EVERETT, Wash. – The Everett Jets Football Club (FC) were defeated, 0-1, in their last game before their regular season opener against the Bellingham United Football Club on Saturday, May 22.

Due to the pandemic, the team has pushed back their regular season, playing only exhibition matches, leading into a 2021 season with 3 wins, 2 ties and 3 losses.

Saturday marked the last game before the start of the regular season in the Evergreen Premier League of Washington (EPLWA). The team will continue to play six regular season matches that will set them up for the EPLWA Playoffs beginning the weekend of July 16.

The team is led by coaches Vaco Rubio, who has over 15 years of experience coaching soccer at this level mostly with the Snohomish Skyhawks, and Teddy Mitales, who has coached at every level in the state bringing his expertise and knowledge to the program.

“We are thrilled to have them on board for our Inaugural Season. We consider them a future hall of fame coaching staff,” Marco Mummey, Co-Executive Director for the Jets FC, said.

As the team prepares for its regular season opener against the Wenatchee Allstars, Saturday May 29, Mummey feels confident the team will be prepared for future challenges.

“We’re confident we can get a good result with the squad we have on the team. We know that [they are] a very good side with plenty of experience at this level, so it will be no easy task. However, we’ve been playing together now since mid-March and we’re ready for the challenge,” Mummey said.

Although the team’s main home site is Mariner High School, due to scheduling issues with the pandemic this past year, many games have been played at Archbishop Murphy High School, where Saturday’s regular season opener took place.

According to Mummey, it has been a great venue that offers a good setting for semi-pro soccer. The current venue has seen an average of 300-400 attendees for most matches, according to Mummey. Due to C OVID restrictions the venue is capping attendees at 400, which to Mummey has been the biggest obstacle when playing during the pandemic.

The Jets broke their home winning streak with an exhibition loss against the Narrows the previous Saturday before losing to Bellingham.

“[It] was a hard loss. However, it was in an exhibition game where results don’t count toward the season. Because of that, our coaching staff was trying out a lot of new things with players and formations. Overall, we feel it was a good wake-up call and learning lesson for us. We’ll be taking those lessons learned and applying them going forward,” Mummey told the Lynnwood Times.

Many of the roster for the Jets consist of players from college teams and star player Glenn Paden remains the highest goal scorer for the Jets.

On Saturday, 6 p.m. May 29, the Everett Jets will play their first round in the Washington State Super Cup. The team drew the Wenatchee All-Stars FC in the first round at home. The Super Cup is open to all amateur teams in the state, which is why they face Wenatchee, typically not in the Jets League (the EPLWA).

There will be four rounds of single elimination knockout play where the winner is crowned and given the Super Cup Trophy at the end of the tournament in July. The match will be played at Archbishop Murphy High School.

“We are ecstatic for the opportunity to play for two meaningful trophies this year, the EPLWA League and the WA Super Cup,” Mummey said.

For tickets visit https://www.everettjetsfc.com/tickets and follow live broadcasts of matches on the official Everett Jets FC Podcast.