BREMERTON, Wash. — Kitsap Soccer Club has finalized the technical staff that will lead the team in 2017. Head coach Cameron MacDonald returns, as does Liviu Bird in a new role as associate head coach. The club’s captain in 2016, Cory Keitz, has also signed on as an assistant coach for the first time.
MacDonald, 27, is in his fourth year on the Kitsap SC staff, joining in 2014 as an assistant before taking over the head job the next year and leading the club to an undefeated regular season. He holds a UEFA B License and nearly a decade of experience as a professional player and coach in his native Scotland.
Under MacDonald’s direction, more than a dozen Kitsap players have gone on to sign professional contracts at higher levels in the United States and abroad. A proven developer of talent in young players, MacDonald also coaches youth soccer at local club Kitsap Alliance FC.
Bird, 26, returns for his second season on the Kitsap staff after serving as the goalkeeper coach in 2016. This year, he’ll take over as the club’s first associate head coach.
Besides coaching and playing for Kitsap SC, Bird has coached for various colleges and youth clubs in the greater Seattle area. After previously working as a soccer writer for Sports Illustrated, Bird has coached youth soccer for Bainbridge Island FC for the past year and is in the process of completing his UEFA B License.
Keitz, 27, played central defender for Kitsap for the past three seasons and had a brief stint at Nässjö FF in Sweden’s Division 3 Nordöstra Götaland in 2016. Along with a host of individual and team accolades at Kitsap, Keitz also played for the Tacoma Stars of the Major Arena (indoor) Soccer League for the past two years.
Even as he worked to climb the pyramid as a player, Keitz also coached youth soccer for Kitsap Alliance FC and Bremerton SC. He is in the process of completing his U.S. Soccer C License.
Besides all three coaches having been involved the previous season, this is the first time in club history that the entire coaching staff comprises former Kitsap SC players. MacDonald played as a center back in 2013, and Bird was a goalkeeper on the 2009 and 2012 squads.
Shaun Scobie has left the club to accept a full-time job with Kitsap Alliance as its assistant director of coaching. Keith Sargent, the club’s performance analyst in 2015 and 2016, will also not be returning after receiving a promotion to sergeant of the Bremerton Police Department.
In addition to MacDonald, Bird and Keitz, the club is looking to hire another full-time member of the coaching staff. Interested applicants should submit a resume to club owner Robin Waite at robinw@kitsapsoccerclub.com.
Kitsap SC will be holding its tryouts on Jan. 28 and March 11 and 12 ahead of the upcoming season. The tryouts, as well as training and home matches during the 2017 season, will be held at Gordon Field on the Kitsap County Fairgrounds.
To register for tryouts or purchase season tickets, visit the club website.
…
Kitsap Soccer Club begins its first season in the National Premier Soccer League in 2017 after eight seasons as the Kitsap Pumas in the Premier Development League. In the club’s eight-year history, it won the PDL national championship in 2011 and advanced to the national final again in 2014, establishing themselves as a club with a proven record of providing a high level of training and play for aspiring professionals as a stepping stone to the next levels of American soccer. Kitsap SC plays its home matches at Gordon Field, a 1,500-capacity stadium on the Kitsap County Fairgrounds in Bremerton.
