After surviving months of uncertainty to achieve success at the highest level, Zach Scott knows with certainty it is due to the support of his family.

Scott joins Hale'iwa's Brian Ching as the second player from Hawai'i to be on a Major League Soccer roster this season. Scott is a defender for the Seattle Sounders.

He was with the Sounders from 2002 to 2008 when they were a USL-1 team. When the Sounders joined MLS, the highest competitive level of soccer in America, as an expansion team this season, they were allowed to bring three players from the former entity. Scott wasn't one of them. Instead, he endured a two-month tryout period that resulted in a spot on the roster. His inclusion on the roster came one week before the start of the MLS season back in February.

"In the end, as stressful as it was, it worked out for the best," Scott said. "We love Seattle and will eventually end up in Maui, but will stay here as long as soccer is something I can do."

Because of that, and for the sacrifices his wife, Alana, and their children Kalei and Ka'ena, have made in recent years, Scott says, "If at any point she said it wasn't the life she wanted any more, I would be completely fine."

Scott, 28, of Haiku, Maui, joins eight-year MLS veteran Ching, a forward with the Houston Dynamo. Scott and Ching were teammates at Gonzaga and for a year with the Sounders.

"It's definitely different," Scott said. "It's bigger, there's a lot more money involved with the team, better resources, just much more people are available to take care of you.

"After six years in the lower division, to finally get this opportunity is a blessing more than anything else."

His biggest gain is the sense of security that comes with a year-long contract. With the USL, athletes were signed to seven-month contracts.

"For a long time I was relying on my wife and her success as an engineer," he said. "Now having a 401K and health insurance, it's a real job, in a real professional league."

He worked as a substitute teacher — he went to school "to be a teacher" — and as a youth club soccer coach, both jobs that allowed him the flexibility to train for soccer.

Yet it was all made possible because of Alana, whom he calls "the biggest part of my success. I couldn't be where I am right now without her support. A lot of people have given up a lot for me to get where I am now. As long as my family is happy, that's all that matters to me.

"She's been more than supportive letting me play these past six years professionally. After every season I'd plead my case and let her decide if she wanted to stay. She's given up a lot just to get me to the point where I am now."

FRENCH, LIPSHER, KAI PLAYING IN WPS

Three Hawai'i players are on rosters during the inaugural season of the Women's Professional Soccer League: Natasha Kai, Mele French, and Allison Lipsher.

Lipsher, a Punahou and Duke alum, played in one game, making two saves and allowing no goals for the Boston Breakers. Lipsher joined the squad March 25, after a preseason tryout.

Kai, out of Kahuku and the University of Hawai'i, was assigned to Sky Blue FC of New Jersey as a U.S. Women's National Team allocation. French, a Mililani alum who played for Oregon, was the 60th pick overall (ninth round) by Sky Blue in the 2009 WPS Draft.

Kai played in all nine games, scoring two goals with one assist, and recorded a team-high 16 shots.

Kai's goal in the 10th week of the season earned her recognition as the www.Goal.com WPS Player of the Week on June 1.

French played in one game this season.

HAWAI'I TEAMS IN FAR WEST REGIONAL

Nineteen Hawai'i teams will compete in the U.S. Youth Soccer Far West Regional Championships in Lancaster, Calif., from June 15 to 21.

The Hawai'i contingent consists of eight boys and eight girls teams in each division (under 12 through under 19), plus three wild card teams.

All teams qualified for the regional at the USYS Hawai'i State Cup in April, except for the Under-19 boys and girls, which competed for their spots last month.

Regionals winners continue on to the U.S. Youth National Championships, in Lancaster, Mass., from July 21 to July 26.

The teams are:

GU12: Leahi 97 Premier

GU13: Leahi 96 Premier

GU14: Leahi 95 Premier

GU15: Ka'oi Express (Wild Card: Real Rush GU15 Nike)

GU16: Leahi 93 Premier

GU17: Real Rush GU17 Nike

GU18: Leahi 91 Premier

GU19: Leahi 90 Premier

BU12: HSC Bulls 97B

BU13: Maui United 96 (Wild Card: Real Rush BU13 Nike)

BU14: Abunai 95

BU15: Real Rush BU15 Nike

BU16: Real Rush BU16 Nike

BU17: HSC Bulls 92B (Wild Card: Real Rush BU17 Nike)

BU18: HSC Bulls 91B

BU19: HSC Bulls 90B