WestSound FC (formerly FC Kitsap Premier Soccer Club) is based in Silverdale, on the beautiful Olympic Peninsula across the Puget Sound from Seattle, Washington. WestSound FC is the Premier Soccer Club affiliated with the Kitsap Peninsula Youth Soccer Association (KPYSA).
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Youth club soccer is huge in the Puget Sound region. Historically the hot spots have been in north, east and south sound with clubs in Snohomish, Seattle, Redmond, Federal Way, Auburn and Tacoma, among others. It is time to look west again, soccer watchers. Not only have the Kitsap Pumas arrived in the professional soccer ranks in Bremerton, but WestSound FC are poised to join the new pro outfit as their own program builds for future growth and success.
Last November the Kitsap Sun did an excellent feature on WestSound FC Director of Coaching Lee Christie. Sunday I attended two important matches as WestSound battled to advance in the Washington State Championship Cup.
WestSound FC 94 Red (in black) beat Highline Premier 94 Blue to advance to the State semifinals. (David Falk)
In the first match WestSound Red 94 coached by Michael Krug beat Highline Premier Blue 94 4-1 to advance to the semifinals. The WestSound Red 91 fell in overtime to FC Alliance B91 Gold in the evening match.
In the video below I spoke with Krug about his club's performance. Krug coached the South Kitsap High School Wolves to the 2009 4A State Title. His successes are also mounting at WestSound. Over the weekend his U-14 PDL team beat Seth Spidahl's Crossfire team 2-0 to give that club their first division loss.
Krug is one of a group of excellent coaches at WestSound. I also had a great visit with Mike Meherg, who has been with the club since the 1980's when it was called FC Kitsap. John Wedge coached the 91's match on Sunday.
It was fun spending Sunday with WestSound FC, but I wasn't alone. Nice crowds were out for all the matches supporting home and traveling teams.
Visit:
www.WestSoundFC.com www.GOALKitsap.com www.KitsapSoccerClub.com www.D4soccer.org
Last Fall: Crossfire and WestSound FC battle in the wind at Silverdale Stadium
WestSound FC 96 BLACK-B. (David Falk)
Talking with WestSound's President
I spoke with WestSound FC President Dale Holdren about the rise of the black and red. Our conversation appears below.
How long have you been involved with WestSound FC? What changes have you seen over the years?
Holdren: I have two daughters presently in WestSound FC, and we've been with the club for 6 years now. About 5 years ago, the club made the name change from FC Kitsap to WestSound FC to better describe the area that we represent and to decrease confusion with the local schools and other soccer programs in our area. Probably the biggest change that I've seen is in our coaching staff. We realize that the coaching drives the club, including the growth and performance of its players and teams. With this in mind, we have worked hard to grow, train and recruit the best coaches that we can. We now have far and away the best coaching staff in the region, and actually better than most clubs in the state wth four "A" license coaches and three "B" license coaches, plus many "C" and "D" level coaches as well. Many of the top coaches in our region have chosen to coach for us, and many of these also coach for other programs, such as John Wedge who coached the Pumas to their championship last year, Lee Christie at Olympic College, and our recently decorated coaches Mike Krug (state championship with South Kitsap HS), George Vukic (league coach of the year with Bainbridge HS) and Julie Cain (Narrows League Coach of the Year with South Kitsap HS).
A couple other changes worthy of note include our participation in the PDL (Player Development League), which has allowed us to consistently play the highest level of competition against the best soccer clubs in the state. Also, we have been working to provide more resources and exposure to college coaches for those players who are interested in pursuing college soccer careers. For instance, we just completed our second stint hosting the Northwest College Soccer Showcase, and we now have a new college placement coordinator, Leigh Cullip. Leigh is a great guy and has been a successful college coach and he will help work with our players to get into the colleges of their choice.
Westsound FC coach Mike Meherg talks to his 95-Red B team Sunday at Silverdale Stadium. (David Falk)
Are their any built-in advantages / disadvantages to running a club in west Puget Sound?
We do live in an interesting and very wonderful, part of Washington State over here. Unfortunately, it does tend to be a longer drive when we travel to go play the best teams in the state, and that can be a financial and time drain on our families. Also, our region does tend to be less affluent than other areas that we compete against around Puget Sound, so that does put us at a disadvantage when it comes to covering team and club expenses. On the other hand, the fact that we are geographically isolated does mean that we probably have somewhat less direct competition from neighboring clubs when it comes to recruiting players and coaches.
Is WSFC supportive of / working on a relationship with the Kitsap Pumas?
Absolutely! It is quite exciting to have such a successful professional team right here in our own neighborhood where we can interact with them. We are looking forward to having WestSound FC activities at some of their home games, and we are presently helping them sell their tickets. I also think you'll be seeing more of our players participating on their academy teams this year. "Allez Pumas!"
(David, I also have a fun, potential scoop for you that is almost ready to be released, but I think I would be inappropriate to tell you just yet. Sorry for the teaser, but I'll let ya know just as soon as I can!)
Michael Krug tells his team to remember last year's loss to Crossfire as motivation for the state semifinals next weekend. (David Falk)
What are the current team / player numbers for WestSound? Do you draw talent from all over the peninsula?
Presently we have 29 teams with around 330 players from all over the Kitsap and Olympic Peninsulas and Bainbridge Island, plus even a few other players that make the commute from King and Pierce Counties to play on our teams.
Which stadiums / fields does your club call 'home' for practices and matches? Is west sound still in need of more / better pitches?
Finding field time for practices and matches is frequently a challenge, but fortunately our local association, KPYSA, has designated Silverdale Stadium as our home field and we have an excellent relationship with the school district. When that field is busy for other purposes, such as school soccer matches and football, then we work with our gracious, neighboring clubs and also the schools, the city and the county to find other field availability. Sometimes the practice and game schedules are changing every week because of changing field availability, so it is quite challenging to make sure everyone has a place to practice and play. We definitely are eager to get some more turfed, lighted fields out here! Thankfully, our local "Fields Today, Fit Tomorrow" committee and our local governments are working on that, so hopefully we'll have some more fields here over the next couple years.
Talk about some recent on-field successes for the club. Were any WestSound players on the 2009 South Kitsap boys state title team?
We've been having some great successes with our teams playing in the PDL, and many of our teams won some big tournaments this past summer. Most notably, our Girls' WestSound FC '94 placed second at the U.S. Club Soccer National Tournament in Virginia! This weekend, we have two boys' teams, our BU-18 WestSound '91 Red and our BU-15 WestSound '94 Red, that are in the quarter-finals of the Washington State Championship Cup, and next weekend we will also have our BU-18 WestSound '91 Black team playing in the semi-finals of the WYS Challenge Cup. Many of those boys also played for WestSound FC coach Mike Krug on the 2009 South Kitsap HS state title team!
What are a few of the plans WestSound has for the future?
I think we really want to keep working on providing the best soccer opportunity we can for the kids of Kitsap County, and doing our best representing our local clubs who did the initial work getting our players started on soccer. That's really our mission. Beyond that, I think our biggest goal is our desire to establish a more-significant home field complex, perhaps even with a clubhouse. That would be really cool, and we've got some ideas we are working on!
WestSound FC 94 Red beat Highline Premier 94 Blue to advance to the State semifinals. (David Falk)
Comments
the best teams in the state are the only teams in the state
Hey correction...you *need* to be corrected. Elitism doesn't fly on my page, no matter where you are from.
what does that mean? is it elitist to point out the situation?
for criminy sakes, they have 'elite' in their name, don't they?
"The situation?" What? as YOU see it? How small-minded to say the 'best' teams are the 'only' teams. Because, if you mean that if you don't win, you *don't exist,* then yes, that is being elitist. It isn't nice, but more importantly it is simply not true.
Don't sweat it, Dave. 'correction is probably some Xfire wank whose kid *lost* that match to WestSound over the weekend. LOL.
LOL Mac. Look, I would just as soon cover the smallest club in the state as the biggest (whether you are going by enrollment or status via PDL/Academy/Whatever.
Clubs are *also* labeled 'elite' because it helps players / parents understand the level of league they play in. WestSound has clubs in the PDL...
Are there other high school aged soccer programs in the Westsound? A time when that group needs a healthy peer group the most?
I get that you don't agree with my premise, but you're not addressing my premise. The best teams in the state are the only teams in the state.
and Mac, not all of us live to beat Bellevue/eastside. Some of us pummeled their 'best' teams early on and got it out of our system.
Plenty! South Kitsap Soccer Club, North Kitsap Soccer Club...to just name only two...that have soccer for high school-aged players.
Visit kpysa.com.
For more about playing options in West Sound, also visit:
d4soccer.org
PDL is all about the $$$. The PDL clubs made their own league because they couldn't justify their outrageous fees when their B/C teams get beat by the other local clubs.
Playing with the "Big Boys" is not always a popular move, anti-westsound, but the players sure like the test they get from that sort of competition. I had a discussion with a coach recently about PDL, and I get that it is exclusionary and controlled by a few powerful DOC types. Still, it serves a purpose and WestSound seems glad they are in it.
We've heard today that two Pumas players, Daniel Scott and Tony Kerr, will be coaching one of our clubs this year too!
westsound family, "one of our clubs" how many clubs do you have?
That's all you've got, curious? A comment says "club" when it should have said "team," and you jump on that? A slow day at your office? :)
It was a serious question, Mr. Falk. At first I thought she meant to say teams and then I remember reading somewhere that the Pumas' outreach was going to be coaching at-risk kids. I thought perhaps they were going to coach Tracyton or South Kitsap. Serious question, Mr. Falk.
The problem is that Westsound FC and the local clubs either have an adversarial or no relationship with one another and the kids pay for it. Westsound FC pays their coaches, the local recreational clubs aren't allowed to. It's like comparing apples and oranges.
I'm surprised the club President says the county government is building fields for them. The Kitsap County government is closing down parks in the rest of the community.
Good for Westsound! Competitive soccer is expanding and the comments on this board (negative and positive) are just a reflection of the growing pains they are experiencing. Never mind comparing rec soccer to club soccer, not every kid has the drive to compete at a higher level and are happy playing on a rec or select team. The problem with the smaller PDL clubs is $$$. In order to grow the sport, they need to offer scholarships to players that aren't from afluent families. These bigger clubs are established and travel all over the country playing in tournaments that expose them to higher levels than seen here. This is one reason for forming the PDL in the first place.
Soccer is growing and so is the demand for more opportunities to play. Looks like Westsound is trying to offer just that!
Jmm, thanks for the positive words. You're right.
One problem with the argument that players have to travel to find competition is that the reason there is no local competition is that no one else has been taught how to play. So, having to travel, even to Bellevue, to find competition, is a fallacy. It's true, but not because this group of kids is so talented, but that this particular team is developed and no one else is.
Another point is that organized soccer is fairly new to this state. Not many high schools had soccer programs for boys or girls 20 - 30 years ago. Now look at it. It is growing and that is in part to kids getting involved at a young age and parents learning the sport through them. It is just a matter of time, you will see more players getting the development they need to compete, there is a demand for it. Soon, more teams can play with the "Big Boys". To be truthful, who doesn't like it when Crossfire or Eastside get beat by the underdog?! ( Everyone, except them.)
I've enjoyed watching my kids play from Supermod to U-18. It's been a great sport to be involved in and I hope that it continues to expand at all levels.
I hope you're right, JMM, because we have some badly underutilized, existing programs in the WestSound, specifically the Olympic College soccer program and some of the high school soccer programs. There aren't enough feeder programs and they seem to be dwindling, rather than expanding.
I think it's important for the clubs/programs, whether they are rec, premier, select, school, etc.., have working relationships with one another, for the good of the players. For the good of the game.
Yeah, justwonderin, we see the same type of " non working with" type of behavior here in the southsound area among our clubs too. It's all politics and it does not help the sport. However, getting beyond that, the high schools and colleges down here seem to do okay. There are three colleges with soccer programs and several 2A, 3A (and a 4A )division high schools here. Maybe the feeder programs here aren't as challenged as they are there. Also, due to budget cuts, a few of our middle schools replaced their football programs with boys soccer. They had big turnouts, so I wouldn't be surprised if more middle schools do the same.
There are 7 Clubs in KPYSA along with Westsound FC Premier. They are Select Programs at FC Crush, South Kitsap, and Tracyton And Recreation Programs at South Kitsap, Bremerton, North Mason, Tracyton, Central Kitsap. These are all fine programs with South Kitsap, then Tracyton being the 2 largest feeding Westsound FC with the players and sometimes there new and upcoming great Coach's. Please do not ignore them. It is quite a injustice to them. The Clubs with Select Programs have been developing, getting stronger and stronger.
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