Welcome to a new series that looks at the markets where WPSL PRO is emerging. First up, we look at Austin Rise, which was founded in 2023 as an amateur club in the existing WPSL. The largest presence in the area is no doubt the University of Texas at Austin, although they play their games at the 20,000-seater Myers Stadium, which also has the major drawback of having a track around the pitch. The club sits in an area overflowing with minor-league sports, such as the Round Rock Express AAA baseball team, but it would be one of the highest-profile professional outfits, alongside Austin FC in MLS , back-to-back League One Volleyball champions LOVB Austin, and Athletes Unlimited Softball club Texas Volts.
We sat down with Rise co-founder Bethany Cyrtmus-Davaul to discuss the club's emergence and its place in the 2.5 million population Greater Austin. They are preparing for a tilt at TST at the end of this month, with a roster that feels familiar to WPSL fans used to current student-athletes, but with a sprinkling of recent graduates who have made varying impacts on the professional game.
The 7-a-side game attracts professional futsal players from around the world, and the tournament offers a $1 million prize for the women, the same level as the men's and mixed categories. The club is building for a professional future, meaning that Rise is essentially constructing three different rosters - TST, WPSL, and professional.
We had to be more strategic this year. We are playing outside of the college window so about half of our players can be college players but about half need to be these local talents, whether that's really great high school talent, some already committed to D1 schools. On the opposite side you've got your post college players and they still wanna play at the highest level they can. So, those players lead the way in the pre and post-season exhibitions.
The club is building out its schedule with a target of a 2027 professional season, but the availability of college athletes means that the playing window is May-mid July, and even July sees pressure for players to return to their clubs. "We want to grow the presence and the energy of what we offer fans here in community." said Cyrtmus-Davaul. Therefore, an exhibition game against the top-tier varsity program of Tecnológico de Monterrey has been played, and another is already scheduled for the Atletico Dallas UPSL women's team, with negotiations on-going for other top-level amateur and pro competitions. The top of the cake requires other tiers, so the entire "developmental pathway" of the club is under review.
Once players have hit 18 and entered that semi-pro world, certainly we want players to be able to just work their way up that system.
Meanwhile, even as an amateur club, Rise has already established itself at the 6500-seater House Park, the main high school football stadium for 9 independent school districts in the city, which dates back to 1939. The newly renovated House Park now has potential for hospitality that didn't exist in the previous, and typical of its level, press facilities. The site has plenty of history. Before becoming the original Orlando City, the original Austin Aztex in USSF D2 played at House Park under the coaching of former MNUFC head coach Adrian Heath.
The area has seen multiple clubs at the men's Championship (including two sides called Austin Aztex) and women's UWS levels fail. It was the latter that catalyzed the founding of Austin Rise.
Austin Rise was founded by five players who previously played together on a team that unfortunately dissolved. They decided to form a new team to create a playing opportunity for themselves and other girls. The founding process included brainstorming team names, branding, colors, and establishing club values.
It's a really fun process because you're thinking about your club's values and what you wanna bring to the community. Austin's a great soccer city. Q2 (Austin FC's stadium) sells out regularly. When the US women come to town it's packed. Really phenomenal energy. None of us had run a soccer organization before so we sought an advisory board. And then it's just a lot of planning and preparation to bring a really good product, not just on the field but for our fans too.
In that first season, Cyrtmus-Davaul was a self-described "super sub" goal scorer for Austin Rise before it became clear that the club needed her behind the scenes.
Last year, they won the Lonestar Conference for the second consecutive year. Austin Rise has reached the quarterfinals but has not yet made it to the national final four, a goal they are aiming to achieve this season. Stay tuned for coverage all the way through to regionals on Northland Soccer Journal as the winner of the Northern Conference gets to host. That is, unless Thunder wins the conference, wherein another team from the Northland would take the role.
The TST 7v7 tournament is viewed as an opportunity to help boost awareness of the club on a national and international scale during the transition to becoming a fully pro side.
It's going to be different from what you're looking for in WPSL. Yes there'll be certain players who are gonna be excellent profiles for both, but there's some things that you really need in 11s that might not matter as much in 7s. The team partnered with Newtown Pride, the first TST championship winner and the Pride Head Coach coached Rise women. The roster is very different and ultimately there is a completely different coaching staff. They do their own type of recruiting The final last year was US Women vs Bumpy Pitch and Bumpy Pitch is basically the national championship winning Florida State squad.
That said, there is a definite pipeline, "What we absolutely want to see is our WPSL players growing into the opportunity to play in the TST tournament" insists Cyrtmus-Davaul. One player who is playing in both modes for Rise is Savannah Schutt, a Kentucky commit who is 17. "Brilliant, phenomenal footwork in small sided games" led to a call up for the US Futsal National Team. The squad also includes Cyrtmus-Davaul's former team mate Lucy Ortiz, who is from Austin but playing pro in Mazatlán, Mexico. Mykell Bates, a long-time coach who is now on the WPSL staff for Rise, and Cyrtmus-Davaul identified that former Minnesota Aurora player Bayliss Flynn is transferring to Texas, and approached the NCAA save percentage leader to join. After TST, Flynn will play in USL W League for Lone Star FC.
With all the uncertainties surrounding timelines at this level, Cyrtmus-Davaul seems very sure about the direction and the ultimate goal, in a manner that you might expect from a former super-sub goal poacher.
We know that we can lead the way to bring pro soccer to Austin and if we were gonna do that, we needed to make sure our gameday experience was professionally run and that it's fun and that it's family friendly. So we always knew we were building a foundation for that. We are continuing to push to bring pro women's soccer to Austin in 2027. We have a good enough existing infrastructure built that we can make that happen.
What are Rise's recruitment values?
Of course, players have to be talented, but are they gonna be players who bring the good energy to the practice. Are they gonna be uplifting their team mates? We want our players to be great, great community together. Work together, building each other up, having that good positive vibe and energy. Not in a sunshine and rainbows kinda way. Semi-pro and pro soccer is intense, training is intense and you've gotta take care of business on the pitch. There are no gimmes. We have a 40 person roster in the Summer, no one is guaranteed game time in the WPSL.
While acknowledging that recruitment was not her role, Cyrtmus-Davaul highlighted the veteran presence of Katie Gernsbacher, both at Texas and then North Texas and twice in an Armed Forces World Cup. She has the single-season goal-scoring record for the club, including a division-clinching hat trick. Ryann Jergovich out of St. Edwards University is a winger and on a professional trajectory and VMI graduate Gabby Criscione is a rock at the back. Like many, or maybe even most, at this level Cyrtmus-Davaul also looks forward to the steady progression of players year after year from callow youth into college and professional life.
Rise's season begins next week, with a pop-up event called Rise Up, next Wednesday between 6 and 9 pm.
Rise take the pitch for the first time this season on 16th May at 5 pm at Fort Worth Vaqueras, before they re-tool and undertake TST from an opening match against Speedy Turtles FC on May 28th at 2:15pm at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, NC.
Next time, we look at WPSL PRO in the Atlanta metro.
