Can you help me bring the Tall Boys to Oly Town?
Today the Evergreen Premier League announced the seventh team accepted to the startup semi-pro soccer league slated to begin play in 2014. The Spokane Shadow joined Bellingham United, South Sound FC (Tacoma), Wenatchee United, Seattle Stars (Tukwila), WestSound FC (Silverdale) and FC Three Rivers (Tri-Cities) as inaugural members of the EPLWA and the league has suggested that there is a very good chance that they will cap the number of teams for the first season at eight instead of the previous 10 expected teams due to scheduling concerns and to keep the quality of the organizations high.
One area of the state that the EPLWA wanted to target was Olympia but no group has come forward and applied for entry to the league. I have been working to put together a bid and secure some financing but talks with an existing organization to take their team to the next level has stalled and with the possibility of just one more team being admitted to the league, time is of the essence. That is why I am putting my cards on the table tonight and making a plea for somebody to join me in bringing a team to Olympia.
The team: I’m proposing that the team will be named Oly Town FC. The name is a mix of a nickname for Olympia with a traditional sounding name for a football club and the crest and colors are a simple but striking homage to Olympia’s iconic brewery symbols. I wanted to avoid Capitol Building imagery and the ever present Olympia Beer font that many businesses in town have co-opted. I went with the same general style but it is something unique to Oly Town FC. The crest is a great jumping off point for fun alternate logos, nicknames (go Tall Boys!), slogans (It’s The Soccer?) and more. The colors are also unique to the EPLWA.
Why Olympia?: The cities of Olympia, Lacey and Tumwater are home to over 108,000 residents and Thurston County’s population is over 250,000. There is only one professional or semi-professional team in the area – the Tumwater Pioneers indoor soccer team – and no direct sports competition in the summer. The area has had great success supporting soccer over the last two summers when over 1,200 fans flocked to watch the Sounders U23s and Portland Timbers U23s play at Tumwater Stadium. The area is home to multiple large and active youth soccer organizations including Blackhills FC, Puget Sound Slammers and Thurston County United and men’s college programs at Saint Martin’s, Evergreen and South Puget Sound.
Why the EPLWA?: The first reason is simple: cost. The EPLWA has been designed to be budget friendly charging just $1,000 in league fees. This allows for teams to put more money back into their communities and programs and will allow teams to be more financially stable over their first few seasons. An EPLWA team can compete at a high level – potentially participating in the US Open Cup – for significantly less money than a PDL team with the same opportunities for generating revenue.
The league gives an opportunity for adult men soccer players from the area to continue playing after their college careers and can give local college players from all three area colleges an opportunity to improve over the summer. The league will have a high level of competition. Bellingham United and South Sound FC have both excelled on the field over the past couple of years with Bellingham advancing to the playoffs in each of their first two seasons in the Pacific Coast Soccer League and South Sound FC going to national competitions.
They also want to establish teams that want to cultivate a club culture. Bellingham United has already done this in their two years in the PCSL drawing 1,000+ a game including an extremely active supporters group. They are arguably the second most popular soccer team in Washington State. Olympia certainly has that kind of potential and I think it could be fulfilled with some effort and work.
Oly Town FC Neon Alternate
About me: My name is Brandon Sparks and I want to make sports in Olympia the best they can be. I have a passion for Olympia and a passion for bringing professional or semi-professional sports to town. I have a background in marketing, promotions and media in minor league baseball and want to use that experience to make this team the best in the EPLWA and something that Olympia can be proud of and excited about. I’m devoted to selling and marketing this team full time and am willing to be the face, the voice and the backbone of this team. I’ll talk to anybody, go anywhere and do anything to make Oly Town FC a success. I have a lot of fun and exciting ideas about how to get Oly Town FC on the map and am dying to get started trying to pack the stadium each and every game.
What I need: The most important thing that I need is someone with a strong background in soccer that can take care of the game on the field. Ideally, I’d like to team up with one of the existing soccer organizations in the area that can provide coaching and can put together a team and serve as a source for players. My background is not soccer, I desperately need help with the game itself. It doesn’t matter what kind of financing I have, if I can’t find a soccer pro or organization to join me in ownership, I have nothing.
I need financing and investors. I can secure some money of my own and from other sources but it will take more to do it right. Again, I’d like to team up with an existing organization. Oly Town FC can be your premier adult men’s side. The budget is very friendly – the biggest cost being stadium rental – and the revenue potential is high.
Can you help?: If you are seriously interested in helping me bring an EPLWA team to Olympia in 2014, please contact me at olysportsblog@gmail.com as soon as possible.
Saturday scoreboard: Geoducks shutout Trinity Lutheran in season opener
Men’s soccer
Evergreen 2, Trinity Lutheran 0 – Recap from Evergreen athletics
Ethan Sumlin’s header in the 31st minute beat Trinity Lutheran goalkeeper Luis Godinez to give The Evergreen State College men’s soccer team their first goal of the 2013 season in their 2-0 win over the Eagles on Saturday afternoon at Evergreen.
Colin Harlow made three saves in the shutout including a fantastic sprawling dive to his left side that would have put Trinity Lutheran up 1-0 in the first half. All three of Harlow’s saves came in the first 45 minutes and though the Eagles pressured for a short time early in the second half, the Evergreen defense didn’t allow another shot on frame and made easy work of two free kicks that came just outside of the box early in the half.
Jeff Roland scored the insurance goal for the Geoducks in the 60th minute when he juked the out of position goalkeeper and scored on the empty net.
Today (8/17): Geoducks soccer kicks off, volleyball welcomes alumni
The college sports season is upon us and the Evergreen men’s soccer team gets things going today with a 1:00 PM game against Trinity Lutheran at Evergreen Pitch. The Geoducks return two solid senior goalkeepers in Mauricio Sanchez and Colin Harlow, the CCC defensive player of the year Brady Espinoza and the CCC newcomer of the year Willie Spurr and are picked to finish second in the Cascade Conference after making an appearance in the conference championship game last season.
At 5:00 PM, head indoors to the CRC Gymnasium for a new era in Evergreen volleyball when the current squad, headed by new head coach Angela Spoja, takes on the Geoducks alumni in a scrimmage.
For you gearheads, South Sound Speedway features street stocks, mini stocks, stinger 8’s, bumblebees and WMRAs tonight. Qualifying starts at 5:00 PM and racing gets underway at 6:30 PM.
SPSCC signs McGurkin and Tyson; Oly QB’s season in question; Peterson on KGY
Friday news and notes (updated throughout the day)
Brandon McGurkin – Photo courtesy of Aaron Landon
South Puget Sound continues to sign players for the 2013-2014 season. This week coach Aaron Landon announced the signing of Brandon McGurkin, a 6-7 post from Moscow, Idaho and Brian Tyson, a 6-4 wing from Olympic High School in Bremerton. McGurkin helped the Moscow Bears to the state championship game where they fell by just two points to Rigby and Tyson led the Trojans to a 2A Olympic League title.
Tyson was profiled by the Kitsap Sun last season and you can watch him hit a 65 foot game winner against Kingston in December by clicking here.
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The Olympian has the story today about former Capital quarterback Derrick Becker being ruled ineligible having his eligibility questioned to play at Olympia this season. He will have a hearing on Wednesday, August 21st to determine whether or not he will be allowed to play his senior season for the Bears. – Link
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Saint Martin’s new head volleyball coach Kara Peterson appeared on the Bryant and Clark Sports Show on KGY today to talk about the upcoming season and the guys talked a little local football. You can listen to the show above.
2013 Olympia area high school graduates playing collegiate athletics
With the college sports season almost upon us, here is an incomplete list of 2013 Olympia area high school graduates that are moving on to play collegiate athletics. Like I said, this is incomplete because I am sure that I am missing people. For example, I can’t believe just one athlete from River Ridge is going to play collegiately this season.
So if you know of someone that I missed or perhaps I have some bad information on somebody listed, please either email me at olysportsblog@gmail.com or leave a comment.
Black Hills
Adam Meyer – Arizona Western – Baseball
Hope Mortensen – Saint Martin’s – Volleyball
Shayne Robinson – Pacific Lutheran – Football
Brandon Herd – Clark College – Baseball
Makenzy Tarrow – CC of Spokane – Softball
Austin Lee – Edmonds CC – Baseball
Capital
Alyssa Edenstrom – University of Portland – Soccer
Andrew Miller – Indiana University – Track & Field
Keenan Williams – Lewis Clark State – Basketball
Kai Van Sickle – Pima Community College – Football
Baylor Hahn – Pima Community College – Football
Derek Chase – Pacific Lutheran – Football
Mat Cox – North Dakota – Football
Jacob Zimmerman – Evergreen – Soccer
Loren Switzer – Evergreen – Soccer
Kenzie Phillips – Saint Martin’s – Soccer
Samatia Huntley – Pierce College – Volleyball
Naomi Roycroft – Bellevue College – Volleyball
Danielle Tabor – Highline CC – Volleyball
Kameron Minor – Edmonds CC – Baseball
North Thurston
Zach Wilson – Pacific Lutheran – Football
Ande Grantham – Pacific University – Football
Brandy Rutherford – Pierce College – Volleyball
Brittany Rutherford – Pierce College – Volleyball
Matt Zuetenhorst – Yakima Valley – Baseball
Haley Harn – Pierce College – Volleyball
Olympia
Brenden Leonard – Air Force Prep – Basketball
Nicole Schroeder – Long Island University – Softball
Hannah Barlow – Saint Martin’s – Soccer
Olivia Brock – Concordia – Soccer
Cameron Frost – Washington State – Baseball
Michaela Berendt – Villanova – Volleyball
Michael Naipo – Pierce College – Basketball
Ye Lin – Highline CC – Soccer
Jackson Lord – Centralia College – Baseball
Gabe Padukiewicz – Tacoma CC – Baseball
Leo Valenti – Tacoma CC – Baseball
Joey Knight – Edmonds CC – Baseball
Hailey Hull – Olympic College – Softball
Elliott Loague – Pierce College – Baseball
Max Stottlemyer – Pierce College – Baseball
River Ridge
Brad Wallace – North Idaho – Basketball
Rochester
Samantha Ramirez – Lower Columbia – Soccer
Kamilla McElwain – Centralia College – Basketball
Shelton
Zach Taylor – Olympic College – Cross Country
David Ajamu – Washington – Football
Ralph Kinne – Washington – Football
Jared Welander – Washington State – Baseball
Tenino
Layci Morales – Lower Columbia – Soccer
Davante Harris – Yakima Valley – Baseball
Shanowa Fisher-Bond – Centralia College – Softball
Jaclyn Huber – Lower Columbia – Soccer
Timberline
Charlie Hinson – Tacoma CC – Baseball
Ty Carlton – Centralia College – Baseball
Rebecca Nelson – Highline CC – Softball
Cobi Beal – Pierce College – Baseball
Sarah McKee – Clark College – Basketball
Rebecca Clayton – SPSCC – Basketball
Elijah Sanders – Tacoma CC – Basketball
Derek Wells – Olympic College – Baseball
Josiah Julagay – Everett CC – Baseball
Halie Snaza – Pierce College – Volleyball
Tumwater
Andrew Brown – Washington – Track & Field
Jamie Bryant – Washington – Football
Jon Lathrop – George Fox – Basketball
Hunter Shaner – Pacific Lutheran – Football
CJ Howard – Corban – Soccer
Bailey Elders – Centralia College – Golf
McKenzie May – Everett CC – Soccer
Kile Lenherr – Whatcom CC – Soccer
Hannah Hanson – Northwest University – Volleyball
Paige Walker – Cal State Stanislaus – Volleyball
Carly Jo Sampson – George Fox – Volleyball
Yelm
Jake Swilley – Central Washington – Football
Karli Shaw – Everett CC – Basketball
North Thurston’s Brodin signs with Diamondbacks organization
After five outstanding seasons in the independent leagues, North Thurston grad Joash Brodin finally got the call from a Major League organization on Tuesday night and has signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks this morning. He will head from Sugar Land, Texas where he was on the road with the Long Island Ducks, to Visalia of the advanced-A California League.
Brodin was hitting .307 with 11 home runs, 79 runs scored, 49 RBIs and 14 stolen bases. He represented the Ducks in the Atlantic League All-Star, his third all-star game since hitting the independent circuit out of the College of Charleston.
He was in his second season with the Ducks having signed with them at midseason last year after his team, the London Rippers of the Frontier League, abruptly folded. He was tearing up the Frontier League for the Rippers hitting .370 with 11 homers and 54 RBIs in 59 games and then had to adjust to a higher level of competition in the Atlantic League and still hit .282 with 24 RBIs and 31 runs in 49 games for the Ducks and tore up the playoffs hitting .359 with seven RBIs and eight runs in Long Islands’ championship run.
Brodin will likely join Visalia on Friday when they open a homestand with the Stockton Ports. The Rawhide have 18 games remaining in the regular season and are fighting for a playoff spot sitting just a half game behind the Modesto Nuts.
Today (8/13): Providence Sports Physicals Clinic
All middle school and high school students that need sports physicals for the upcoming seasons are invited to the Providence St. Peter Family Medicine Sports Physicals Clinic tonight at 5:30 PM.
Physicals cost $20 but all money is put back into the child’s school and students with financial hardships can have the fee waived. There will also be free TDAP, Menactra and HPV vaccinations available to those that need them.
The Sports Physicals Clinic is located at St. Peter Family Medicine at 525 Lilly RD.
Parker moves to Wakayama; Peck turning pro; Rummage sale for Clark
Friday news and notes (updated throughout the day)
Michael Parker – Photo from Japan Times
Evergreen State College basketball star Michael Parker is moving from the Shimane Susanoo Magic of Japan’s bj-league to the Wakayama Trians of the National Basketball League. Parker, the Cascade Conference Defensive Player of the Year and All-Cascade Conference first teamer in the 2002-2003 season, has been a star in Japan spending the last two seasons with Shimane and four seasons before that with Rizing Fukuoka. He led the bj-league in scoring four times and steals five times. He will team with his former coach Zeljko Pavlicevic and will play on wooden basketball courts in the NBL instead of the unpopular synthetic courts that the bj-league uses. – Link
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Timberline grad Cameron Peck is profiled in The Olympian. the former Texas A&M golfer has had an outstanding summer as an amateur and is planning on turning pro before the Web.com qualifying tournaments. – Link
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The Clark family is having a huge rummage sale today and Saturday from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM to raise funds for Tumwater alum Kevin Clark’s fight with cancer. Go by and help them out at 4518 Carver Street SE in Olympia. You can also donate on their gofundme page where they have already raised over $6,000. – Link
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The KGY sports show featured Timberline High School head football coach Nick Mullen today. You can listen to the whole show above. – Link
Today (8/9): Memorial for Todd McDougall
Memorial service for Todd McDougall – Saint Martin’s – 4:00 PM
The community comes together this afternoon at Saint Martin’s University to honor Olympia High School teacher and coach Todd McDougall, who passed away after a seven month battle with brain cancer on July 27th. There will be a reception following the service at the Olympia HS commons.
The family asks that if you own a “Todd” t-shirt, please wear it to the memorial. And in lieu of flowers, a scholarship fund has been setup. If you would like to contribute, please make donations payable to “OSD Todd McDougall Scholarship,” and send to the Olympia School District care of Karen Edison, 1113 Legion Way SE, Olympia, WA 98501 or you
SPSCC signs LA’s Proctor; Saints clinch title and #2 moment of the year
Thursday news and notes (updated throughout the day)
South Puget Sound head coach Aaron Landon continues to put together his first team for the Clippers. Yesterday he announced the signing of Josh Proctor, a 6-2 wing from University High School in Los Angeles. Proctor averaged just 4.3 points and 3.5 boards per game in his senior season but caught the attention of SPSCC at a tournament in Oregon. Pictured above are Proctor, his family and Los Angeles Clippers center Ryan Hollins. Coach Landon says that Hollins has been a mentor to Proctor. – Link
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Saint Martin’s continues to count down the top moments of the 2012-2013 sports year and they have come to #2 on the list, a walk off of single by Sam Munger that scored Megan Miller that clinched the GNAC regular season title for the Saints. – Link
Oly Sports 