Inaugural season out of the way, Jason Farrell looks for more success with Ballard FC
By Charles Hamaker
Interbay, WA – A local man himself, Ballard FC head coach Jason Farrell is in the position of a lifetime as the manager for this club that created an electric atmosphere at Interbay stadium in 2022. Heading into year two, with all the nuance that an inaugural season brings out of the way, Farrell and his staff are looking towards going deeper than the USL League two conference finals. With a deeper roster, a quality mix of returning and new faces, Ballard FC will look to ensure that their inaugural season wasn’t some sort of magic pixie dust fueled ride but rather a true team looking to contend.
Reloading for year two
Following the first season in Ballard FC’s history, it was going to be interesting to see how the club would retool to compete again as they did through their first campaign. Taking into consideration that this is a league where we mostly see college students and many of them don’t necessarily feel the need to remain loyal to one specific club, it was important for Farrell and Ballard FC to make an environment and grow a culture that was going to bring back players. With most of the group returning and those players coming back spreading the word about what Ballard FC is building, it’s exciting to think about the sort of success and environment that this club will be able to create going forward.
“Yeah, it’s a good question. First and foremost, one of the challenges of this level really is that have some very, what we hope to be, impactful guys that this is their first session, you know. Based on when their spring seasons end in their college or when their final exams were taken, these guys have been kind of straggling in over the past couple of weeks. We still have two or three other guys that won’t come in for another few days, so that’s a challenge. It’s not unique to our club. Every club is kind of in the same boat, so it’s not a disadvantage. It’s tough to be cohesive going into the first couple of games. But on the other hand, I think the amount of talent that we’ve got on this roster, we were good last year, roster wise we’re better. This year we’re deeper, and overall, talent wise we’re better. Hopefully until that team chemistry, team culture starts to develop over the next couple of weeks, that talent will start to kind of carry us through the first few games and I think that’ll happen. It’ll be a good test Thursday night against the Whitecaps. I mean, it’s their U19 team, but it’ll be a very well disciplined and talented team as well. So hopefully it’ll be a good test for us to get kind of our main guy’s more playing time and prepare for Sunday.”
Preparations for the next campaign
Continuing into the theme of trying to retool and reload with this club under the rules and guidelines of USL League Two, it wasn’t like Farrell could be fully involved with the club year-round to try and find different players and improvements to work forward with. Farrell admits that it isn’t a full-time job, and that he had other obligations to work on while not wearing the Ballard FC crest. Once he returned and got to work with his staff, though, it was off to the races to try and get even better than the group that reached the USL league two conference final in its first go around. It’s not an easy feat, as Farrell and crew needed to know who to bring back and who to give the okay to for joining the club, even denying some players that they thought were great. When things are settled and the full group is here, the hope is that they made the right decisions to acquire hardware.
“It’s not a full-time gig, for sure. Once the season was over, everybody kind of goes their own separate ways. I did internally reflect on a lot of it, and then it’s about November/December, where we started reconvening and starting to scout and recruit for this season. There was a couple of months where there wasn’t a heck of a lot going on other than just kind of internal stuff. But yeah, we picked it up pretty hot and heavy around the holidays last year. And you know what? Based on what we did last year and based on the experience that these players had last year, our players were our best recruiters because they would all go back to kind of their own programs and schools and everything and talk about the experience they had here. And we had so many people reach out, so many good players. We had to say no to a lot of good players because we don’t have the ability to take everybody. And we wanted to also make sure that we have enough of a core roster from last year so that we can start to build a culture. If it’s complete turnover every year, it’s very difficult, right? But, if we can keep so we’re almost 50-50 this year, I think if it’s that model going forward it’s good because there’s enough guys that have done it, have been here and can kind of hold the new guys to a standard that they know that the supporters are going to hold us to was valuable for us as well.”
Fans fueling them forward
One of the things I have heard about the most when it comes to Ballard FC, partially thanks to my uncle Chris who loves the club, is the fan support and the atmosphere at Interbay stadium. A stadium that I once played recreation and high school soccer at, Interbay is a smaller facility but Ballard FC matches last summer were packed to the brim and brought their own special sunny vibe to the beautiful game. Many around the Seattle area were left talking about how they wanted to make it out to a match to experience that same vibe and atmosphere, including “Theathletic.com” Mariners beat writer Corey Brock. Having a good team is one part of a successful club, but to have the atmosphere and environment that has folks buzzing to get out to your building for a match? Now that is building a strong reputation and culture moving forward.
“The support was amazing and quite honestly, I think it was a big reason why we were successful, especially early in the season. Like I said, trying to go from zero to 100 miles an hour in ten days; We don’t have a six-week preseason. I think those first couple of games we had at home, the support, it was impactful for these guys. And getting a couple of early wins in the season, it’s only twelve games, so you can’t afford to lose too many out of the gate. I think us being successful early on last year was super important and the fans, the support, the atmosphere, the environment were a big reason why. But in terms of looking back on last year, everything happened so fast.”
Reflecting on year one
With all the emotion and history that comes with an inaugural year plus the different milestones that took place with this job, there were surely a lot of emotions for coach Farrell. Coaching a club that calls where he lives home, bringing together a group of young men in year one and having the team go as far as they did, the culture and atmosphere created that we’ve mentioned... it can be a lot. So, at this Ballard FC media day, I was curious to see how Farrell was able to sit down and look back on the moments that transpired through year one. As it was taking place, there wasn’t much time and opportunity to sit and reflect, but it seems as though after the season had concluded, Farrell was able to appreciate the experiences and memories that took place.
“You’re right. We don’t get a lot of chance to kind of review and kind of implement things because things are just going kind of crazy for a couple of months. But afterwards I just feel fortunate to be involved in this club and this project, and I count myself lucky. I mean, there are times I kind of wish I could be in the Beer Garden and watch as a fan as well because it looks like such an awesome way to spend a Friday night in the middle of summer. But no, I feel lucky to be a part of what Ballard FC is doing.”
Raising the standard
Talking previously about USL League two and how things are run differently than some of the clubs that we’re used to, like MLS and the NWSL around this area, it’s interesting to note those contrasts. With players not necessarily tied down to one club, things can be fluid and that includes accommodations for those players when they’re with their respective teams. It could be a “low-effort” situation where those players come to the field around game-time and get going and have to rely on themselves a bit because this is a lower league. Not around Ballard FC, per coach Farrell. The club has made it a conscious effort to treat the players like professionals, a conversation that Farrell had with part-owner Sam Zisette. The two agreed that they wanted to treat their players like pros and make sure that they felt that way. Another building block in the foundation of the culture that this club is building, being set in place.
“It’s super cool, to be honest. The day I got hired, this was December 2021, one of the first things I told Sam was, obviously, we’re not in a professional organization, but I want to make sure and treat these guys as much like pros as we can within the constraints of the rules, obviously, but from bringing food for the guys, the media day, I mean, stuff like that. Not all the clubs do this. And again, if I’m a player, I’d rather be a part of a club that’s doing this type of stuff, as opposed to one that just says, all right, show up at the game an hour before and bring your own kit, and we’ll call it good. We try to elevate it a little bit, and that’s had an impact.”
Seattle’s local love of soccer
I’ve mentioned the atmosphere of the matches that Ballard played at Interbay, and the culture that this club is building. I felt that at the root of all that, is Seattle’s love for the game of soccer. It’s been shown time and time again just how deep that love goes, and there are some historic moments that go along with it. Whether that be the great Pele gracing Seattle soil many decades ago, the success that the Sounders and Reign have earned in their respective existences, and the different professional players that have come out of this area. It runs deep, Seattle truly loves the game of soccer. I grew up playing the sport and I still miss it, as my tiempo’s cry from the closet. The love for this sport is a strong reason why this club has received such a great reception, and why it will do so for years to come.
“It’s huge, it’s everything, I mean, it’s as close to a smaller, lower division club in England or something like that, it really is. I live in Ballard. I don’t know how many it is, but it’s at least a handful of guys that grew up in Ballard that are on the roster. We’ve got at least half of the guys that grew up in Seattle, so it’s a very local feel to it. But we’ve also got guys from Mexico, South Korea, Japan, Cameroon, Ghana, France. It’s like, almost a perfect combination of local guys and guys that bring a little bit more flair to it. So again, I live in Ballard. I go to the Ballard market all the time. I walk down Market Street, and there’s people in Ballad FC jerseys or hats or whatever. This is super cool. I was gardening yesterday afternoon, just watering some plants or whatever, and a guy, older guy was walking by with his dog. I’d never seen him before. He’s like, ‘hey, Coach.’ And I’m like, oh, hey, how’s it going? So, we ended up talking a few minutes and he said ‘oh, yeah, I got season tickets.’ It’s so cool, it almost gives me the chills. Going back, it’s like a small town club in Europe or something where people just appreciate what the players and the coaches and the club are doing for the community, because it’s such an amazing community that something like this they can kind of take ownership of is awesome.”