Michael Bumpus knows his football --- the American kind. He's been a Seattle Seahawk, a BC Lion, and even gone indoors with the Spokane Shock. Before he played the grid iron, though, Bumpus was all about soccer. He was on elite youth soccer clubs before he was allowed by his mother to try football in high school. On Saturday April 2 at Stadium Bowl Bumpus put on his soccer cleats in the first day of open tryouts for Tacoma Tide FC.
I visited with Michael in the video at left. You can also see him in action in this tryout recap video.
There were other stories of note on the day, such as the tale of brothers Kyle and Terry Reed, who had driven over 2,000 miles to the Northwest from their home in Oklahoma. The twins have also been to North Sound SeaWolves tryouts. See my video interview with the Reeds here.
Jesse Clark is just reviving his soccer playing days. He was a callback for the Kitsap Pumas last week before trying out with Tacoma. We talked in the video here.
Then there is Adam Bettencourt, who says he will relocate for the summer from Sacramento to Tacoma if the Tide see fit to sign him. Adam plays for the Sacramento State Hornets, a college side that had a nice run in the NCAA's last season. I talked with Bettencourt in this video.
The tryouts gave almost 50 players a chance to catch the eye of Tacoma head coach Gerry Gray and his scouts, Tide owner Mike Jennings and General Manager John Calloway. Also onhand were a few Tide players from last year and one, Brian Lawson, who was a goalkeeper for the club in their first year of 2006.
This was my first chance to see Stadium Bowl as a soccer venue and to look at the imposing structure from the pitch up. The new Field Turf plays well, though there was a soggy 'dead spot' on the far sideline that occasionally caused problems for trialists. It was there due to heavy recent rains and shouldn't be an issue if we have better weather in May.
Stadium Bowl "feels" great. I could tell the players were excited to play there, and more than one commented on the "castle" that is Stadium High School looming over the proceedings like an expectant parent. After the two-hour session from day one was complete the athletes still had to hike the stairs up to their cars. Many took time to look back at the amazing view. Undoubtedly a few of them will spend their summer making the climb while wearing yellow.
The second and final open tryouts session was Sunday at Stadium Bowl. The Tide are expected to announce in the next day or so the names of players who will be invited to practices with returning players.
I tooks some photos of Tide tryouts that you can view in the gallery at left.
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