FC Olympia confirmed on its website that their home pitch for the 2024 USL2 and USL W League summer competitions would still be at South Sound Stadium in North Thurston High School in the heart of Olympia and Lacey.
This will be the second year for the Artesians to use the biggest sporting stadium in Thurston County, after a successful stint last year for both men’s and women’s USL teams.
FC Olympia has also released single-match tickets and league passes for both leagues, including the friendlies, for the 2024 season, which are available here.
Along with their announcement of returning to their home stadium, FC Olympia has also announced who will be in their USL squads through social media. The final official roster is pending approval from the US Soccer Federation and the USL for the upcoming league openers in May for the USL2 and June for the USL W.
For the reigning USL W Northwest Division champs, FC Olympia will be bannered with old and new players, with the re-signing of last year’s standouts Shu Ohba, Kelsey Kwon, Ava Uribe, Maia Tabion, McKenna Martinez and Sydney Stephens, along with new faces tapped from all over the country.
One of FC Olympia’s recruits is Kansas State’s Murphy Sheaff, who is in pole position to be the starting goalkeeper as Kat Asman turned pro in the NWSL with the Portland Thorns last summer. Sheaff is a New Zealand international who was called up for a couple of friendlies for the senior team and was the first choice for the Ferns in the 2022 FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup in Colombia.
Joining Sheaff are other new stalwarts with international experience, such as Trinidad and Tobago’s Jolie St. Louis, Canada U20’s Serita Thurton and Sadie Sider-Echenburg, former US U17’s Ari Brothers, and Ameera Hussen, who had experience playing the pros in the Icelandic league, along with newbies with NCAA DI playing experience.
Like the women, FC Olympia had also unveiled the lads who will be in their USL2 squad, highlighted with the re-signing of FC Olympia mainstay Manny Nicasio, who will now play his third year of Artesian outdoor football, along with the return of Philippines international Gavin Muens.
The USL2 squad for FC Olympia will be stacked with NCAA DI recruits and GNAC standouts pulled, such as St. John’s Martin Kozak, Santa Clara’s Jack Civitts, and Utah Tech’s Tanner Dutra, with the latter being a part of a footballing family comprised of Seattle Sounders coach Tom Dutra and now FC Olympia’s USL W recruit Maggie Dutra.
FC Olympia’s new coach, Jason Dunn, has also worked on his promise of getting FC Olympia closer to local players. He has also acquired loads of talents from the University of Washington Huskies, Seattle University Redhawks, and Everett Community College in what could be a rebuilding year for the men’s squad.
FC Olympia has also unveiled a promotional kit for the USL 2024 season, called the “Afterglow” kit, which was inspired by the pink skies on summer sunsets when they usually play their USL fixtures.
The USL Women will wear this kit first for their last home match of the season on June 28th against the Tacoma Galaxy, while the USL Men will have their “Afterglow” match on July 14 against the Tacoma Stars.
With the USL approaching nearer to kick in mid-May, FC Olympia also invites every Artesians fan to join the community in a USL pre-season kickoff party at Well 80 Brewhouse on May 14, Tuesday as a send-off of sorts for the players and staff that will compete in the league.
Attendees to this gathering are set to get match schedules, season tickets, and a meet-and-greet with the staff and players, among other things planned for the event, such as Well 80 hosting a trivia night.
The party will kick off at around 5:30 p.m. All ages are welcome.
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