Each year Oly Town’s Ownership honors those individuals that positively impact the club as we look back on a full year of operations across Olympia Indoor Soccer, Oly Soccer Foundation Youth Outreach, Artesian Arena Teams and our USL Franchises.
“There are many to thank even beyond those honored today but these individuals went above and beyond the call of duty. Thank you all for embracing Oly Town this year and we look forward to more of you coming out in the future to help the club!“
Sincerely – Ryan Perkins & Jason Smith
2023 | Volunteer Awards
Whether it was hot summer days at USL soccer matches or a freezing cold arena game at the “IceBox” our volunteers are up for the craziness that all environments bring.
Doug Bogden handled all 2023 ticketing duties for both USL soccer and Arena. Doug only missed one game all year for a well deserved vacation in Mexico! Thank you Mr. Bogden!
Patty Johnson was instrumental in the setup, marketing and gift acquisition for the 2023 Oly Soccer Foundation Gala at the Olympia Ballroom. Patty assisted gala director Julie Smith in managing a successful fundraising event that helped expand Oly Town operations for youth and its free ticketing for kid’s at all matches.
Raphael Fernandez weathered our hot summer matches this last USL season leading our merchandise tent for our bustling crowds. He and his family even muscled out the doubleheader days that were sometimes 6-7 hours long. Raphael helped tear down the stadium for USL operations and we can’t thank him enough for his time and effort!
Brad Hanson is a longtime volunter providing USL game day setup, in-game management and post game teardown. Brad also volunteers to help outside game day with tasks around town including managing league partnerships (West Coast Goalkeeping) and this year was hired as goalkeeper coach for the arena teams. Brad has a great soccer future with the Artesians and beyond!
Jeff Slakey from KMAS Radio 103.3 has been a long time volunteer managing our public announcing system. He frequently had to save the day with cables, mics, square readers and soundboards. Jeff is a fantastic supporter of Oly Town and we sure look forward to seeing him in a couple weeks back in the pavilion!
2023 | Staff Awards
Our employed personnel are crucial to seasonal and year around operations and each individual has unique duties to particular subsegments of the club. With multiple franchises and entities, the following staff went above and beyond.
Ozer Kocdemir | USL2, Assistant Coach
Ozer was a first year coach for Oly Town in the USL Men’s program and was full of life and energy. In fact, you can catch him 50 yards down field celebrating with Dante Perez after his go ahead goal in the 89th minute against Lane United. Thank you coach for a fantastic USL2 season Coach Ozer!
Brandon Cartwright | Media Director
Brandon is the owner of Cartwright Media and longtime director of the Oly Town Artesian networks livestream broadcast. Brandon’s work along with John McGlamery was nominated the best livestream in the USL League Two per post season evaluations by USL. We wouldn’t have the success or opportunity today if it weren’t for our film work, broadcast and tech expertise that Brandon provides.
Alec Zimmerman | Youth Outreach Coach
Mr. Alec Zimmerman was a USL2 Captain for the Artesians in 2022 and decided to commit to Oly Town’s new youth clinics and indoor kickarounds as a lead coach in fall 2023. Alec is frequently messaged and inquired about because of his incredible demeanor with kid’s and ability to inspire and communicate the game of soccer to families.
Vanessa Crisp | USL W League GM
Crisp is a longtime supporter, employee and player for the club. Vanessa managed the USL W Leagues first season in 2023. She flew on her own dime to California to support and manage the USL National Playoff run. She did all the paperwork for USL match days including driving the USL player vans to Eugene, Sacramento and Portland. Vanessa even opted to slide from her arena assistant coach duties to arena goalkeeper for 6 weeks when no other goalkeepers showed up for the first month and a half of the Women’s indoor team this season. Vanessa is lights out amazing!
2023 | Supporters Awards
One thing is to be said, a club cannot function if people do not buy season tickets or help spread Artesian joy, or even house USL athletes at their homes. Oly Town and clubs across the world are literally nothing without their supporters.
Bryan Ketola was one of the founding members of the new 1896 supporters group and frequently provided game announcements, makes donations and attends matches, events and more! Thank you Bryan!
Michael Tobias is a longtime supporter and season ticket holder every single season and has even developed Oly Town chants over the years. We love Michael’s energy and appreciate his frequent support of all Artesian programs.
Yvonne Yourkoski is a local youth soccer board member, youth coach and loves the Artesians. She is always sharing, liking and spreading the Oly Town posts, news and more. She even has a daughter playing on one of the teams now (Arena, NWPLi) and is able to enjoy the games not just as a fan but as a parent of an “Artesian!”
Trevor Fetbrandt is a local soccer enthusiast, coach and manager at Tenino High Schools soccer program and helped the Artesians house not one but TWO international soccer players this last summer. Trevor is a supporter of Oly Town as an Olympia Indoor Soccer Coed Team Captain, attends Oly Town matches and even won a grand prize parachuting experience at the Auction Gala. You’re the man Trevor!
2023 | Vendor Awards
An organization is nothing without great vendors from facilities to merchandise and every day business needs. Oly Town cannot operate without trusted local vendor partners each season.
Gary Schuette | North Thurston School District
Gary is the stadium manager at South Sound and provided amazing service and attention to our USL operations. It was our first time in the new, massive stadium at North Thurston High School but he made it feel manageable and we couldn’t have done half of the game day experience we wanted to do without Gary’s help.
Bryce Winkelman | Evergreen State College, Conference Services Manager
For years we have had an imbalanced relationship with TESC but not with Mr. Winkelman. Bryce is communicative, straightforward and fair with our operations in 2023 and appreciate all he does behind the scenes for Olympia Indoor and Oly Town. 2023 proved to be the most seamless year of operation under his facility contract management. While Bryce does NOT decide our fate at the pavilion (Evergreen Athletics and CRC do) as a contracts manager Bryce is a great and we appreciate him! Thank you Bryce!
Kurt Gress | Owner, Wembley Soccer Shop
Soccer in this community wouldn’t be a thing without all the jerseys, custom warmups, fan gear, cleats, shin-guards and gloves! Kurt has kept alive one of the last standing retail soccer shops in the entire state of Washington. Oly Town firmly believes that Kurt is FOR THE SOCCER PEOPLE! Thank you for taking great care of Oly Town in 2023 especially helping the clubs brand new neon/navy kits!
2023 | Partner Awards
Local businesses and sponsors are the life blood of Oly Town and has been since inception. Our emerging markets with USL and Youth Outreach are ways we can return their generous sponsorships into customers coming through their doors. Support them to keep Oly Town alive.
Nicole Andres is the owner of Nicole’s Bar and supported our new USL W League franchise in 2023. She was on our inaugural USL Women’s scarf and supported the club with dozens of club meetings hosted at her bar. Nicole is now venturing into our media partnership level with broadcasts, films, summits and galas.
Drew Phillips leads FORMA Construction and has been affiliated with the club for years, including formerly in club leadership! Drew attends our auction galas, supports the club through the white kit sponsorship and comes to most of our games. It’s one thing to support the club via sponsorship but coming to all the games, that’s amazing support!
Aaron Shively is in leadership at Dancing Goats Coffee and has been our “GOAL” Partner for over a year. Coffee and hot chocolate are served at Arena Matches and Iced Coffee and mixers are at our summer USL matches. All our tickets have Dancing Goats Coffee Vouchers built into them. You’ll find Dancing Goats also on our Roster Releases and Goal Highlight reels. Thank you Aaron for your continued support.
Chris Knudson is the longest supporter in our title sponsorships having been around the club since inception. Well 80 is our color kit sponsor and hosts meetings and events for Oly Town with his all-ages Brewhouse. Thank you Chris for always thinking of the Artesians and taking care of local soccer.
Michael Titus runs Olympia Jeep on the westside and is a long time supporter of all things soccer in our community. We have filmed USL Film Specials at the Jeep Dealership and had epic family game day experiences because of Mike and the Olympia Jeep team including; kid’s obstacle courses, inflatable soccer field and the end of season Jeep RC car raffle! Thank you Mike!
Jeff Pust owns Van Dorm Realty and has taken care of the Artesians training kits and warm up shirts for 5 years! Van Dorm also graces our player of the week announcements and annual awards here today! Make sure and visit with the Van Dorm Realty brokers if looking to buy or sell a home.
2023 | Coach of the Year Award
There were a dozen coaches across all platforms that influenced an Artesian match in 2023. We appreciate and admire all of you and as such look forward to others winning this award in the future.
Nick Boatright | Arena Men’s Head Coach
It has been a phenomenal ride the last two seasons of WISL but in 2023 Nick has proven to be one of the more focused, organized and winning coaches in our almost 10-year old arena program. Coach Boatright has gone undefeated for 22 months at the Evergreen State College Pavilion and has taken the Artesian Men to the playoffs in the two years he has been a part of the staff. Thank you Nick and we look forward to 2024 and finishing out the WISL season strong!
Chris Wells | USL W League Head Coach
In the Artesians inaugural year of fielding the sole USL Women’s program in the state of Washington, Coach Wells was up for the task of creating a massive wave of success on the west coast in Olympia. Wells brought in 41 NCAA division one athletes from around the United States and helmed an undefeated #1 seeded Oly Town team into the USL W League National Playoff in 2023. Chris has a knack for bringing quality players together and creating a fantastic environment to train and compete in the college summer season. Nice work Chris!
2023 | Team of the Year
With the 2022-23 Arena team clinching the playoff and making the semifinal and USL League Two squad finishing strong as a #2 seed into the playoffs there was much to be excited about in 2023. However there can only be one team to win this award.
USL W League | Oly Town Artesians
The 2023 squad was nothing short of incredible posting an undefeated 8-0-2 record in their first year of USL Women’s soccer competition. They earned the #1 seed into the national tournament with most points per game average in the country. Oly Town was led by captain and leading goal scorer Mariah Lee (OL Reign, Adelaide United) and saw a plethora of unbelievable talent from around the country and WORLD! Team MVP for the squad was Sydney Stephens from the University of Illinois!
The Artesians scored 34 goals and gave up only 6 goals all year. The team saw 43 different women get called up for USL matches including national team players such as Shu Ohba (Japan) and Neeku Purcell (USA Youth Nat’l Team GK).
Suzuka Yosue (Arizona State University) led all players with 11 match appearances playing 679 minutes. Emily Bunnell only missed one match and but played the most minutes in the season at 832. Abby Jacobs was a regular defender for Oly Town appearing in 8 matches and posting 659 minutes of play.
Mariah Lee scored 7 goals including a hat trick in Eugene, Oregon against Lane United in the clubs first road game of the season. McKenna Martinez (Oregon State University) was second in scoring with 6 goals while Alexis Washington (University of Oklakoma) tallied 4 goals.
Kat Asman (Penn State), Diera Walton (Utah State), Shu Ohba (Ole Miss) and Ally Larkin (Univ of Nevada) all shared time at goalkeeper across 10 matches in the USL W League. Asman was called up to start in the USL National Playoff game for the Artesians. Neeku Purcell (UCLA, NCAA Nat’l Champ) made one game appearance in Olympia while home for summer too!
Photos of the Year | C-Sharp Images
USL W League Photo of Year | Courtney Hickman, C-Sharp Images
Sydney Stephens (center) scores and is congratulated by Ava Uribe (left) and Suzuka Yosue (right).
USL League Two Photo of Year | Courtney Hickman, C-Sharp Images
Camron Miller (airborne) scissor kick volleys in the 2023 West Coast Championship against Ballard FC. In the background is Richy Lapointe-Guevara watching Miller.
Arena Photo of the Year | Isayah Qiu
Calvin Boyal is captured in this 2023 Arena photo. It was the first time Qiu covered an Artesian game and this smile and winning photo was the result!
Thank you for supporting Oly Town whether it was playing, attending, coaching, liking or sponsoring Oly Town! It all helps and we can’t do this without you all.
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