Here I am, with your answers!

You don’t need to spend a lot or go very far to enjoy sports around Olympia. Not the best, but still pretty good competition isn’t very far off.

1. Your first stop is the Capital Stage Race. Or, just the most exciting stage, the Capital Criterium, a time trial like bike race around the capitol campus. This is a lightly attended event, but includes the best pro and semi-pro road racers in the region.

I specifically enjoy the criterium race. There’s a kids  race before the very best of the racers get going. Plus, the light crowds mean there are plenty of great places on the campus to watch.

2. Did you know Olympia has its own semi-pro baseball league? Well, they play out in Lacey, but the Puget Sound Collegiate League collects some of the best community and four year college players from across the west coast.

If you want to  catch the best of the best of this league, try to catch the Thurston County Senators. This team is a league all star team. They travel to tournaments after the bulk of league play, but they also are also taking on some other regional semi-pro teams, like the Kitsap Blue Jackets.

3. I can’t personally suggest the Thurston County Mayhem, but they’re a semi-pro football team and they’re kicking off at the end of this week.

4. Now, of an organization I wish was closer, but they really aren’t all that far away, South Sound FC is putting a team in the new Evergreen Premier League. They’re playing just outside of Thurston County in Lakewood, but at one point their indoor team played in Tumwater. So, they have some Olympia-area roots.

There’s no Olympia semi-pro soccer to speak of, so if you did support one team, South Sound FC would be the one.