Sure, I’m not the biggest fan of indoor soccer. Sure, its fun. Its no futsal.

That said, I couldn’t be more excited for the Oly Town FC Artesians this year.

First off, Brandon Sparks is pretty awesome. He’s the hard worker behind Olysports, a very worth your time local sports blog that does all of the little things right.

So, secondly, if you remember the Tumwater Pioneers, then (in my opinion) everything good associated with that team had something to do with Brandon. He didn’t run that team the way he’s been put in charge of the Artesians, so we can expect to see more of the good with this new effort.

But, yes. Brandon is a good thing.

Otherwise, its great to see organized semi-pro soccer of any sort back in Olympia or Tumwater or Lacey. Especially, this sort of league. I love that we’re coming into the Western Indoor Soccer League, and mostly because it has a home-brew feel to it. The league was formed by a group of owners that were upset by the politics involved in a more national league.

A lot of these same owners just got done with their first season in a sister outdoor league called the Evergreen Premier League. This is another home-brew league born out of frustration with national systems. And, for me, this is the real target: a semi-pro outdoor soccer team in northern Thurston County (hopefully Olympia).

I’m not too picky about where an Olympia soccer team should land, but if its a bunch of local Cascadian soccer entrepreneurs going their own way. Then that’s the way for me too.

There are of course some other considerations too. The Artesians indoor have their own very nice facility. But, an outdoor team would have to play in a high school stadium for the time being. Or, a recreational soccer field. We don’t have a soccer specific facility in Thurston County that could support crowds of more than a few dozen.

We should address that (possibly build stands next too one of the fields out at the Thurston RAC), but in the short term the Oly Town FC Artesians sound like a great idea. I can’t wait.