked across the field at McNamara Park on Sunday, he said some of these kids “might be on the biggest stage in the country and they started here.”

“In 10 to 15 years, there will be a kid who plays for the Seattle Sounders,” Brauner added.

Monica Velez: 209-385-2486, @monicavelez21

Merced Soccer Academy president, Fernando Aguilera, is putting on his new Merced Sounders jersey on Sunday, April 30, 2017 during a ceremony at McNamara Park in Merced. Henry Brauner (right), coach and scout for the MLS team Seattle Sounders, and Aguilera finalized the partnership between the Academy and the Sounders. Monica Velez [email protected]