# 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.
On May 20, 2024, Tulsa Athletic were suspended from the NPSL, meaning that they wouldn't defend their title. On July 31st they announced that they would leave the NPSL in order to start their own amateur league entitled "The League for Clubs", with Athletic being founding members alongside Atlantic City FC, FC Davis, Kingston Stockade FC and Napa Valley 1839 FC.

## 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.

## Support

A supporters group associated with Tulsa Athletic are the Athletics Armory, who congregate behind the north goal at home matches.
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.

## 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.
The inaugural Red River Cup was contested in May 2014. 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.
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.”
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 |
| 8 | 0 | 2 | 24 | 11 |
Results :
| Date | Competition | Winner | Score | Location |
| June 12, 2024 | Friendly | Tulsa Athletic | 2-1 | Tulsa, OK |
| 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 Cvetanović |
| 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) | did not qualify | | did not play | |
| 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 | |
| 2015 | 4 | NPSL | 3rd, South Central | 7–3–4 (52–33) | did not qualify | | 1st Round | 0–0–1 (1–3) | did not play | |
| 2016 | 4 | NPSL | 1st, South Central | 11–0–1 (38–9) | South Central Conference Final | 1–0–1 (5–3) | did not qualify | | did not play | |
| 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) | did not play | |
| 2018 | 4 | NPSL | 3rd, Heartland | 6–0–4 (26–17) | Heartland Conference Semifinal | 0–0–1 (0–1) | did not qualify | | did not play | |
| 2019 | 4 | NPSL | 1st, Heartland | 7–3–0 (24–8) | South Region Final | 3–0–1 (12–7) | did not qualify | | did not play | |
| 2020 | 4 | UPSL | 1st, Central-North | 13–0–1 (60–11) | Central Region Semifinal | 1–0–1 (4–4) | not held | | did not play | |
| 2021 | 4 | NPSL | 2nd, Heartland | 6–3–1 (32–9) | NPSL National Championship Runner Up | 4–0–1 (8–9) | not held | | did not play | |
| 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 | |
| 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) |
| 2024 | 4 | – | – | 3-2-0 (11-3) | American Champions Cup Winners | 1-0-0 (2-1) | 1st Round | 0–0–1 (1-4) | did not play | |

### All time Table

| Match Type | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
| Regular Season | 129 | 93 | 18 | 18 | 417 | 146 | +271 | 072.09 |
| Playoffs | 33 | 24 | 0 | 9 | 70 | 44 | +26 | 072.73 |
| U.S. Open Cup | 9 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 9 | 15 | −6 | 033.33 |
| National Amateur Cup | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 14 | −4 | 040.00 |
| Total | 176 | 122 | 19 | 35 | 506 | 220 | +286 | 069.32 |
* Updated as of July 2, 2024

## 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

* USASA
** American Champions Cup Champions (1): 2024
* 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 | NPSL National Champions |
| 2024 | American Champions Cup Winners |

### 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