by David Falk

BREMERTON, WA — The Kitsap Pumas are winners in both leagues they play in. The Bremerton-based club has a national title in the Premier Development League (PDL) outdoors. They also have a history of success in the winter playing indoor soccer in the Premier Arena Soccer League (PASL.)

Are the Pumas coming back to indoor soccer this winter? When contacted by email, club owner Robin Waite told goalWA.net “At this point it doesn’t look like we will.” It looks like further winter nights at the Olympic Sports Center are now in jeopardy.

The club isn’t saying anything officially yet, but there were murmurs last year that perhaps playing indoors was dropping down the list of Pumas priorities. This despite the fact the Pumas are one of the top-drawing indoor clubs in the state. Last year attendance was down a bit. Meanwhile, the club’s “Pro Youth Academy” has blossomed. Privately there was a tug-and-pull for Pumas players who were also coaches. Upon occasion the academy won out over indoor soccer.

Publicly, Waite and the Pumas have not been pleased with the PASL. There are annual scheduling issues, inside politics, league administration conflicts and the costs of success: paying for trips to nationals.

During the 2012-13 PASL season Kitsap Pumas player Yuma Inagawa was badly injured during a match. The league was slow to respond with the needed paperwork. Waite went public with his concerns.

Last season the Pumas pulled out of the PASL playoffs, irking players and fans, and eventually embarrassing themselves a bit as an organization when they turned around and decided to play the playoff match anyway, as a “friendly.”

Since then the Olympic Sports Center has changed owners, another moving part in this story.

Now the Western Indoor Soccer League (WISL) has been launched, and many of the Pumas’ biggest indoor rivals are headed over to the new, locally-run league. As of now, Kitsap does not appear to be joining them. Owners of the WISL clubs continue to reach out to the Pumas in hopes they might find a fresh start in the new league.

Indoor soccer fans in Kitsap County have a second glimmer of hope. It’s possible that the WestSound FC Men, who play in the Evergreen Premier League, may have enough player interest to field a team in the WISL. The issue then becomes who would operate the team. The WISL is founded by some of the same owners / operators who also have clubs in the outdoor EPLWA.

WestSound FC is changing their name to Kitsap Alliance and there are other internal moves that might put indoor soccer on the back burner for the youth club.

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