Meet an Austin Rise FC founder: Katie Reed

This is one in a series of first-person articles from founders of Austin Rise FC, the latest Austin-area women's semi-pro team, starting WPSL play in 2023. The Striker invites you to meet the founders at a special live podcast event and USWNT watch party on Sunday, Feb. 19 at Hopsquad Brewing Co. (2307 Kramer Lane, 78758).

I’m a California native, born and raised in San Jose along with my three siblings. By the time my younger brother Nick was born, my parents had four kids on their hands that were age six and under, so it’s not surprising that they wasted almost no time at all signing us up for various activities and organized sports. The first of many sports I participated in was soccer at age five, and I quickly followed that with basketball, swimming, cross country, and softball – I just really loved to compete, which my sister still loves to tease me about by saying that I’m “too competitive.” I’m personally not convinced that is possible.

Of everything I tried, soccer and basketball were definitely my mainstays, with basketball edging out soccer as my priority for most of my youth. I played both competitively for as long as I could, but during my sophomore year of high school, I had to choose one to focus on and went with basketball, in part due to my former soccer club folding. But by the time I graduated high school, I was pretty burned out on basketball and decided to close that chapter of my life, which was fine by me. 

Though basketball took a front seat with a good portion of my time, I’ve always had a passion for soccer. I have a lot of fond memories of following the USWNT game schedule to make sure I never missed one that was televised, sometimes waking up at 2 a.m. with my mom to watch when they would play on the other side of the world, or to put a tape in the VCR to record it. I still remember as a young girl watching Brandi Chastain score the winning penalty against China in the ‘99 World Cup, and even when I see that clip as an adult, it always sparks the same excitement. As I was about to enter college, I looked forward to the opportunity to tap into that again on the field.

Fortunately, I could do so at the University of Southern California where I played for the women’s club team. We traveled up and down California playing clubs from other schools such as Cal, UCLA, and UCSB. It allowed me to play competitively and grow my game without the commitment of a D1 schedule, which was perfect for me at the time. 

By the time I graduated in 2012, the NWSL didn’t quite exist yet and there were limited semi-pro options, so I decided to focus on finding a job. Having received a degree in biology, it was natural that I landed my first job as a scientist, although I quickly realized that would not be a good long-term fit for me.

Drawn back to soccer

Over the next few years I discovered the profession of project management and in 2015, I relocated to Austin to continue building upon that aspect of my career. While I appreciated finding a career path I enjoyed, I still felt something was missing. I just kept finding myself being drawn back to soccer in one way or another, whether it was watching it or playing pickup at Zilker Park.

In 2017, I joined Austin Coed Soccer Association where I got to play full-sided 90-minute games again and loved it! During my time there, I found myself wanting to grow my game again and started looking for opportunities. I was glad to discover that Austin had a semi-pro women’s team, so I set my sights on FC Austin Elite and joined the team in 2021. It was great to be immersed in a high-level environment again and one for women. It was even more exciting that during our 2022 season, with Coach Lessa leading us, we earned ourselves a first-place rank in our conference, were 5th in the nation, and we were well on our way to a national championship. 

As some may know, the 2022 season was cut short due to misconduct by Elite management, and that ultimately led to the dissolution of the club. It was disappointing for a multitude of reasons and sadly left a hole in the landscape of women’s soccer in Austin. That didn’t sit right with a number of the players of for Lessa, so a handful of us started exploring what it would take to start our own club. Next thing I knew, we were founding Austin Rise FC. 

As someone with a passion not only for soccer, but for growing opportunities for women in sports, I was immediately on board. It’s been a lot of work and we still have a lot to do to achieve success in our inaugural season, but I’m really proud of what we’ve accomplished so far, and I look forward to building a platform for women’s soccer that both the players and members of the Austin community deserve.

Outside of developing Austin Rise with my fellow founders, you can catch me on a walk around Lady Bird Lake with my partner Abbey, sipping on a beer at a local brewery, or working on our latest DIY project to convert a Ford Transit into a camper van, which is a lot more work than anticipated, but very rewarding. This seems to be an overall theme in my life at the moment, but I’m here for it.