Oct 01 2008
Kitsap Going Pro, is USL 2 Finally Coming to the West Coast?
The Kitsap Soccer Club was granted a United Soccer League franchise yesterday according to a report in the Seattle Times. The Club’s release indicates it will be the first professional sports franchise on the Kitsap Peninsula. Earlier reports have indicated that the team will play in the USL Premier Development League which saw the Vancouver Whitecaps field the league’s first squad with professional paid players in 2007. The rest of the PDL is comprised of semi-pro programs divided into divisions in regional competitions around the country.
The emergence of Kitsap Soccer Club as a professional franchise within the PDL has added momentum to the possiblity of a fully professional West Coast Division of the USL Second Division. The Seattle Wolves FC have expressed interest in playing in the USL 2 and the Tacoma Tide have made some rumblings that they want to join the professional ranks, but don’t have an investor for a USL First Division franchise. The Victoria Highlanders, who join the PDL Northwest division in 2009, could be the final piece needed to have a full professionl division within the Pacific Northwest in the near future.
Professional soccer has all ready expanded to the Northwest this year with the addition of the Wenatchee Fire to the Professional Arena Soccer League. The interest in soccer has been peaked by the Seattle Sounders FC franchise heading to Major League Soccer in 2009 and shine a bright light on the rich soccer tradition within the Northwest.
What better way to compliment the moves by Vancouver and Portland to join Seattle at the highest level of the game in North America than with a regional, professional competition to develop talent?
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