Sounders FC player from Shoreline speaks to local youth about dangers of texting and driving

Northwest Nationals player Alex Panteleeff (left), 9 of Shoreline,
has his jersey signed by Seattle Sounder FC’s DeAndre Yedlin Thursday evening
in the Northwest Nationals’ office in Mountlake Terrace. Photo by David Pan

Republished from our news partner Lynnwood Today

Seattle Sounders FC’s DeAndre Yedlin visited with youth soccer players from the Northwest Nationals Thursday evening in Mountlake Terrace.

The Northwest Nationals youth soccer club, which is composed of players from Lynnwood, Edmonds, and Mountlake Terrace, won ‘Sound Off,’ a campaign by AT/T that challenged Washington Youth Soccer players to lead a no texting while driving pledge drive, and spread the word to family, friends and neighbors about the dangers of distracted driving.

Yedlin, who grew up in Shoreline, took photographs, signed autographs and met personally with players from the Northwest Nationals – the youth soccer team that drove the most ‘It Can Wait’ pledges.

“When it comes to texting while driving, “It Can Wait” is the message that we want to score with soccer players and fans in Washington,” Yedlin said. “Texting and driving is a serious issue with dangerous consequences.”

Seattle Sounders FC’s DeAndre Yedlin visited with players
from the Northwest Nationals to talk about the dangers of texting and driving.
Photo by David Pan

The Seattle Sounders FC and AT/T launched the ‘Sound Off’ challenge with the goal to create a social stigma around this dangerous habit of texting while driving, AT/T and the Seattle Sounders challenged the Washington Youth Soccer organization and its more than 115,000 members and 200 clubs across all parts of the state to get involved, spread the word and encourage their parents to take the pledge to never text and drive. As of today, the campaign has garnered 1,785 pledges to never text and drive.

“As a club, Northwest Nationals is a collection of families. Our athletes compete at a high level and, as such, they spend a tremendous amount of time on the road traveling to games and practices,” said Scott Newman, Nationals Director of Coaching. “We encouraged our families to sign the pledge as a way to help keep our roads safer.”

In addition to being dangerous, it’s also illegal. The state of Washington has banned text messaging for all drivers.