Will Pumas wear these Pumas in 2009?

Here's a sneak peek at possible jersey combinations for Kitsap Pumas in 2009. Owner Robin Waite favors the Puma brand, and blue and white stripes. The shorts could be either blue or white, and the socks will stand out in either stripes, or more likely yellow. Waite says the socks color would help the club better differentiate from the opponent when passing on the go.

NOTE: The Puma 'design' above is NOT the club logo / crest. It is a preliminary concept to introduce the name 'Pumas' and the club mascot Pedro. A final crest has not been decided upon, but could include a puma or it could even honor Chief Kitsap in some way.

Pirates finish 4th in NWAACC

After a fantastic year that had the Pirate Soccer team winning 11 straight games and going undefeated in 15 games the Pirates streak finally ended.

Saturday Playoff Game

The Pirates went head to head with #1 rank Walla Walla going into double overtime tied at 0’s. Walla Walla was able to capitalize on a free kick from 23 yards out in the 108 minute to win in sudden death overtime. The Pirates played hard all game and it was a tough match.

Shots: PC 11 WWCC 10

Jase Hall had 5 saves in goal

Sunday 3^rd-4^th Place Game

Trying to rebound after a long hard fight the day before the Pirated fell to Spokane CC with a score of 1-0. Spokane scored in the 70^th minute off a free kick from 23 yards out (just like the day before).

Shots: PC 8 Spokane 6

It was a great season for us and the guys represented the college really well. They played hard all weekend and had their chances to play for a championship. The guys played good soccer and we only lost because the other teams hit fantastic free kicks that resulted in goals, the other teams really had to work for their win.

Andrew Chapman

Head Men's Soccer Coach

Peninsula College

Pumas plan outreach to West Sound

In the final video to be posted from the Kitsap Pumas' name announcement, I talked with owner Robin Waite about how the new club will reach out to soccer fans in West Sound.

Where will Pumas' players come from?

Robin Waite talks briefly in the video below about where Kitsap Pumas might get some of their players for the 2009 season.

Waite also says that local talent will be a priority and he hopes that the club can convince athletes who don't have the size for basketball or football to play soccer and take it to the pro level.

A chat with Kitsap Pumas' James Ritchie

In the coming days the GOALKitsap.com blog will be featuring video clips taken on the day of the Kitsap Pumas' club name announcement. Today's video features James Ritchie, a relocated Scotsman who is the new youth development coordinator for KSC. James is also attempting to lure some of his Scottish mates over to the states to play for the Pumas. Alongside James is South Kitsap Soccer Club President Dick Morhmann.

Coming soon watch for several video segments with Kitsap Pumas owner Robin Waite as he talks about how the new club will be presented to West Sound, acquire players, and more.

Here is a small gallery from the name announcement, including stadium photos.

'Waite' is over in Kitsap; Pumas to prowl Bremerton in 2009

Glass door entry to Kitsap Pumas offices.

More videos coming in the days ahead. Check back with this blog!

Kitsap Sun video

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 Cary 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.

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Talk about the club & the name "Kitsap Pumas" in the GOALKitsap Forums!

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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.'

Peninsula men advance to final four

Whatcom (white) loses out to Peninsula (black) in a playoff shootout.
Photo from Pirates MySpace match gallery.

Bellingham Herald recaps match

After a tough fought match that went all 90 minutes, plus 2 (10min) overtimes, and a shootout, the Peninsula College soccer team will advance onto the NWAACC final four next weekend. The Pirates fell behind at the 30^th min mark when Whatcom was able to crack their defense. It stayed that way until the 79 min when Whatcom was able to go up 2-0. The Pirates, not losing in now 15 games, were not going to go so easily. With a couple of changes the PC men were able to score their first goal only a minute after Whatcom’s second giving the score 2-1 at the 80^th min. THE goal was scored by Sean Gaskins header off a Hugo Vasquez free kick. Only 1 min later the Pirates tied things up when Ernest Boham hit a rocket from 35 yards out that beat the Whatcom keeper, assist was Sean Gaskins.

Now tied with only minutes remaining the Pirates struck again in the 88 min when John Troka was able to get in behind the Whatcom defense and get a nice ball played by Gaskins that Troka was able to tuck in the back of the net. The Orcas then picked up two red cards but were able to capitalize on a free kick with only 30 sec. remaining to send the game into overtime. The Pirates were not able to take advantage being up two men and so the game went into a shootout.

The Pirates missed their first shot, but were able to make their next 4 while the Pirate GK Jase Hall saved two shots from the Orcas to give the Pirates the quarterfinal win. The Pirates will now play in the NWAACC Final Four semifinal on Sat. Nov. 22^nd at the Starfire Complex in Tukwila, WA at 4pm against Walla Walla CC. With the winner moving onto the final on Sun. Nov. 23^rd.
Andrew Chapman

Head Men's Soccer Coach

Peninsula College

Around the Sound of Soccer for November 13th

The Youth Media Institute in Seattle produced this soccer PSA.

It continues to amaze me that there is enough (pro) off-season soccer news in the Puget Sound area to run and have frequent content on three area blogs. Just this week Tacoma Tide FC published another player update and then issued a new 'toolbar' for supporters to use on their web browsers as a way of supporting the club.

Over in West Sound Kitsap Soccer Club will reveal their name, crest and club colors on Monday November 17th. GOALKitsap.com got a sneak peek at the colors and updated its look.

Seattle, HQ for the "Sound of Soccer," continues to churn out the news. Sounders FC held their first open tryouts in Spokane last weekend. This week the MLS club announced they will be debuting their new uniforms at a benefit fashion show on December 4th. The club website also took a look back at the first year of developing SSFC, and visited with GM Adrian Hanauer.


Beyond the pros, the college seasons are heading towards their playoffs. The Seattle Pacific Women and Western Washington Women will be in Seattle (Interbay) for the West Regionals the 13th-15th.

The Washington Women will be in Texas this Friday to play LSU in the NCAA's.

In North Sound, Matt Pele was named GNAC Player of the Year for Western Washington's Men, and Viking head coach Travis Connell was awarded Coach of the Year honors.

In South Sound the UPS Loggers Women earned a bye into the playoffs and will host a match this Sunday.

Pirates advance in overtime playoff thriller

The Pirates soccer team downed Clark 1-0 in Vancouver today. The game was an intense defensive match that resulted in only one goal, coming in the first overtime period. Ernest Boham scored from Cory Matthews only 7 minutes into overtime (97min) off of a corner from Hugo Vasquez. The Pirates outshot Clark 6-4 and Jase Hall recorded his 5^th shutout and the teams' 11^th. The Pirates remain unbeaten in the last 14 games and will now travel to Whatcom on Saturday for a quarterfinal match to determine who will go onto the semifinals.

Andrew Chapman

Head Men's Soccer Coach

Peninsula College

Portland could play Kitsap in 2009

The United Soccer Leagues and Portland Timbers announced today that the Rose City club will start a team in the PDL Northwest Division in 2009.

Read the press release here.

The likelihood is now that the new Kitsap Soccer Club, scheduled to be announced on Monday November 17th, will play the new Portland club in 2009.

The Premier Development League Northwest Division had eight clubs last year, but with the addition of Victoria, Kitsap, and now Portland, the division could have as many as eleven clubs for 2009.

Tacoma Tide FC won the division last season.

Kitsap Soccer Club announced November 17th

The day for officially announcing the birth of the Kitsap Soccer Club through United Soccer League offices is set for Monday, November 17th.

We have learned in advance that the club colors will be blue and white, with yellow accents, and that the club will wear blue and white 'hoop' jerseys (horizontal stripes).

Kitsap Soccer Club will become the second currently-operating professional soccer club in the Puget Sound region along with Seattle Sounders FC of Major League Soccer. Both clubs will play their first seasons in 2009. Kitsap will begin life in the PDL, short for "Premier Development League," and will have an instant rivalry with Tacoma Tide FC, just half an hour away. The blue and white hoops will pay their players, making them professional, while most of the PDL clubs use college talent.

Kitsap will play at Bremerton's Memorial Stadium. While the pitch is deep, lush grass, the field dimensions will be a challenge for visitors. The pitch is a long and narrow one.

Owner Robin Waite and KSC's Ben Pecora have been busy lining up sponsors, finalizing facility details for Bremerton's Memorial Stadium, and dealing with the USL in last-minute odds and ends before the club can officially be presented.

Robin and Ben have also been overseeing the name the team contest. Based on recent hints from the Kitsap front office, it appears that "Pumas" has taken the lead over "Paladins" as the club name, though of course we won't know that officially until next Monday.

Is it only a coincidence that a puma was captured a few weeks ago just blocks away from the club office after living in the woods near Bremerton for years? Is it just happenstance that the blue and white 'hooped' jerseys Kitsap will wear will almost certainly come from supplier Puma?

Is the cat out of the bag?

More details on the announcement from the club:

"We have just concluded a "name the team" contest and will make a public announcement next Monday, the 17th. In bringing a professional sports franchise to the peninsula - we believe for the first time ever - we are not only creating unprecedented awareness for our region, we also firmly believe that we are initiating such important things as jobs creation, development - and adding an exciting entertainment option for the people of Kitsap. I hope you will be an important part of our plans - now and in the future - as we initiate and launch several important ventures.

We plan to make the announcement Monday, Nov. 17 at ten a.m. at either the stadium, pending the weather of course, or at our office at 4020 Wheaton Way in East Bremerton. It is our hope that the whole of the ceremony will last not more than an hour.

Media will be invited, along with Congressman Dicks, the Mayors of all Kitsap cities, other community leaders and of course, the contest finalists."

FIVE for State!

West Sound has soccer on the brain with five schools sending clubs to the State playoffs in various levels.

The Olympic Trojan girls are in after beating Hazen 3-0.

The North Mason Bulldog girls have qualified after edging Eatonville 1-0.

The South Kitsap Wolves girls are headed to State after a 5-4 penalty kick shootout win over Auburn-Riverside. The Wolves has previously used another shootout to top Stadium.

North Kitsap's Viking girls beat Lindberg 3-2 to advance.

King's West's boys are state-bound for the first time, too.

Go get'em, West Sound!

Pirates face Clark in must-win playoff Nov. 12

It was a wet sloppy day, but the Pirates prevail. In a game that was a throw away, both Whatcom and the PC Pirates wanted to make a statement. The Pirates scored first in the 15^th min from a goal by local native Jay Kang (PA HS) from a ball given to him by Omar Anderson. That remained the score at halftime, PC 1 Whatcom 0. The score stayed 1-0 until the 84^th minute when Whatcom was able to capitalize on a corner that PC was unable to clear. But, the Pirates not wanting to tie, dug down and John Troka hit a fantastic free kick from 35 yards out that bent past the Whatcom GK for the game winning goal in the 87min.

Shots: PC 6 Whatcom 6

Saves: Alec Risk had 3

The team played really well. We talked about how this game was really important and how we need to protect ourselves for Clark. We sat some starters and rested others and were able to play lots of players and the team still stepped it up to get the win. The defense played really well to stop Mirza Memic, who is the leading goal scorer in the NWAACC right now with 26 goals.

The Pirates remained undefeated at home this year, going 7-0-2 and have not lost a game in the last 13 games while scoring 31 goals and only giving up 6. The fact that we had such a great record at home is because of our fans. We have the best attendance than all the other schools we played this year, to have such bad weather and still have over 70 fans out at our game is honor to our players. Thank you to all the fans who come out and watch, you are big reason for our success this year.

The Pirates now travel to Clark on Wednesday Nov. 12^th for a 2pm first round playoff game. It is a must win game for the winner advances into the quarter finals to play

Whatcom at Whatcom on Saturday Nov. 15^th.

Andrew Chapman

Head Men's Soccer Coach

Peninsula College

Pirates win again, join ranked clubs

The Peninsula Pirates continued their unbeaten streak to 12 games, only giving up 5 goals in that time with 9 shutouts as they beat Skagit Valley 3-0. With today’s shutout, the PC soccer team set a team record of 10 shutouts in a season, best in the history of soccer at PC. Luis Medrano played in goal today because 2:30min into the game Jase Hall got kicked in the head and had to go to the emergency room. We had a lot of chances in front of the goal but we could not put the ball into the back of their net more. We missed 4 great 1v1 opportunities. Current standings.

Pirates Ranked 8^th

With the latest NWAACC rankings out, the Pirates claimed the 8^th spot this week. Unranked all season the Pirates were able to get into the top 8 going into the playoffs.

PC- 3 SVC-0

First half: Hugo Vasquez from Omar Anderson

Steve Williams from Sean Gaskins

Second Half: Sean Hummel from Steve Williams

Shots: PC 20 SVC 5

Saves: Luis Medrano 5 plus shutout

Andrew Chapman

Head Men's Soccer Coach

Peninsula College

Undefeated at home, Pirates head to playoffs

Peninsula topped Shoreline 1-0 to clinch a playoff spot.
(match gallery here)

Peninsula College Soccer teams clinched a playoff spot, the hard way. Needing only one point in today’s game to get the final playoff spot, the Pirates came out fired up but were unable to crack the Shoreline defense until the 73rd minute when Hugo Vasquez hit a free kick that went through the box and popped out at Teagan Cambier’s feet who with ease slotted home the game winner.

The Pirates out shot their opponent 17-11 and Alec Risk had 6 saves and the shutout, which is his 5th of the year and the teams 9th. The Pirates will now travel to Skagit Valley on Wednesday for a 3pm game and then will finish out their league play with Whatcom at Home at 2pm Saturday Nov. 8th at 2pm, which will be the last time to see the 2008 Pirates in action at home.

The Pirate soccer team continues its unbeaten streak to 11 games, scoring 30 goals and only giving up 5 in that time. Record is now 10-3-3 in league. The Pirates have not lost at home this season.


Playoff: The Pirates will travel to Clark CC on Nov. 12th for a loser out playoff game, game time to be determined.