The Tale of Green River’s Men’s Soccer Program
By: Abdirizak Abdi
Staff Writer
Green River offers a diverse sports program with a variety of competitive and recreational sports teams, however, there is a notable absentee in Gator athletics: men’s soccer.
Soccer has always been a popular sport in colleges, arguably being the number one sport worldwide.
With rising popularity, soccer is steadily closing in on the big three American sports: basketball, baseball, and even football.
Consequently, one may wonder why Green River College doesn’t have a competitive men’s soccer program. After doing some digging it turns out that the college did have one, up until a few years ago.
In the past, the college men’s soccer team was part of the championship league coordinated by the Northwest Athletic Conference (NWAC). Since its inception in 1974, Green River was crowned conference champion twice, first 1974 and then again in 1987.
Dan Keene, currently a gym supervisor and program coordinator in Green River’s athletic department, successfully ran the program from 1991 to 1999. After he left his role as head coach, the program suffered a series of setbacks which ultimately led to its cancellation.
“Without a doubt, there’s always been a lot of interest in a men’s soccer program,” said Keene.
“Almost every year I come across many students who ask why Green River doesn’t have a competitive soccer program,” Keene added.
The lack of a men’s soccer program has upset many students. With the added presence of a large and diverse international student body with the locals, the buzz around soccer in the campus community goes without saying.
“Many of my friends from high school opted to go to other community colleges like Tacoma or Highline for the opportunity to play soccer,” said Green River student, Ahmed Musa.
To fully understand why the program perished and was ultimately cancelled, it is important to consider a number of factors.
To start, the logistics involved became increasingly difficult to manage. With a lack of an on-campus facility, the college would rent out training grounds off-campus.
As time went by, the management and coordination of the program’s activities gradually became burdensome. This may also be attributed to the absence of a designated full-time coach after Keene’s departure.
Shannon Percell, the college’s athletics director, was extremely helpful when asked about the athletic department’s current attitude on adding a new sports program.
“We are working to strengthen and support the athletic programs we currently have to the best of our ability,” said Percell. “In an effort to re-emerge at the NWAC, the college is primarily focusing on current athletes [and their sports].”
Despite the current state of affairs with Gator Athletics, Percell is not ruling out the possibility of a men’s soccer program in the future.
“Perhaps in the near future, we may create a focus group with students and interested parties on campus that will look into the prospect of adding more sports programs,” Percell mentioned.
The college’s Recreational Sports program has a men’s soccer team that is open to all students every other quarter. This is an exciting way for male students to play, make friends, and to have fun while representing the school in recreational soccer leagues throughout the Puget Sound Seattle area.
Even though the male student body has to go elsewhere for their soccer league’s, there are many other sports they can join into.
Despite the lack of a men’s soccer team, Green River staff and coaches seem to still be actively participating in the management and success of the sport programs currently in existence, and their players.
