PORT ORCHARD, WA—Port Orchard Football Club Business General Manager Sam Ironside has an eye on 2024 preseason training on the pitch while also working behind the scenes to grow what POFC can do in the community in areas beyond soccer.
Recent new partnerships include Meadowdale Dental Center (Bremerton), The Dock Bar & Eatery (Port Orchard) and Harbor Haute Dogs (Port Orchard.)
Ironside believes the greater region beyond the city is potential POFC territory. “I always strive to get the best out of every situation, so my goal this year is to build on all the successes we had last year and develop on the opportunities that last year brought. I want to branch out further into the community and establish a bigger POFC presence that stems out deeper into the surrounding areas. I would also love to build more relationships.“
Haute Dog! Sam Scores One For POFC
One of Sam’s big recent connections was joining up with Harbor Haute Dogs. Already there is buzz about the partnership. Sam wanted to honor the sunsets at the marina in downtown and at the same time bring in some color to new training tops. “My biggest pleasant surprise has been the reception of the new training jersey,” he says. “It was something completely new and different to what we did last year, it was a complete unknown but to see how well it has been received has made me very happy.”
Fans have peppered POFC media with requests to have Harbor Haute Dogs serve at a match. Sam says he is working on it. The popular eatery is usually closed on Sundays when POFC plays nearly all of its home matches.
Seven Home Matches Including Three Friendlies
The Cascadia Premier League Rainier Division was reduced to five teams recently. Port Orchard FC was already looking for more matches. It ended up that there will be one more home match in 2024 than last year’s debut season. “Our aim from the very beginning was to grow and build the club each year whilst giving our fans the best experience possible,” reflects Ironside. “With wanting to give fans more in comparison to last year and the openings created by PacNW no longer being in our division, it just made sense to add a few more matches into the mix for fans and players alike. It also gives us a chance to establish relationships with other clubs outside of the CPL structure that we can revisit in future seasons.”
Calling Local Food Trucks!
Fans love food. It lifts the match experience to have providers deliver variety. Already Sam is scheduling trucks for the season. One favorite to return will be Kona Ice of Olalla. Not food, but very popular cool treats.
“I am constantly looking for ways to improve matchday experience so I have had many messages and posts out to every potential avenue I can to bring food trucks and other matchday options to POFC,” Sam states. “If anyone has any potential leads, let me know.”
Sam can be reached at sam@gopofc.com.
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