David Falk has followed soccer in the Puget Sound region since 1974. This blog covers Sounders FC, local college soccer, Seattle Wolves FC, Tacoma Tide FC and Kitsap Pumas. Send tips or comments to: goalseattle@gmail.comClick logos for specific club blogs & news
Wexley School for Girls was named agency of record for Seattle Sounders FC. The agency will create an integrated advertising campaign that covers TV, print, radio and web, with a focus on building a fan base using grass roots and social media tactics. Spending was not released.
Perhaps Sounders FC will 'out-quirky' even the long-running Seattle Mariners commercials? Give it a go, Girls!
In other SSFC business-side news, the club also has partnered with Digitaria to create 'a more compelling experience' online for Sounders FC fans.
"We wanted to bring the same level of excitement to our Web site that our team delivers on the field," said Bill Chapin, Director of Marketing and Partnership Development for the Seattle Seahawks and Sounders FC (www.soundersfc.com) "We looked at several digital marketing firms and Digitaria provides leading-edge expertise for creating highly engaging destination and social communities."
As part of the development of the new site, the Sounders FC will form a fan advisory board to help in the development of the redesigned site. The new site is scheduled to launch in February 2009.
On the scouting side, Sounders FC have shown their desire to get in with the big boys of world football by aligning themselves with Scout7. Scout7 is the world-wide leader and a pioneer in the delivery of information management systems in professional soccer. Its list of European clients has grown to nearly 100 since 2001.
Sure it isn't the sparkly match-up the league wanted (Chicago and RedBull New York would have been preferred), but the fact is that when the Crew and Red Bull take the field a champion will be crowned, a Cup awarded and a Group Stage entry into the 09 CONCACAF Champions League will be awarded.
We are talking about the best team in the league for the season with the Supporter's Shield winning Columbus Crew, they have the league's best player and the league's best coach. In New York we have a former Aston Villa player who has scored 33 times in his 47 league matches and a replacement keeper who scored a goal from 80 yards out. Oh, and the little team that could, isn't small town C-bus, but Big City RBNY the last team to qualify for the playoffs and they are doing it with two players serving 10 game suspensions for being performance enhancing idiots.
This is a game deserving to be watched. There are marquee names, good storylines, a possible Sounders FC coach in black&yellow and it is the Cup Final. If you aren't watching at home with your friends and ignoring the misery of the NFL, go to the George&Dragon and hang with the ECS.
And it is your fault. Every single one of you who gets all arrogant and says you will not watch until the play gets better, or until MLS is out of NFL stadiums, or until there are better storylines.
Sunday the game is in the Home Depot Center, built for soccer and for the National Team. It will be full of 27,000 fans on grass with good width and length on a day when the best team in the league faces a team that has made an amazing run.
Watch the game Sunday the 23rd of November on ABC or Telefutura, whatever your language preference. Because if you really want to watch Jim Zorn coach the 'Skins to victory over the Seahawks in a meaningless game, you are a fool.
But don't just watch the Cup Final of 08. Watch it with your friends that normally ignore the sport. Tell them about GBS and Angel. Show them the Cepero goal. Talk about how Schmidt is on the shortlist to coach SSFC next year. This is our league - support it.
Bremerton, WA - The Kitsap Soccer club today announced fans have voted in the club name "Pumas" for the team that will kick off its first season in 2009.
Lucita Flores-Alvarenga, who voted for "Pumas" in the recent online name the club contest, was on-hand to receive the first two season tickets in club history. The announcement, held at the club offices, was attended by Bremerton Mayor Carey Bozeman, city council members, local soccer officials, fans, media and businesses.
Guests sign book as they enter before the announcement.
The club colors of blue, black and gold were displayed using a new logo for the club's mascot, "Pedro the Puma." An official club logo will be designed by Sungrafx of Silverdale, WA, and will be announced at a later date. The club will wear jerseys 'hooped' with blue and white, and blue shorts.
Shortly after the announcement the club sold its first six season tickets.
Talk about the club & the name "Kitsap Pumas" in the GOALKitsap Forums! Kitsap Pumas will play in the Northwest Division of the Premier Development League of the United Soccer Leagues. Pumas will play clubs in Vancouver, Victoria and Abottsford BC, Spokane and possibly Yakima, WA, and Portland and Salem Oregon. Kitsap Pumas' closest rivals will be Tacoma Tide FC, who will play in the same division a mere 30 minutes to the south.
Pumas' offices full of excited supporters.
Owner Robin Waite and club Executive Director Ben Pecora spoke to the audience about the journey to founding, and then naming the club. Waite revealed hopes to host a "Kitsap Challenge Tournament" next season at the club's home, Bremerton Memorial Stadium. The tournament would feature out of state competition playing the Pumas.
Waite and Pecora are leaving in a few days for the United Soccer Leagues annual meetings. There the club will build its schedule and network with other clubs.
Robin Waite (left, owner) Lucita Flores-Alvarenga (ticket-winner) and Ben Pecora, KSC Executive Director.
Waiting game pays off
Robin Waite first looked into bringing professional soccer to West Sound back in late 2005. It was a bit less than two years after Seattle Sounders co-owner Adrian Hanauer's initial bid to bring Major League Soccer to Seattle had been edged out by Real Salt Lake and Chivas USA. As one of the owning 'partners' of the United Soccer Leagues Sounders, Waite was given permission to explore moving that club to Kitsap County. Initially Waite looked at the Kitsap Fairgrounds stadium site for a possible move. The county even spent money to look into design ideas to make the rodeo and car derby venue work for soccer.
Not the final logo:This is the mascot, Pedro the Puma. Waite says the final club logo might honor Chief Kitsap.
Later Waite took his search to Poulsbo, where he commissioned a stadium design on land he owns near the Wal-Mart complex and a satellite Olympic College campus. (See the GOALKitsap Museum page for more on this.) While Adrian Hanauer was successfully teaming up with new investors to bring MLS to Seattle, and thus doom the USL Sounders to extinction, Waite turned his focus to the largest city in Kitsap County, Bremerton. There he found willing city and school officials and a centrally-located venue in need of some TLC. Memorial Stadium has long been the home of the Bremerton High School Knights and the Olympic College Rangers. It has also seen semi-pro football when the West Sound Orcas played there a few years back.
Waite has been dealing with USL officials about how to 'transfer' the existing Sounders franchise while at the same time talking with Bremerton people about using Memorial. Waite's ambitions were high from the start: he wanted the USL Sounders to come over as-is and play in the top level of the league. That became a tough sell among other USL First Division club owners, some of whom reportedly balked at the idea of Kitsap being 'major league' enough for the still-minor league USL-1. In the end the league decided to grant Waite a Premier Development League (PDL) franchise in the third level of the league structure. Waite immediately went on record as saying his goal is to move the club up to the next-highest level (USL-2) as soon as other clubs on the west coast are ready to join the same division.
It's been quite a wait for both Waite and the Kitsap soccer fans who have been following the saga for over three years. In 2009 Seattle Sounders FC will kick off in Major League Soccer at Qwest Field. A few minutes west by air, but an hour by ferry, the Kitsap Pumas will also debut. Tacoma Tide FC sit ready to take on the Pumas in the 'Narrows Bridge Bell' rivalry cup next season.
East, South, West...Puget Sound has arrived as the 'Sound of Soccer.'
It was a mixed weekend for Washington college clubs in the various levels of the NCAA playoffs. In Texas the Washington Husky Women staged a dramatic rally from a 2-0 deficit to defeat LSU 3-2 last Friday, but the Dawgs fell on Sunday in the second round to home side Texas A & M, 3-1.
The Seattle Pacific Falcon Women beat UC SanDiego 3-1 to gain entry into the NCAA II round of 16. Joining the Falcons will be the Western Washington Vikings. The Bellingham group beat CSU Dominguez Hills 1-0 on Sunday to stay alive.
The 6th ranked Puget Sound Loggers of the NCAA III fell 1-0 at home to get eliminated from title contention.
The regional community college final fours have been decided. In the men's bracket it will be Walla Walla v. Peninsula in one semifinal and Spokane v. Chemeketa in the other. The semifinals will be held November 22 at Starfire. The Final will take place the next day at the same venue. On the women's side the final four pits Walla Walla against Shoreline and Columbia Basin against Clackamas.
Nearly 300 players descended on Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila on November 15 for the second open try outs held by Seattle Sounders FC in an effort to find a player who will be named to the 28-man roster by fans and scouts after the Super Bowl early next year.
The three finalists chosen from the Tukwila tryouts were Gareth Waite of Orinda, California, Oliver Wellman of Bellevue who plays for Western Washington, and Erik Sterling of Federal Way, who was a star at Decatur in high school.
On hand to cover the event for GOALSeattle.com was soccer fan Tracie McKinnon. Tracie helps run "The Pulse" soccer report over at www.WPS-Soccer.com. The Pulse is a thorough recap of all the local youth soccer action and club news.
We arrived late to the Sounder Tryouts to see about 300 or so young men just kinda lounging around not doing anything. We missed the mini drills and such.
All the coaching staff were huddled together on another field talking and going over their notes. This was going to be the 'first cut'. We saw the faces of the guys and their families that did make it. Some were smiling from ear to ear and some were kinda shocked by it all.
The guys left on the field that didn't make the cut weren't feeling sorry for themselves. They either went home to try another day or went to the field where the next round was being held.
Stands were pretty well covered with people watching for their son, brother or friend to make the next round.
Squads broke up into 2 groups playing half field each for scrimmages. There are some guys that really wanted this spot on the roster! And some seemed like it was no big deal.
There was one player, a goalie, that I thought did very well. This 'keeper talked with the players on the field, let them know what he wanted them to do etc. I was hoping that he would make it. I liked watching him play. Another player, with a red shirt and green socks, looked very good in defense and wanted to make the cut too. I believe his name is Sam and I met him at the ANC playing for Ireland.
So then the coaches came back together with their notes and after talking, made another cut.
"Sam" was still in it but the goalie I was hoping for was cut. He will land somewhere though. He's too good at what he was doing to not play.
Next they we're playing 11v11. Now its 'crunch time'! Show 'em what ya got boys!
Guys we're showing what foot skills and leadership they have on the field during a game.
A couple of really fast forwards and mids. Nice 'boots' by the defenders. All the makings for an exciting game. Again the coaches started looking at all the players, taking their notes.
Now on to the final cuts.Guys that got picked were given what I believe to be a Sounders scarf.
Way to go, guys! All the hard work you showed is paying off! Now its up to the fans of the game for a small portion of it.
The final tryout will be broadcast on Sunday, February 1, 2009, following Super Bowl XLIII on KING 5. Viewers will have the opportunity to narrow the finalists to three. A distinguished panel of judges will determine the winner.
The winner will be awarded a spot on the 2009 Sounders FC roster.
Recent and former players from the Seattle Sounders and ANC Bosnia got together for a benefit match sponsored by AllNationsCup.org November 14th at Starfire Sports Stadium. Around 400 fans watched the Sounders bump the amateur Bosnian locals 6-2.
The Sounders wore their 2008 pre-season 'blacks,' and were assisted by team equipment manager Rich Hawks, who will carry on his duties next season with Sounders FC in Major League Soccer.
Hugo Alcaraz-Cuellar (#77) suited up for the Sounders players. A few photos from the evening can be viewed in this gallery.
Seattle's goals were scored by Roger Levesque (2), Jason Cascio, Colin Rigby (2) and Craig Tomlinson. Chris Eylander started in goal for a Seattle club coached by Taylor Graham. Also seeing time on the pitch were Leighton O'Brien, Noah Merl, Hugo Alcaraz-Cuellar, Kevin Sakuda, Adam West, Justin Abel, Tim Merritt, Chris Sanders, Viet Nguyen and John Fishbaugher, with a few others.
The match saw some nice chanting and sign displays by the Emerald City Supporters as well. The ECS gathered at Mad Pizza before the match to down a few prepare for the November night. The rain held off and the temperature was actually comfortable.
After the match I walked over to where the new Sounders FC practice facility & locker rooms are being built (north back edge of Starfire indoor soccer area) and snapped a few photos. The Field Turf for the full size practice field for SSFC is currently in large rolls at the back of the Starfire parking lot. That field and the grass pitch have yet to be put in. The shorter drills pitches (Field Turf) are already down.
We talked with SSFC Youth Director Darren Sawatzky about how things are coming along for that side of the club. Our Q & A exclusive is posted on our Examiner.com blog.
Steven Fung saves for UW. Sheena Nguyen UW Daily photo.
The Washington Huskies Men host Oregon State tonight in their final home match of the season. For the Dawgs an NCAA playoff bid seems to have slipped away, but the club of course hopes to finish well tonight, as Sheena Nguyen reports in the UW Daily today.
From the Seattle Times:Seattle Pacific will host a Division II West regional match at 1 p.m. Saturday at Interbay Stadium. The Falcons, 17-1-2 and ranked fourth nationally, received a first-round bye. They are the No. 2 seed in the regional.
The Falcons will play UC San Diego, which beat BYU-Hawaii 1-0 Thursday night at Interbay.
Western Washington, the No. 1 seed in the region, also has a first-round bye and will host a match Sunday. The Vikings (16-2-2) will play the winner of today's match between San Francisco State and Cal State Dominguez Hills.
Tonight at 7:30 PM at Starfire Sports Stadium in Tukwila the All Nations Cup is hosting a benefit match between 2008 ANC winners Bosnia and a team featuring former Sounders players and local guests.
Scheduled to attend and play for the 'Sounders' are Leighton O'Brien, Viet Nguyen, Colin Rigby, Kevin Sakuda, Justin Abel, Hugo Alcaraz-Cuellar, Youssouf Kante, John Fishbaugher, Adam West, and Andrew Gregor, among others.
Parking is free tonight at Starfire. Tickets are $10 (Children under 12 are free) and the money raised goes to the ANC School of Soccer, an organization that helps immigrant kids pay for the soccer equipment to play the world's game right here in Seattle. The school uses soccer as a way to integrate kids into American society:
We have a program running in South Everett; one with the Muckleshoot Tribe, being extended to several tribes soon; one starting in Tukwila; a program starting for incarcerated youth and we’re starting one for African-American children.
Through soccer these children get integrated into American society as contributors. We work on making them proud of who they are and of their culturally rich background. They learn respect for others and their differences.
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