Western Indoor Soccer League (WISL) Season Preview Part III: Oly-Pen Force
Week one of the 2019-20 WISL season got off to a bang with Bellingham United giving Tacoma Narrows FC a 13-4 thumping at the Bellingham Sportsplex. Player/Coach Richard Henderson registered a hattrick with goals contributed by five other players. Travis Homestead scored a late brace for Narrows FC to add to two first half goals, but it was never going to be enough to beat three-time champion and league favorite Hammers. Next up for Tacoma Narrows? Nothing big, just their in-town rivalry with two-time WISL champion Tacoma Stars Reserves!
Bellingham United will have to wait another week for their next fixture against Oly-Pen Force, however, because the club from way up north in Bremerton open their season this weekend against the Artesians of Olympia. This is the perfect opportunity for Force SC to get off to a fresh start; new season, new coach too. To get a better idea of how they see their performance last year and what Oly-Pen Force are up to this season, we reached out to General Manager Micah McMonagle for some guidance.
With a club in the EPLWA, how different is the indoor game from what you do outdoors and do all players cope with those differences well?
The two groups have been totally different players in the past but we are seeing a much larger group that plays both now. No, not all players can make the transition from outdoor to indoor but some of them thrive at a higher level in the indoor setting.
What different types of technical setups are there for indoor? I've heard of 2-2-1 "House" are there other formations?
There are numerous formations and designs and each coach uses them in different ways. We are going through a coaching shift that has seen a few changes in some of the things we have done in the past but the players are adapting and learning quickly to what coach Antoniuk wants from them.
Fans are in for a great soccer experience at the Olympic Sports Center in Bremerton, Washington
After finishing out of the playoffs last season, what changes has the team made to address that? With Bellingham United and Tacoma Stars Reserves so good, how do you upturn the apple cart?
Well, Coach Cashmore has retired from the Force and that has brought in Coach Dizzy for starters. This is an amateur league so unless you are the Stars, you can't really do much to recruit players because you can't pay them. That being said, we have gotten younger as a squad overall. There is a little more energy and speed on the team and while there is some inexperience as well, Dizzy is doing a great job of getting them up to speed.
Are there rivalries in the WISL? It seems like Olytown Artesians might be a good one, if only because you also play them in their outdoor season.
Oly is fine and yes there are rivalries. We have played Bellingham in two championship games and we actually went to nationals on an undefeated season our first year in existence which saw a massive rivalry with an Everett team that no longer exists. That being said, Stars Reserves were originally called South Sound and before that Tacoma Galaxy. The core of the original Force team came from the Kitsap Pumas. Some of the players that TSR have had and the Force have had, have played against each other for nearly a decade and always at the top of the table. We may have missed the playoffs last year but prior to that it has been almost 10 years of playoff success, championship appearances and championship titles.
Oly-Pen have consistently been a… Force in the Indoor Soccer scene in the Pacific Northwest
How useful is it to have your own indoor facility? And does your indoor side draw supporters? Do away supporters ever show up following their teams?
We believe that our indoor facility is the best setting in the league. The only teams in the league that don't have their "own" facility, are Tacoma Narrows and Oly Town. But as far as I know it is the same for everyone. Game time is at a premium because the league plays during the busy season for these facilities, and practice time is always late during the week because the teams can't displace the income the centers receive from their normal business. Last year we averaged 300 fans per game on the season and that number has grown every year. We will typically get anywhere from 10 to 30 fans from other teams coming to visit on away games, even from Bellingham. Although, we have had as many as 75 fans from Tacoma for games against TSR.
