Indoor soccer returns to Olympia: The Tumwater Pioneers will call Tumwater Indoor Sports home for their inaugural season.

UPDATE (9/21): I spoke with Matt Stalnik today and he informed me of a couple developments since I last spoke with him yesterday. First: the NAIA will allow players to compete in the PASL so Evergreen and community college players that are hoping to go to NAIA schools will be allowed to tryout and play for the Pioneers without penalty. Secondly: tryout times have been set for October 6th and 7th. The tryouts will run from 3-6 PM at Tumwater Indoor Sports. Also, the team has hired an assistant coach. More on this later.

Olympia will be home to semi-professional indoor soccer for the second season in a row, this time with a new Olympia based team, the Tumwater Pioneers. The South Sound Shock played their four home games at Tumwater Indoor Sports but will be playing at the Pacific Sports Center in Tacoma this season. Both the Pioneers and the Shock compete in the PASL Premier, a regional league that includes the newly formed Arlington Aviators, Marysville Ruckus, Kitsap Pumas and Wenatchee Fire.

The new team is owned by Mike Rancipher, who recently purchased Tumwater Indoor Sports from Marian Bowers, the owner of the Tacoma Stars, and is in the process of opening a new facility in the old Harbor Freight warehouse across the street from the previous facility.

Matt Stalnik will lead the Pioneers as head coach and in goal (photo credit: GoalWA.net and Wenatchee Fire

The Pioneers have hired Evergreen graduate Matt Stalnik as head coach for their inaugural season. The Soldotna, Alaska native played two seasons at goalkeeper for the Geoducks in 2007-2008 and has played in the PASL for the Wenatchee Fire, Tacoma Stars and the Denver Dynamite and will likely be in goal as a player/coach for the Pioneers.

The team has scheduled open tryouts for October 6th and 7th at Tumwater Indoor Sports for players 16 years and older. Cost of the tryout is $25 and you can register by sending an email to the link in this Craigslist ad or at Tumwater Indoor Sports.

Stalnik says that the NAIA has a rule that players cannot play in the PASL without forfeiting their eligibility to play at an NAIA school for one year. “That knocks 60 players from Evergreen and the community college out of the guys we can pull from,” Stalnik said. (Note: See update above)

The PASL Premier is still finalizing the league roster and has yet to release a schedule but the Pioneers should play four or five home games starting in January. Ticket prices for Pioneers games will be $5 for adults and $3 for children and the full length glass boards that Tumwater Indoor Sports features will give fans an up close and personal view of the action.