Austin Loves Soccer

Soccer, called football/futbol in most countries, transcends borders and cultures, connecting people from all walks of life all over the world. In 2021, Austin welcomed its first professional major league team, Austin FC of the Major League Soccer, to much fanfare in Central Texas. Austin FC joins the Dallas Texans and Houston Dynamo FC to become the third Texas Major League Soccer team.

The arrival of the franchise to the live music capital of the world not only provided locals with a professional soccer team to support but also galvanized the city's soccer community. Austin FC's vibrant supporter group, Los Verdes, is a fixture at matches and throughout the city, bringing color, passion, music, and energy to the stands and community events. A recent comparative analysis examining over 300 U.S. cities with collegiate or professional soccer teams across various divisions, highlighted Austin as a premier destination for soccer enthusiasts. 

The City's Parks and Recreation department is working with partners to provide local families and residents with free and safe recreation space to gather, play soccer, and stay active and healthy. Through a community PARKnerships program with Austin FC and the U.S. Soccer Foundation in November 2021, Parks and Recreation transformed an under-used space at the park into a brand-new, state-of-the-art mini-pitch for the Austin community at Civitan Neighborhood Park in the Montopolis neighborhood of southeast Austin. 

The Civitan Park mini-pitch marks the third mini-pitch in the greater Austin area that 4ATX Foundation has helped install in partnership with the U.S. Soccer Foundation’s Safe Places to Play program, joining the Wooldridge Square Park mini-pitch which opened in north Austin in October 2020 and the Dove Springs Recreation Center futbal court which opened in southeast Austin in November 2019. 

Explore the City's public soccer fields and mini pitches at AustinTexas.gov/Soccer.