Kelly Grayum, Liberty Bell’s new head coach for the girls’ soccer team, has an impressive pedigree in the sport.
New head coach is familiar face on Liberty Bell pitch
A new coaching role, a larger roster and ambitious dreams highlight Kelly Grayum’s first year at the helm of the Liberty Bell High School girls’ soccer program.
It’s not his first experience with this group. His history of coaching in the Methow Valley began with the youth program, taking on the team with his young daughter Mabel and her group of friends in the program several years ago. He’s been with them as coach while they grew in the game through middle school before jumping into the high school assistant position last year under Katie Overbeck while most of them were in eighth grade.
As they are freshmen this year, they are all back together again and ready to do great things over the next four seasons.
Grayum’s resumé in the game of soccer is deep. He began playing as a young boy growing up in Lacey, Washington, and attending Timberline High School. He moved on to Western Washington University, where he played in the net as goalkeeper most of the time for the Vikings. He shares the WWU soccer experience with former Methow Valley School Superintendent Tom Venable, though he is quick to point out that it wasn’t at the same time.
“Tom was there several years before me,” Grayum said. “What people might not know is that he was an excellent soccer player there. He was really good.”
“After college I played three years of semi-pro soccer on some good teams and even got to play an exhibition team with the Seattle Sounders before the MISL days,” Grayum said.
He left the pro soccer life after three years to pursue a teaching career and began his coaching pursuits with some club teams, then moved into the middle school ranks and eventually coached at a couple of high schools in Whatcom County at Sehome and Mount Baker.
During his time as an assistant at Sehome, the Mariners boys won a state 3A soccer championship in 2002. He also spent some time coaching goalkeepers at the college level, his position for much of his career.
After accepting a teaching job at Liberty Bell in 2014, Grayum got involved with the girls’ youth soccer program, coaching Mabel’s teams as a volunteer and then signing on with the middle school programs when they started up in 2023.
Last year he applied and was selected to fill a vacancy in the assistant girls’ varsity coach position and was the natural replacement when Overbeck announced she was stepping down last spring.
Setting priorities
Grayum’s main focus is to continue to build the program in numbers and teach girls how to play as a team and gain success through teamwork, skills and passion for the game. Success, for Grayum this year, is not measured by the scoreboard at the end of a game, or the standings in the league at the end of the year.
Overbeck’s tenure was made more difficult with the interruption of the COVID pandemic and the work she did to rebuild after that has been significant in bolstering the numbers.
“Katie was a good coach and knew how to get the best out of her players,” said Grayum of his predecessor. “Without her work over the last four years, where would we be? I really enjoyed coaching with her.”
So, here comes the new youth movement in the program this year. Grayum is emphasizing a need to not place too much pressure on the win-loss record, but measure success a step at a time.
“It’s important we temper our expectations as we are a really young team,” observed the coach. “We need to measure success at the end of every training session.”
Keeping a positive outlook, working through the inevitable mistakes and then moving on are traits Grayum is emphasizing this year.
“In the past, we’ve seen and heard a lot of self-doubt and negative talk after something bad happens, creating panic. We don’t want that and we’re working on it. Staying positive,” he said.
Rebuilding from 2025
The Mountain Lions are in a rebuilding mode. Gone are one of Liberty Bell’s more prolific scorers in Marit Nelson, solid and skilled forward Olive Frady, key defensive players Audrey Roman and Lucy Collier, and veteran goalkeeper Lilly Belcher.
Fourteen of the 22 roster players are freshmen and sophomores this year. Experienced leadership will come from the eight upper class members, three seniors and five juniors. Several members among that group have shown leadership qualities, according to Grayum.
Those include junior defender Clara Ramsey-George. She is anxious to get going but is still limited in participation and contact by an elbow-upper arm injury suffered early on in this summer’s Wrecking Crew wrestling program. Ramsey-George is doing the conditioning work and some skills drilling, but had not been cleared for full participation as of last Friday.
“Clara’s an amazing athlete, really enthusiastic and doing all she can to get ready for when she can play,’ the coach said. “She’s doing all of the conditioning and some of the drills as best she can. Along with Wylie Smith, another junior, she will be really good and help out our goalkeepers.”
Center midfielder Anya Merkens (junior) is a player the girls look up to.
“She’s going to be a really important player for us,” Grayum said. “She’s a positive kid, doesn’t dwell on her mistakes and the players all look up to her.”
Elaine Walker and Adelina Humling are both also expected to take on a leadership role this season. Walker, another junior, and Humling, a senior, play with a passion and knowledge of the game. Grayum singled out Walker as an example of an attacking player who wants the ball and make things happen.
A senior new to the soccer program this season is Taylor Hover. A multi-sport athlete who has played volleyball in the past, she is a quick study and should contribute immediately. She has some of those leadership qualities Grayum is seeking, serving as the point guard on the Mountain Lion varsity basketball team and as the anchor runner on both the 4×100 meter and 4×200 meter state qualifying relay teams in track.
“Her energy and spirit are really a positive influence,” Grayum noted, “and she is really picking up the game.”
The third of the senior trio is veteran Pepper Treise, who can punch the ball up field and has the ability to insert herself into those interior scrambles and release the ball out to the wings.
Emphasis on offense
Look for the Mountain Lions to play an attacking style of offense this year. With veterans Ramsay- George and Smith anchoring the defense, Grayum’s desire is to see them aggressively and repeatedly send the ball out of the defensive end and provide the offense some downfield momentum.
With two very young goalkeepers of very limited varsity experience, it will be up to the defenders to try and keep the ball away from the nets
Grayum hasn’t made the starting assessment yet, but Lucia Troyer, a sophomore, saw some limited duty last year behind graduated senior Lilly Belcher, and Caleigh Buzzard, a freshman will be minding the nets. Both have quick feet and are able to move laterally and come away from the net to cut down angles on shooters, but lack somewhat in the length department.
The Mountain Lions are on the road this weekend at Grayum’s old stomping grounds of Skagit and Whatcom Counties. Friday (Sept. 4) they travel to La Conner and Saturday (Sept. 5) it’s on to Blaine to face the Borderites. First home action will be on Tuesday, Sept. 15, at 4:30 p.m., when the Tonasket Tigers enter Mountain Lion Stadium.
