Goalkeeper Cameron Beardsley, standing on the right, became the Jets’ first signed player in February. Head coach Vasco Rubio is on the left. The team’s looking to fill out its roster, and tryouts are scheduled for later this month.
courtesy Everett Jets FC
EVERETT — A new semipro soccer team will be taking flight this spring when Everett Jets FC play their inaugural season at Everett Memorial Stadium.
The team will be competing in the Evergreen Premier League of Washington (EPLWA), which describes itself as “an elite adult men’s amateur soccer league for college and post-college age players to feature their skills on hometown clubs.”
The Jets’ 10-game season runs from May until the middle of July.
Want to play? The Jets will have open player tryouts from 9 to 11 a.m. on March 28 at Archbishop Murphy High School in Everett and March 29 at Tambark Creek Park in Bothell. The tryout registration fee is $25. Players are still able to maintain their college eligibility and can expect weekend games along with twice-weekly training sessions.
Landing the Jets as an actual club took about four years of work, according to Hawk Mummey. He and his brother Marco are among the team’s group of owners.
Hawk Mummey said once they had the idea, their efforts included brainstorming the team’s name and logo in addition to research to pick the city and league to play in. “How to make this thing work and be as professional as possible,” he said.
The team has extensive roots in the local soccer community. The Mummeys’ father Pablo owns an indoor soccer facility in Snohomish and ran an indoor league semipro team, the Snohomish Skyhawks, for more than a decade. Head coach Vasco Rubio and assistant coach Teddy Mitalas each have more than 30 years’ experience of playing and coaching in Snohomish County.
The coaches anticipate being competitive from the get-go. Rubio said he won’t lower his expectations just because it’s the Jets’ first year. He said he hopes to make the playoffs.
“I think the kind of player we are going to end up with is a lot of players that have a chip on their shoulder because they didn’t get to the academy or Division I or Division II (colleges),” Rubio said. “They’ve got something to prove. Give me a team of 15 of those kids, and boy I’m excited.”
Cameron Beardsley, 22, signed with the team as a goalkeeper after playing the last two seasons at Everett Community College. Even though he plans on one day being an airline pilot, he sees this as a chance that he hopes will lead to other offers to play either collegiately or professionally.
“It’s just an incredible opportunity for people that are very good at soccer that needed to get another look,” Beardsley said. They are people that “work very hard and maybe they weren’t as talented at a young age, but now that they are older and have trained hard over the past couple of years, they are at that semipro or professional level that deserve another look.”
Many people involved with the Jets are excited in helping to further grow the sport in the area. “This gives local kids something to strive for: a team to watch and support and maybe eventually play on right in their backyard,” Mitalas said.
Some also see the new team as a way to give back to the sport they love.
Devin Mendiola, 28, recently signed with the Jets as a player. He’s observed some of the buzz surrounding the team with players on the two different youth teams he coaches. He said that several of the kids seem interested in purchasing game tickets.
Mendiola said it would be cool to see some of the kids he is coaching now trying out for the team in 10 years.
“I am super excited to be part of the first ever season for the Jets and it’s cool to continue playing even though I’m getting a little bit older,” Mendiola said. “It’s something I can look back on and really be proud of.”
The club wants the game day experience to serve as a fun-filled event for its fans.
Hawk Mummey said they are reaching out to several local food trucks about serving refreshments, exploring options for a march to the match, similar to what the Seattle Sounders fans do, and are working to get high school drumline players to bring their instruments to the games. They are even looking for a van the team can deck out with its logo and colors to drive around on match days. He said he wants it to be an atmosphere that is exciting, loud and reflects how passionate soccer fans are about the sport.
Hawk Mummey said the team is currently looking for another assistant coach to work with its goalkeepers. Their logo features the black silhouette of a jet on top of a dark blue background. The club plans to unveil their uniform kits along with the title sponsor before tryouts begin.
