MINNESOTA, USA — Minnesota's first community-owned women's soccer team officially has a new name: Minnesota Aurora FC.
The name was revealed to community owners and fans Thursday afternoon in a video posted on social media.
The Minnesota Aurora FC name and logo beat out possible names Foxfire and Arctic MN, the other finalists revealed back in December. Logos for each option were created by a team of local, female designers, including club co-founders Allie Rienke, Nicole Meyer and Carla Zetina-Yglesias.
In the four-minute video, community owners shared their excitement for the team's future and talked about why they invested in the team.
"We are accountable to each other, so you're not accountable to some venture capital firm or stakeholders or people who don’t actually care about the development of women's soccer," said co-owner Lauren Smith, who said she grew up watching women's soccer.
"It’s really exciting and it's really motivating to see women being able to get a chance to finally represent ourselves," said Isa Sanchez Esparza.
Team gear is already available for purchase online or at the pop-up locations listed below:
Minnesota Aurora FC will play in the new USL W League starting this May, and the team is currently working on finalizing their venue selection.
Coaching staff for the new club come with lots of Minnesota ties. Head coach Nicole Lukic currently serves as Director of Operations at Twin Cities Rush Soccer Club, one of the largest youth soccer organizations in Minnesota, and starred for the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee as a player.
Lukic is joined by assistant coaches Jennie Clark and Jen Larrick. Clark, a former All-American at the U of M, most recently served as assistant coach at Dixie State University in Utah and previously coached at Hamline University and the University of Minnesota.
Larrick most recently served as acting Head Coach for Hamline University and was previously the Director of Coaching at BV United, assistant coach at Augsburg University, and played at the University of Florida and U of M.
Community shares for Minnesota Aurora FC sold in December after the team met its $1 million campaign goal. More than 3,000 people are community co-owners of the team.
More local news from KARE 11
Watch more local news from on our YouTube playlist: