Get to Know a Grad – Tanner Watkins

A newcomer to Spokane in 2018, Tanner Watkins joined the club and has spent the past six years with the Spokane Sounders en route to Gonzaga University.

Tanner listed one of his favorite moments of his club career as a trip to an ECNL event in Florida where the team won all three matches. A bonding moment with the team in Tucson at Raising Canes was another highlight for Tanner, who said he’ll miss “spending time with the friends I made over the last five years.”

Outside of club, Tanner found a lot of success with St George’s High School – the region’s top B program – over the last four years. He was an All-District selection all four years, but the highlight came in his freshman year when the Dragons won the State Championship, and he was honored on the All-State Team list.

Tanner noted that some of the lessons he learned while with the club were that “you must give everything in order to win a game” and that “even the best teams aren’t invincible.”

Headed to Gonzaga – where his father is the women’s soccer head coach, Tanner offered some advice for players, noting that youngers players should “listen to your coaches even if it’s hard to hear” and older players should “give everything you have because the opportunity to do so comes and goes quickly.”

And that it did for Tanner, who was thankful for “my parents for investing everything in me throughout my time in club soccer.”

Quick Hits

Favorite Road Trip Tradition:

Laying out in the back seat of the car watching premier league games

Favorite players:

Mason Mount and John Stones – Learned to be versatile and do what you can do best from them.

Favorite team:

Chelsea

Parent POV – Chris Watkins

Tanner’s father Chris echoed his favorite club memory, recalling the team’s last ECNL tournament in Orlando. The “team won all their games, peaked at the right time!”

He added that Tanner has grown as a player through “lots of sacrifice. He had to prioritize his time and energy to be ready to play.”

And Chris too enjoyed those road trips, though he remembers them for more than just chilling out and watching EPL games.

“We will miss the time with our son – driving to the games, talking, planning for the future.”

###