Time flies, doesn’t it? Seems like yesterday that we cooked up the idea to give away an award to our Club of the Year. Since 2018, when Inocentes FC from Ft. Worth, Texas won our first Club of the Year, we’ve done this five times. The WPSL’s Pensacola FC won the second year, while Maryland Bobcats took home the third award in 2020. In 2021, KC Courage was chosen as the Club of the Year and last year Tormenta FC, after winning championships in both USL League One and W League, took home our 5th Club of the Year.

We haven’t changed our approach over the years. As we near the end of the year, we discuss our candidates, take submissions from the public, and narrow it down to four or five clubs we think deserving. Then we put together our best argument as to why each club deserves your vote. We put those out as articles over the course of a week, then let our readers decide by voting. On January 1, we announce the Protagonist Soccer Club of the Year. So let’s celebrate an amazing year of lower league soccer by highlighting four tremendous clubs who deserve your vote. Here’s the first nominee, Tulsa Athletic.

After an incredibly successful 2022, Tulsa Athletic came into 2023 full of hope for success. The club had finished atop the Heartland Conference and after an extended playoff run, lost in the semifinals of the NPSL to the eventual league champion, FC Motown. That impressive league finish would automatically qualify the Oklahoma club for the 2023 US Open Cup. There was plenty of reasons to assume this year would be a big one for Tulsa Athletic.

Tulsa Athletic has always been a club that catches headlines for one reason or another. Just before the pandemic shut down every soccer league in the country, Tulsa announced it would no longer be playing the national anthem before matches. Instead, the club would play Oklahoma-native Woody Guthrie’s This Land is Your Land. The move brought coverage from across the media spectrum, including CNN. The reason for the change was articulated by the club the day of the announcement. “The song does not align with the club’s core values” due to the mention of slavery in the third verse.

That ability to catch eyes is partially due to the leadership of club co-founder Sonny Dalesandro, who rarely shies away from speaking his mind on issues that most avoid in public. His outspoken leadership for the club has ruffled a feather or two during its decade of existence and some of those ruffled feathers belong to folks in the NPSL front office. While he may have detractors, he is broadly respected and beloved among his peers and his club has flourished under his leadership.

In fact, few NPSL clubs can claim the kind of consistent finishing that Tulsa has achieved this decade. You’d have to go back to 2018 to find a season that the club didn’t finish in at least the Regional finals. In 2021, the club finished second, losing to Denton in the final. In 2022, the club finished top-4, losing in the semifinals. The club has always delivered in the win column in the NPSL and 2023 would be no exception.

Before the NPSL season kicked off, Tulsa had several rounds of US Open Cup matches to attend to. The first round matchup in March was against Brazos Valley Cavalry FC (USL2), which Tulsa won 1-0. In April, the club would face FC Tulsa (USLC) and also win 1-0. That win put them into a Round 3 matchup against Sporting KC, an MLS side with all the resources and might of a division one club.

Just before that matchup, I spoke with Sonny about how the team would approach facing an MLS side. “We’re going to prepare for a good performance and then turn the boys loose. It’s a cup final for us. No team at our level is going to win the Open Cup, but we still have a chance to make history.” He was right about not winning the cup as Tulsa lost to Sporting 3-0. But the team’s performance covered the club in glory, finishing highest of all the non-professional entries and earning the cash prize. It was an impressive run and certainly inspired confidence for the NPSL season that would kick off the month after.

And then the good vibes came to a crashing halt. The NPSL decided that Athletic Community Field at Hicks Park did not fit the criteria established by the league. The decision left the team scrambling to solve the problem of a venue, just days before the season was set to kick off. The club did eventually find a solution but not without plenty of consternation and frustration. How much would the issue become a distraction for the high-flying club from Tulsa?

Tulsa players celebrate their NPSL Championship. *Image courtesy of Lori Scholl.*

None at all. Tulsa Athletic won its conference, region, and advanced through the semifinals to face Apotheos FC in the final. It was a tough match, going to penalties, which Tulsa won 8-7. After so many years of finishing just short, the club had won the NPSL crown.

The championship isn’t the reason why Tulsa Athletic deserves your vote. Neither is the extended US Open Cup run. Both of those are just byproducts of a well-run club becoming a destination for talented soccer players who want to succeed. The reason Tulsa Athletic deserves your vote for Protagonist Soccer Club of the Year is that they do things the right way, even in the face of resistance and adversity. They are principled regardless of convenience. This club does what we want soccer clubs to do, live up to the values of the communities they serve. Tulsa Athletic does that AND wins championships.

Vote for Tulsa Athletic for Protagonist Soccer 2023 Club of the Year.

- Dan Vaughn