Revived Storm To Join Amateur Soccer League

The Seattle Storm soccer club, dormant since 1990, is being resurrected on a smaller scale by Coach Stuart Lee.

Lee said he will assemble an 18-member squad that will play in the decades-old Pacific Coast League with 10 British Columbia teams and an entry from Bellingham called the Washington Reign.

Lee said the PCL is an outdoor amateur league but offers some end-of-season prize money.

Lee said he bought the Storm franchise for a nominal fee last month from Bud Greer. The Storm started in 1984 as FC Seattle and its most successful year was 1988, when it won the championship of the Western Soccer League, forerunner of the American Professional Soccer League.

Lee said he plans to play 11 league home games plus exhibitions at a variety of sites, including Everett, Bellevue, Bremerton and possibly Fife. The coach said he expects most games in the April-to-August season will be played Saturday afternoons.

"I'm doing this not only because quality players are still around, but because the young people have nothing to watch," said Lee.

The coach played professionally for 18 years in England and the United States, including stints with the Portland Timbers and Seattle Sounders of the North American Soccer League.

Lee said Fran O'Brien, a former Tacoma Star, will be a player-assistant coach. Among athletes who have contacted Lee about playing is Chance Fry, former Sammamish High School star who was the Storm's top scorer.

Lee said the team is looking for sponsors.

Tryouts are scheduled Feb. 6-7. For information, call 838-3032.