In the past month, Spokane Zephyr FC has been moving like the wind toward its future and the Aug. 17 opening of the inaugural USL Super League Season. The club’s roster has been filled with talented players, and after a deliberate selection process, the team now has most of its sideline leadership in place.
Head Coach Jo Johnson and Assistant Coach Brian Periman have had successful careers coaching at the collegiate level. In interviews last month, both said they were drawn to their positions with Spokane Zephyr FC because of the quality of the organization and the enthusiastic support shown to the men’s side, Spokane Velocity FC. Both said they are excited to take on the challenge of not only helping to bring a new club to fruition, but in assisting to launch a new professional women’s soccer league here in Spokane.
With the opening day of the USL Super League mere weeks away, let’s take a few minutes to get to know the Zephyr leadership team.
Head Coach, Jo Johnson
Q: How does it feel to be a part of launching a new professional women’s soccer league?
A: I didn’t have an opportunity when I was done playing college to play pro. There were leagues and they would fold, and then there were leagues and they would fold. The NWSL (National Women’s Soccer League) has done a great job kind of laying the foundation, but there’s still more opportunities. There are a lot of players that don’t have the ability to play at the next level without going overseas, and so it’s nice to not only compete at that high level, be division one pro, but also just offer those opportunities for them to play on and show their capabilities here in the United States.
Q: It certainly feels like an exciting time in women’s sports, with the launch of the USL Super League. It seems like women’s soccer has always been trailblazing creating room for athletes to grow. What’s it like to see that from the inside?
A: A: It’s historic, and it’s exciting to be part of it. Just speaking for me, I was watching the Ninety-Niners (the 1999 U.S. Women’s National Team that won the World Cup) play in my room because nobody else wanted to watch it with me at the time. It’s so different now with the growth of the game. You see all these girls that are now in college, and graduating, that got to experience seeing women’s professional soccer from their youth. Having the ability and space to play at that top level and have the exposure, the media, the advertisements it’s really neat to see and exciting to be a part of.
Q: Have you spent much time in the Northwest before this?
A: Just visiting and playing. I grew up in Phoenix and then we had seven years in El Paso and then Oklahoma, so slowly but surely I’ve been making my way up that way. But it looks beautiful in Spokane. I’m excited. Everything I’ve heard about the town is super supportive. It’s just an honor to represent such a great community and I’m honored to represent this historic moment in women’s sports. And I’m honored to be another trailblazer and open up doors just for younger girls to say, hey, there’s a female coach at the top level, they look like me, maybe I can do that one day.
Goalkeeping & Assistant Coach, Brian Periman
Q: You spent six years as a talent scout for the U.S. Women’s National Team. What was that experience like?
A: It was a blast. I loved it. When I got the offer to do it, I didn’t know what I was doing, so it was very much learning as you’re put into it, and with my personality, I put everything into it. I’ve learned a lot, learning how to properly evaluate players, how to scout, and it’s really helped my career. And it’s fun now because there are girls like Emeri Adames who’s at the (Seattle) Reign, she was a girl we had at the U14 camp a few years ago. There are girls like that who I have scouted a lot and it’s fun to see where they are now.
Q: As a coach, what drew you to the women’s game?
A: No one has ever asked me that before. I mean, for me, it’s where I got my start coaching and
I enjoyed it. It was one of those things where I just kept kind of working hard and getting rewarded with either a higher job or like into the national team stuff. In my experience, like when you’re working with the women, like they want to learn and they want to kind of know the whys of stuff. And to me, that’s enjoyable because that’s what coaching is.
Q: From your days on the staff at Arizona, you’ve become familiar with Pullman and Eastern Washington, playing away games at Washington State University. Are you excited about coming to Spokane and getting to explore the city a bit more, and helping develop professional soccer here?
A: I am. We were up there last year when (Arizona) played Gonzaga So I got to go on my morning run through downtown and I really enjoyed it when we were there. But I’m definitely excited to help bring women’s soccer and grow women’s soccer there. I think with the success that Gonzaga’s women’s soccer program has had, now bringing a professional team in and growing that even more, both those will help that aspect of developing the women’s game.