PORT ORCHARD, WA—Port Orchard Football Club held 2024 open tryouts on March 23 and 24 at South Kitsap High School’s Ed Fisher Field. The club’s coaches and staff were pleased with the talented turnout of guys with pro, college, CPL and ECNL team experience.
The day after tryouts weekend Head Coach Patrick Leonard and assistants Mark Nowak and Gil Navarro announced their picks to continue training with POFC in April. 16 of the 30 names are new for 2024.
Fans Pick Up Season Passes
While the tryouts took place on the pitch Port Orchard FC supporters were also dropping by to have a look and to pick up their 2024 home season passes.
Player Stories To Follow As Training Begins
Tryouts brought a bunch of interesting players to the upcoming POFC training sessions. One of them is 6 foot 7 inch German defender Joscha Schulte-Holtey. He’s in the states with South Puget Sound CC playing soccer in the NWAC. The defender managed to be involved in 10 goals from the back line for the Clippers last year (7 goals, 3 assists.) Some of those were scored against top league contenders. Open tryouts revealed Joscha to be an imposing figure, but also one with fluid strides and the ability to offer help at both ends of the pitch.
Goalkeeper Jordan Hadden was a standout at North Kitsap High years ago. He went on to Seattle University and then built a professional career as both a player and goalkeeper trainer. He’s back home these days and his appearance at POFC tryouts signaled the possibility of having a pro help in goal during the club’s second year. A great turn of events after earning promotion to the CPL1.
A national team player suiting up for POFC? That’s a distinct possibility after Guam’s Kai Pahl impressed at open tryouts. The classy winger (Saint Martin’s Saints, Lacey) came on strong at tryouts with a big assist to POFC supporters. Carrie and Emery Hill drove to Lacey to bring Kai to tryouts. They hosted him overnight and then took him back to campus after Sunday’s session. It was much appreciated teamwork for a player who just recently lost his mother.
April training sessions will bring more stories and clarify where all of the new guys fit into the plans of making POFC competitive at the new higher level.
It’s already clear that top talent knows how to find its way to Port Orchard. That’s very good news, but it is just the beginning of the process of building the second season squad.
GALLERY: Jesse MacKenzie photos on Facebook from Sunday March 24
