Kitsap Pumas won't field team in 2019 after 10 seasons, 1 national championship, owner says

Jared Brown | Kitsap

BREMERTON — With 10 seasons and a Premier Development League Championship under their belt, but no signs of increasing attendance on the horizon, the Kitsap Pumas officially played their last game June 30.

Club owner Robin Waite had been contemplating whether to bring the team back as the 2018 season concluded, but decided the club wouldn't return after going over attendance numbers and costs.

"I just don't sense that there's been the same interest in the club that there has been in previous years," said Waite.

To be financially stable the club needed to bring in ticket sales of 1,000 to 1,500 a game, he said. Only 170 fans attended the team's June 27 game against FCM Portland.

"I want to thank them (fans) for the support they've given us," he said. "The loyal fans have been fantastic, the volunteers have been superb."

The team's decision to go from pro to amateur in 2017 made it hard for the club to entice players to come to Kitsap, said head coach Liviu Bird.

"Clubs at this level come and go," he said. "A decade was a decent run."

Bird said the tenure is impressive considering Kitsap isn't really a soccer community and nothing like the Pumas existed before the team started in Bremerton in 2009.

"We started about the same time that the Sounders started; the enthusiasm for them has been phenomenal," said Waite. "We're almost an afterthought. We do have a loyal fan base, there's no question about that."

Waite said the team's win-loss record is superb and on-field success doesn't reflect the game day turnout. He said he didn't know if the team marketing itself differently would have affected enthusiasm.

"We did everything right when it came to putting a team on the field," said Waite.

The team won multiple division titles, two conference championships and a national championship.

Bird said Waite informed him the team wouldn't be back in 2019 prior to its final National Premier Soccer League game June 30.

"Kitsap's a great place, it just didn't quite work out for us," Waite said.

He said he hopes youth soccer can be the future of the sport locally.

"I think that the youth groups need to get together and figure out what they can do to best enhance the youth soccer programs," he said.

Reporter Jeff Graham contributed to this report.