Tag Archives: Kitsap Pumas

Kitsap’s pro soccer team playing a pre-season game on BI

The Kitsap Pumas are playing a pre-season game against Gonzaga University at Bainbridge High School next month.

The April 10 game kicks off at 1 p.m. Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for kids.

“We’re looking very much forward to playing a match on Bainbridge,” said assistant coach James Ritchie, who also spent over a year coaching youth on the island. “There are some wonderful kids and families there and we all hope they come out and support the Pumas.”

The Pumas’ pre-season schedule begins April 3 with a match against the United Soccer League’s Portland Timbers. Kickoff is at 6 p.m. at Bremerton Memorial Stadium. The Timbers recently defeated the Seattle Sounders 1-nil at Qwest Field.

For more information, visit the Puma’s website, or call Ben Pecora at (360) 377-6008.

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post

Islander not returning as Puma’s coach

John Wedge
John Wedge
The Kitsap Pumas professional soccer team announced this week it would not renew island resident John Wedge’s contract as head coach.

After helping to build the team from scratch, Wedge coached the Pumas through 13 wins and just two losses. The Pumas ended their first season in the Premier Development League late last month with a playoff loss.

Wedge, who served as director of the Bainbridge Island Soccer Academy, told Sun sports reporter Jeff Graham that the team’s owner, Robin Waite, was unhappy with the Puma’s 1-2 loss to eventual league champion Ventura County.

“(Waite) felt we had a team that should have done better,” Wedge said. “To me, those expectations are unrealistic.”

Pumas executive director Ben Pecora, also an island resident, declined to say why Wedge’s contract wasn’t renewed.

Players expressed surprise at Wedge’s departure but noted that practice sessions sometimes lacked a professional feel.

For more, read Graham’s story, here.

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post

A puma by any other name would still smell like a sneak cat…or catawampus


Islander Ben Pecora sent in an announcement that Kitsap’s new pro soccer team is now selling season tickets.

Pecora has been involved for years in the Bainbridge Island Youth Soccer Club and is now serving as executive director of the Kitsap Pumas, which used to be the Seattle Sounders until Drew Carey named his team Seattle Sounders FC and hired Sweden’s David Beckham and sent the old Sounders off to Bremerton where they became the Kitsap Pumas.

The Kitsap Pumas?

If you’re going to name a team after this particular cat, the sky’s the limit on name variations. Why settle for pumas? According to the BBC (a national news service for a nation without pumas), the puma holds the mammalian world record for most names.

There’s 40 names in all, maybe more.

So, Mr. Pecora, here’s my shortlist of possible team names in case Drew Carey decides he fancies pumas more than sounders:

The Kitsap…..

Mexican Lions
Mountain Lions
Cougars
Deer Tigers
Florida Panthers
Painters
Catamounts
Panthers
Silver Lions
Devil Cats
Indian Devils
Indian Ghosts
Mountain Screamers
King Cats
Mountain Devils
Red Tigers
Deercats
Fire Cats
Catawampus
Plain Lions
Grey Lions
Caracajous
Klandagis
Quinquajous
Long Tails
Swamp Lions
…and my favorite, the Kitsap Sneak Cats.

As for Pecora’s announcement about season tickets, check out the Kitsap Puma’s website.

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post