Tulsa Athletic

Tulsa Athletic is an American soccer team and are based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States. The 2023 NPSL National Champion, 2013 was their inaugural season in the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL), which is a national league at the fourth tier of the American soccer pyramid. They compete in the NPSL's Heartland Conference. The team maintains amateur status under NPSL rules, allowing college players to participate without losing their collegiate eligibility. The club currently plays at Athletic Community Field at Hicks Park since the 2022 season, having previously played at Veterans Park (2018–21), LaFortune Stadium (2017) and Drillers Stadium (2013–16), the former home of the Tulsa Drillers baseball team.^[1][2][3]

Tulsa Athletic

Full name	Tulsa Athletic
Nickname(s)	The A's
Founded	2013; 11 years ago (2013)
Stadium	Athletic Community Field at Hicks Park
Owners	Sonny Dalesandro Thomas J. Kern
Head coach	Jason Rogers
League	National Premier Soccer League
2023	NPSL National Champions
Website	Club website
Home colors Away colors Third colors

Crest and colors

The green that Athletic wears is symbolic of "green country", the moniker given to the area of Oklahoma where Tulsa sits. The gold in the pinstripes that appear on the home kit (and are the dominant color of the away kit) represents trophies, championships, and victory. The crest is a pink shield featuring a unicorn facing a lion surrounding a soccer ball, symbolizing both strength and magic. The pink color of the crest is designed to illustrate the heart. The badge's location over the heart on the jersey signifies that all who wear the crest (players and fans alike) share the same heart.^{[citation needed]}

Support

A supporters group associated with Tulsa Athletic are the Athletics Armory, who congregate behind the north goal at home matches.^{[citation needed]}

Fans have given the team several unofficial nicknames, including "the A's" and "The Foxes", named after 'Lester', a lone fox who resides in the team's stadium.^{[citation needed]}

Rivalries

In 2014 Oklahoma City FC left PDL to join the NPSL, which created an in-state rivalry. The two clubs separated by just 100 miles played in the OK Derby.^{[citation needed]}

The inaugural Red River Cup was contested in May 2014.^{[citation needed]} Four clubs (Fort Worth Vaqueros, Liverpool Warriors, Oklahoma City FC) met in a two-day tournament hosted by Tulsa, who won the title over Oklahoma City FC.^{[4][better source needed]}

Oklahoma City 1889 FC joined the NPSL in 2021 which resulted in another in-state rivalry, with supporters choosing the name “The War for I-44.”^{[citation needed]}

A crosstown derby against FC Tulsa was established in 2022 through the U.S. Open Cup nicknamed the Tulsa Derby.

Tulsa Derby

Record

Won	Drawn	Lost	GF	GA
1	0	1	2	2

Results

Date	Competition	Winner	Score	Location
April 5, 2023	U.S. Open Cup	Tulsa Athletic	1–0	Hicks Park
April 5, 2022	U.S. Open Cup	FC Tulsa	1–2	ONEOK Field

War for I-44

Record

Won	Drawn	Lost	GF	GA
7	0	2	22	10

Results

Date	Competition	Winner	Score	Location
July 15, 2023	NPSL Playoffs	Tulsa Athletic	2–1	Claremore, OK
June 17, 2023	NPSL	Tulsa Athletic	2–1	Claremore, OK
May 24, 2023	NPSL	OKC 1889	0-1	Oklahoma City, OK
July 16, 2022	NPSL Playoffs	Tulsa Athletic	5–1	Tulsa, OK
July 16, 2022	NPSL	Tulsa Athletic	5–1	Tulsa, OK
May 25, 2022	NPSL	Tulsa Athletic	3–0	Oklahoma City, OK
July 14, 2021	NPSL Playoffs	Tulsa Athletic	2–2 (5–4 in PKs)	Tulsa, OK
June 27, 2021	NPSL	Tulsa Athletic	2–0	Edmond, OK
May 16, 2021	NPSL	OKC 1889	1–3	Tulsa, OK

Current squad

As of April 2023

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK   USA Bryson Reed 2 DF   USA Chris Taylor 3 MF   USA Jonathan Harris 4 DF   USA Rio Ramirez 5 DF   USA Alejandro Chavez 6 MF   BRA Vinicius Oliveira 7 FW   SRB Stefan Cvetanovic 9 FW   USA Aaron Ugbah 10 FW   ENG Jordan Watson 11 MF   USA Roman Torres

No. Pos. Nation Player 11 FW   USA Titus Grant 13 DF   MEX Javo Reyes 17 MF   USA Joe Garcia 18 MF   USA Mitchell Cashion 19 MF   MEX Ruben Torres 20 MF   USA Ciaran Winters 21 DF   USA Joe Ruiz 22 MF   GAB Aboubakr Diallo 23 MF   BRA Riolan Mello 25 GK   USA Brady Moody

Year-by-year

Year	Division	League	Regular Season	W-D-L	GF-GA	Playoffs	W-D-L	GF-GA	U.S. Open Cup	W-D-L	GF-GA	National Amateur Cup	W-D-L	GF-GA
2013	4	NPSL	1st, South Central	10–2–0	44–9	South Region Semifinal	0–0–1	0–0 (Lost on penalties)	did not qualify	N/A	N/A	did not play	N/A	N/A
2014	4	NPSL	1st, South Central	9–0–1	46–13	South Region Final	3–0–1	14–6	2nd Round	0–0–1	0–2	did not play	N/A	N/A
2015	4	NPSL	3rd, South Central	7–3–4	52–33	did not qualify	N/A	N/A	1st Round	0–0–1	1–3	did not play	N/A	N/A
2016	4	NPSL	1st, South Central	11–0–1	38–9	South Central Conference Final	1–0–1	5–3	did not qualify	N/A	N/A	did not play	N/A	N/A
2017	4	NPSL	2nd, Heartland	5–1–4	25–16	Heartland Conference Final	1–0–1	2–5	1st Round	0–0–1	1–1 (Lost on penalties)	did not play	N/A	N/A
2018	4	NPSL	3rd, Heartland	6–0–4	26–17	Heartland Conference Semifinal	0–0–1	0–1	did not qualify	N/A	N/A	did not play	N/A	N/A
2019	4	NPSL	1st, Heartland	7–3–0	24–8	South Region Final	3–0–1	12–7	did not qualify	N/A	N/A	did not play	N/A	N/A
2020	4	UPSL	1st, Central-North	13–0–1	60–11	Central Region Semifinal	1–0–1	4–4	Not played	N/A	N/A	did not play	N/A	N/A
2021	4	NPSL	2nd, Heartland	6–3–1	32–9	NPSL National Championship Runner Up	4–0–1	8–9	Not played	N/A	N/A	did not play	N/A	N/A
2022	4	NPSL	1st, Heartland	9–2–1	36–10	NPSL National Semifinal	4–0–1	8–3	2nd Round	1–0–1	4–2	did not play	N/A	N/A
2023	4	NPSL	1st, Heartland	7-2-1	23-8	NPSL National Champions	6-0-0	15-6	3rd Round	2–0–1	2–3	Region III Final	2-1-2	10-14

All time Table

Match Type	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Goals For	Goals Against	Goal Difference	Win %
Regular Season	124	90	16	18	406	143	+263	072.58
Playoffs	32	23	0	9	68	43	+25	071.88
U.S. Open Cup	8	3	0	5	8	11	−3	037.50
National Amateur Cup	5	2	1	2	10	14	−4	040.00
Total	169	118	17	34	492	212	+280	069.82

• Updated as of August 5, 2023

Head coaches

• Includes all competitive matches: regular season, playoffs, and open cup.

Coach	Nationality	Start	End	Games	Win	Draw	Loss	GF	GA	GD	Win %
Joey Ryan	United States	2013	2019	95	63	9	23	290	133	+157	066.32
Levi Coleman	United States	2020	2023	50	38	5	7	152	48	+104	076.00
Jason Rogers	United States	2023	Present	24	17	3	4	50	31	+19	070.83

Honors

Club

• NPSL
  • National Champions (1): 2023
  • National Runners-Up (1): 2021
• NPSL Midwest Region
  • Champions (1): 2023
• NPSL South Region
  • Champions (2): 2021, 2022
    • Runners-Up (2): 2014, 2019
• NPSL South-Central Conference
  • Champions (2): 2013, 2014
• NPSL Heartland Conference
  • Champions (4): 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023
  • Regular Season Shield (3): 2019, 2022, 2023
• Red River Cup
  • Champions (1): 2014
• UPSL Central Conference-North Division
  • Champions (1): 2020

Year	Honor
2013	South-Central Conference Champions
2014	South-Central Conference Champions
2014	South Region Runners-Up
2014	Red River Cup Champions
2019	Heartland Conference Shield
2019	Heartland Conference Champions
2019	South Region Runners-Up
2020	Central Conference-North Division Champions
2021	Heartland Conference Champions
2021	South Region Champions
2021	National Championship Runners-Up
2022	Heartland Conference Shield
2022	Heartland Conference Champions
2022	South Region Champions
2023	Heartland Conference Shield
2023	Heartland Conference Champions
2023	Midwest Region Champions
2023^[5]	NPSL National Champions

Individual

Year	Player	Position	Honor
2016	Dave Leung	Forward	Supporters' XI – First Team
2016	Terence Smith	Defender	Supporters' XI – Second Team
2017	Joe Garcia	Midfielder	South Region Best XI
2018	Damieon Thomas	Forward	Heartland Conference XI
2018	Declan Fitzpatrick	Midfielder	Heartland Conference XI
2019	Aboubakr Diallo	Forward	Heartland Conference XI
2019	Joseph Ruiz	Midfielder	Heartland Conference XI
2019	Gustavo Vargas	Defender	Heartland Conference XI
2019	Joey Ryan	Manager	Heartland Conference XI
2019	Joseph Ruiz	Midfielder	South Region XI
2019	Gustavo Vargas	Defender	South Region XI
2020	Santiago Riveros	Midfielder	UPSL Central Best XI
2020	Hunter Harrison	Goalkeeper	UPSL Central Best XI
2021	Aboubakr Diallo	Forward	Heartland Conference XI
2021	Joseph Garcia	Midfielder	Heartland Conference XI
2021	Joseph Ruiz	Defender	Heartland Conference XI
2021	Levi Coleman	Manager	Heartland Conference XI
2021	Levi Coleman	Manager	South Region XI
2021	Levi Coleman	Manager	National XI
2021	Levi Coleman	Manager	NPSL Coach of the Season
2022	Reed Berry	Forward	Heartland Conference XI
2022	Vinicius De Oliveira	Midfielder	Heartland Conference XI
2022	Joseph Ruiz	Defender	Heartland Conference XI
2021	Levi Coleman	Manager	Heartland Conference XI
2022	Joseph Ruiz	Defender	South Region XI
2023	Aboubakr Diallo	Forward	Heartland Conference XI
2023	Rio Mello	Midfielder	Heartland Conference XI
2023	Vitor Turnes	Defender	Heartland Conference XI
2023	Bryson Reed	Goalkeeper	Heartland Conference XI
2023	Aboubakr Diallo	Forward	Midwest Region XI
2023	Vitor Turnes	Midfield	Midwest Region XI
2023	Bryson Reed	Goalkeeper	Midwest Region XI
2023	Aboubakr Diallo	Forward	National XI

Records

• Biggest win: 13–0 vs BCS Clash, May 11, 2014
• First win: vs Liverpool Warriors, May 18, 2013
• 50th win: vs Demize NPSL, May 19, 2018
• 100th win: vs Laredo Heat, July 20, 2022
• First goal: Omar Mata vs Liverpool Warriors, May 18, 2013
• 100th goal: Damieon Thomas vs Corinthians FC of San Antonio, July 13, 2014
• 250th goal: Gustavo Vargas vs Demize NPSL, June 24, 2018

References

1. Ferguson, John D. (April 5, 2013). "Tulsa's new pro soccer team to play at Drillers Stadium". Tulsa World.
2. Bewley, Dan (April 4, 2013). "National Premiere League Soccer Coming To Tulsa's Old Drillers Stadium". KOTV-DT.
3. "Soccer: Tulsa Athletic release schedule". Tulsa World. Tulsa, OK: World Publishing Company. February 12, 2014. Retrieved February 14, 2014.
4. "Athletics Win the First Annual Red River Cup". Tulsa Athletics. 5 May 2014.
5. "TULSA ATHLETIC CROWNED 2023 NPSL NATIONAL CHAMPIONS". www.NPSL.com. National Premier Soccer League. August 6, 2023. Retrieved August 6, 2023.

External links

• Official website