Boys U13, U14, U15 and High School Copa Coaches Announced

UNMATCHED in our area for all levels of play!

Wednesday, May 10, 2023

The Spokane Sounders are pleased to announce our 2023-2024 Boys coaching lineup, event calendar and new All-Inclusive Club Dues. The boys U13, U14, U15 and High School Copa will be under the guidance of Spokane’s development and player focused Jesse Retan, a top emerging and respected director in the northwest.

REGISTER FOR TRYOUTS HERE [+]

(Older ECNLRL group had tryouts in February if interested please email or call the club. peggy@spokanesc.org or 509.850.7787)

Our tight-knit family staff is composed of high character individuals that have unmatched soccer qualifications and a proven history in Spokane. Our staff from top to bottom believes in proper age-appropriate ways to teach the world’s most beautiful game. Across all age groups and genders we have pillars in our community from Spokane Valley Sheriff to City of Spokane Prosecutors, to elementary school teachers, to the only club with current NCAA Division I & III coaches.

The U13+ Boys staff qualifications are incomparable, consisting of current and former NCAA Division One collegiate coaches, former NCAA Division I collegiate players, coaches with a historical track record of developing teams and players – a staff composed of USSF A, B, and C licensed coaches. Goalkeeper coach Bryan Hernandez brings an unmatched wealth of knowledge and teaching ability making him the top goalkeeper coach in the inland northwest. He is dedicated to providing the perfect template, on and off the field, for young and aspiring goalkeepers alike to match our club’s forward-thinking focus with the position.

The U13+ Girls staff qualifications are incomparable, consisting of two USSF A Licenses coaches, the only female head youth coach with an USSF B license, another five USSF National C licenses, and three D licenses. Our GK Coach is rated as the top youth GK coach in the Northwest.

Spokane Sounders is the club that truly merges character and soccer development. The club and staff are unified behind an emphasis and belief in utilizing the same style of play and philosophies that foster the utmost in character and soccer development. It is a staff that collaboratively together as one strong Spokane family focuses on continuing to challenge our players from across the inland northwest on and off the field to meet and succeed beyond their perceived potential on an unequaled scale.

A leader in sending the areas top talent to schools such as Washington, Gonzaga, UNLV as well as the professional ranks, the Spokane Sounders continues to strive to provide the most challenging platforms of competition and top college identification for the boys in our region with a belief that the greatest growth and potential comes from facing stiff competition more so than accumulating victories. Each year our graduating players move onto collegiate programs and find success, often returning to also play with our First Team.

Our Girls Academy teams for the second consecutive season are the top club in our conference – an unmatched feat in our region. Our Girls DPL teams are also rated as one of the top clubs in the conference, and the top club in our area. Three former players are currently playing professional soccer – two in NWSL with the San Diego Wave and Houston Dash and one abroad. Each year Spokane Sounders players are moving onto collegiate programs at an unmatched rate for the region. Though, more importantly, players graduate out and move on to impacting positively our community such as alum Megan Oliver. A recent example, she is now coaching with the club while also serving the community as a surgical trauma ICU nurse.

From the Boys U13+ Director, Jesse Retan:

“I am excited to announce our staff for the 2023-2024 season.

The Spokane Sounders boys side is looking to continue the historical success of developing players and people. The club has an undisputed reputation for putting players on a college pathway and beyond. We offer a full soccer pyramid. Our players can get started in YDP, develop in SJP, and move into the premier sides (ECNLRL) from U-13 to U19, as well as continue onward to play on a men’s first team or a U23 team. We are the only club in Eastern Washington with this player pathway and it has been a proven success in developing players.

Spokane Sounders is committed to teaching the game within the framework of our curriculum. We value the build out; we value the ball; and we value problem solving and creativity. We also value dedication to defensive principles, hard work and a selfless team first mentality. We are big believers in building character through the sport.

The modern game is always advancing and changing and we want to be on the forefront. We are increasing our training schedules and periodizing our weeks and months for what we are teaching and how we are teaching it. We are teaching topic sessions based on phases of play while also maintaining a play based model. Our sessions are open to all club players. Players in the boys side are encouraged to attend multiple sessions at different age groups to challenge themselves further. My favorite quote is “want to get better at soccer? Play more soccer.”

We are putting together the most balanced staff possible. We want our product to be consistent. We want our staff to have a shared vision of player development, and believe in the curriculum. We believe in
the current and long term goals that we have. As a staff we have a passion for the sport and bring experience and culture in teaching the beautiful game.”

Coaching Lineup

2009 ECNLRL: Jesse Retan
2009 Copa: Carson Pingrey
2010 ECNLRL: John Palladino
2010 Copa: Adrian Washington and Saul Marciel
2011 ECNLRL: John Palladino
2011 Copa: Lynden Smithson
HS Boys Copa (2008-2005): Oscar Torres

Boys Event Calendar

– All teams except Copa will attend Crossfire Challenge
– All Copa teams River City Challenge
– All teams Northwest Cup
– All ECNLRL teams will either attend ECNLRL National Event (potential for playoffs as well.) or an event like Mayor Cup. National events are TBA by the league.
– ECNLRL teams will play three weekends of events. One August 4-6th at WPFC Fields, one September 1-3rd at 60 acres and the third at date in October in Spokane.
– All Copa teams will attend either River City Challenge or Pend Oreille Cup

League Play – The Spokane Sounders ECNLRL teams will play in the ECNLRL and RCL. The Copa teams will pay in either the WISL or WPL.

All Inclusive Club Dues – The club is working towards eliminating assorted team fees at all levels of play for more simplified All Inclusive Club Dues*. We understand families want to plan expenses for the year – receiving invoices at varying times of the year for assorted team expenses can be difficult and tough to budget out. We want to eliminate as many assorted team fees as we possibly can. Plus, this allows families the flexibility of breaking out the All Inclusive Club Dues into a payment plan throughout the year versus all at once, which we hope can help alleviate a large one-time expense and allows families to budget for the whole year. *While we work towards completing All Inclusive Club Dues, one area we are unable to include due to the varying nature of the expenses involved is attendance of an event outside of the Northwest. This is due to multiple reasons such as: The leagues we play in have not announced national event locations or dates before our tryouts as well as flights, vans and hotel costs can vary based upon dates and location. Our GA/ECNLRL teams have club travel while DPL teams and Copa will be family travel. For these reasons events outside of the northwest will still be invoiced separately.

With our club dues you have the option to pay all at once or to have installments. We also consistently offer the best Financial Assistance – nobody should be unable to play because of cost.

Finally, all of us have experienced inflation the last couple of years. The club has felt the rise in expenses in all areas – refs, fields, fees from leagues and player cards.

Overall the clubs will be covering all of the below with our All Inclusive Club Dues Pricing:

Player Secondary Insurance, Player card through either GA | ECNRL | DPL | WYS | WPL, League fee for any league participation GA | ECNRL | DPL | RCL | WISL | WPL, Coaches travel for all overnight league games, Crossfire Challenge Registration fee, Crossfire Challenge Coaches travel, Certified Athletic Trainers at GA | ECNLRL | DPL league games, GA | ECNLRL | DPL Bond fee, Referee Expenses, Game fields Expenses, Training field rental for 2 or 3 or 4x a week, DMC Field rental, Soccer Center field rental, Polo fields upkeep, Trace (only U13 and older), Coaches Pay as employees and payroll tax (based upon L&I coaches should not be independent contractors,) Northwest Cup entry fee, Day to Day operation, Risk Management and background check of all coaches and staff, Coaches Soccer Training Equipment, Playmetrics, independent Certified Public Accountant, all requirement by leagues to have minimum standard met at our home field, processing fee on club dues, insurance, advertising, coaching education/training.

*** If a team decides to attend an event outside of the schedule we have put forth at tryouts, that would be an added expense and invoiced even if in the northwest. Reminder, any event outside of the Northwest is an added expense, like a national event or tournament like Mayor’s Cup.

All Inclusive Club Fees 2023-2024 season:

ECNLRL: $2500
Copa: $750