Submitted by Oly Town Artesians
The Oly Town Artesians will honor the memory of Olympia’s Austin Kelley on Saturday, January 27 at 6:30 p.m. with a non-league friendly against the Oly Legends, a group of Austin’s friends and former teammates, at The Pavilion at The Evergreen State College. Presented by his former employer, HDR Engineering, the Artesians will hand out team awards including the annual Austin Kelley Award and all attendees will receive an AK memorial sticker. A portion of proceeds will be donated to the Riann Kelley scholarship fund.
Austin Kelley was killed in an accident on the Salmon River in September of 2016 at the age of 26, leaving behind his wife Morgan and baby daughter Riann. Kelley was a star soccer player at Olympia High School, went on to play four years at Saint Martin’s University, continued playing after college in high level tournaments and joined the Oly Town Artesians indoor soccer team, immediately making an impact as a team leader with a constant positive presence. He was an outstanding player for the Artesians despite not having a lot of indoor soccer experience and gained the trust and respect of the entire organization with his hard work and commitment. He also was an assistant coach for the boy’s soccer team at Olympia HS and was beloved by his players, teammates and everybody that he came in contact with. The Artesians and the soccer community rallied after his passing to raise thousands of dollars for the Kelley family through the sale of AK memorial t-shirts.
The Artesians and players from the Oly Legends will train on Tuesday and Thursday at 8:30 p.m. at The Pavilion at The Evergreen State College. Both practices are open to the media and players and staff will be made available for interviews. If you would like to attend or have any questions, please reply to this email or contact Brandon Sparks at 360-561-7252.
Tickets for Saturday’s game are available at the Oly Town Artesians website or will be available at the door for just $8 for adults, $5 for kids 5-12 years old, and kids under 5 are free. Kids in their soccer uniforms receive $2 off at the door.
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