Kitsap Pumas fold after 10 seasons in Bremerton

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Kitsap Sun reporter Jeff Graham is on vacation but tweeted the news on Thursday night:

On vacation, but got word tonight that the @kitsap_pumas are folding after nine seasons. Coach Liviu Bird said owner Robin Waite made final decision before the final game this season. "A decade was a decent run," Bird said. By the end, team struggled to attract fans/players.

— Jeff Graham (@JeffGrahamKS) July 20, 2018

The Kitsap Pumas, a remnant of the former United Soccer League Seattle Sounders, have folded. The Pumas took the old Seattle USL franchise to Bremerton in 2009 as the ‘new’ Sounders opened the same year in Major League Soccer (MLS).

Warning alarms were sounded a few weeks ago when the Kitsap Sun reported the club might not be back for an 11th season.

Along their 10 seasons of play the Pumas made it to two Premier Development League (PDL) National Finals, winning one in 2011. They also advanced twice in US Open Cup play to match up against the Sounders and S2, losing twice in closely contested games. Along the way the club flirted with desires to move up to a fully pro league. Instead they ended up losing their ‘semi-pro’ paid player component and going all amateur.

The Pumas made local news when they left the PDL and joined the NPSL starting with the 2017 season. The club played that year in the NPSL as “Kitsap SC,” and then were ‘allowed’ to resume using the “Pumas” name this year. There was hope by some in the NPSL that the Pumas would be a building block club for a NW division in the league. Their folding leaves the NPSL with two teams in Washington and four overall in the NW.

The Pumas had some attendance success while playing at Bremerton’s Memorial Stadium. They moved to the outskirts of Bremerton near the Kitsap County Fairgrounds in to Gordon Field in 2013. Eventually interest in the club dwindled.