Submitted by FC Olympia
The Oly Town Artesians who were founded in 2014 as a sole men’s indoor soccer team announced via social media film Tuesday morning that “FC Olympia” will be the new moniker for the Thurston County based soccer club. The Artesians as of today have four path to professional soccer teams, community youth and adult soccer leagues and a year-around USL youth clinic.
The club’s slogan “Home of Artesian Soccer” will remain as a mascot for the club (are-TEE-shuns) which has been around for 10 years since the club was previously the Tumwater Pioneers.
The announcement comes on the heels of the Artesians publicly sharing that their indoor soccer center at The Evergreen State College is ending as the Geoduck Athletic Department plan to re-purpose the space for student-athlete access only. The final arena soccer match ever for the Artesians is at the Pavilion this Saturday at 4PM as the women host Bellingham United. Tickets are available online.
“I’m excited about what’s next for the Artesians as with any change a new path can be forged” said principal owner Ryan Perkins regarding the rebrand announcement. “The why will be revealed March 23rd at our annual Oly Soccer Foundation gala. Support the club and get ready for an amazing night filled with surprises.”
The new crest and logo were revealed throughout the day with film and graphic slides providing the community a glimpse into the nature of a changing community-centric soccer club that so many have grown to love and support over ten years.
“Really excited about these changes we’ve made” said Part Owner Jason Smith. “We have been working on some other items that will once again help the club grow and hopefully continue to provide more for the community.”
The Artesians have a web page dedicated to the new rebrand where fans can download the new logo, desktop and cell wallpaper and tickets to the gala to find out why the rebrand is happening.
The Artesians messaged the community that larger rebrand details and special reveal news will be at the Oly Soccer Foundation Gala at Nicole’s Bar on March 23, 2024. Tickets are available by clicking here.
FC Olympia also announced USL men’s and women’s division alignment Tuesday along with USL Soccer based out of Florida for summer 2024 competition.
The Artesians in January announced a professional club partnership with female pro club USL Spokane. The partnership includes a joint tryout that is hosted in Olympia, WA for prospective players to travel in from around the world attempting to make the USL Spokane team and the Artesians.
“I feel that the changes happening with the club this year are a testament to the growth of the club” said USL W League General Manager Vanessa Crisp. “In reality the club has always been changing and evolving and this rebrand will allow us to showcase this evolution to our community.”
Oly Town and FC Olympia have been in the community since 2014 driving local soccer and growing sports entertainment for families and visitors and local tourism.
The club was founded by Brandon Sparks and originally owned by Tim Smith.The club’s founding name “Oly Town Artesians” pays homage to the cities foundational brewing practices of taking local Artesian spring well water to brew beer, hence the Olympia Brewing branding.
Since 2014 the club has changed ownership and was bought in 2021 by Ryan Perkins who formed an ownership group with local soccer coach Jason Smith. Smith has been a youth club and varsity high school head coach and also helmed the USL League Two team as head coach when the Artesian USL franchise was in a startup environment.
Local companies Kesh Marketing, Wembley Soccer Shop and local filmmakers Connor Rubin and Brandon Cartwright were all partner vendors that assisted in the rebrand.
“We want to thank Stephanie Hemphill (Kesh) filmmakers Brandon Cartwright and Connor Rubin and Kurt Gress (Wembley) for helping roll out the clubs new image,” said Perkins. ”We’re a grassroots, local soccer club that rely on local talent and vendors to create something amazing for the community.”
Brandon Cartwright is a long-time seasonal staffer for the Artesians directing and managing the livestream broadcast. Cartwright works and contributes on several local film projects and co-produced the film with local filmmaker Connor Rubin who is set to help the clubs larger announcements in March.
“Our supporters need to get ready for some exciting new things as we come into the Artesians tenth year,” said Brandon Cartwright.
“Being able to help showcase this big change for Oly Town was such a blast” said local filmmaker Connor Rubin. ”You follow the journey of this somewhat sentient ball through monumental part of town right up to the end of its journey, stopped by the foot of an up-and-coming local soccer player, at the foot of our capital.”
More to come from these brilliant filmmakers that are partnered with FC Olympia to showcase an unveiling on March 23rd at the Oly Soccer Foundation Gala.
Register for USL Youth Clinics today to learn from homegrown pro player Miguel Gonzalez and our USL player/coach staff. Click here for more information.
Get your tickets here to the Oly Soccer Foundation Gala Dinner at Nicole’s Bar Off Legion! All Ages – rented facility.
Subscribe to FC Olympia news by clicking here.
