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FEATURE: SIMPLY FUTBOL FC MAKES MARK IN WPSL DIVISION II WITH EYE TOWARDS NEXT LEVEL

Published Aug 26, 2025

 

A little over a year ago the Simply Futbol FC was a skills training program for a handful of local players—primarily young women—who strove to improve their game but were not receiving the kind of individual training with their club teams. It was around these training sessions that the club’s founder and head coach, Mauricio Garcia, began to hear from players in the community the need for a club playing at a higher level than what was available. 

 

“They played at high levels in the past,” Garcia said. “They wanted something more than co-ed. They wanted something more than Sunday league. They wanted something really competitive that was going to push them.”

 

That planted the seed. In February, Simply Futbol FC was born. The club kicked off its first competitive season in the Texas Conference of the WPSL Division II, going 5-1-2 to win the Texas Conference in its debut season. Garcia says the key is to start small and not lose focus of what Simply Futbol FC is—a place for female players to keep playing at the highest level possible. 

 

“But we wanted to be careful, based on what we have seen in the past,” Garcia said. “Some of the local clubs that we have here in North Texas, when they grow really big on the female side, eventually the boy’s kind of take over. Everywhere I look, the boys become a priority.”

 

As Garcia began looking for a league for the newfound club, he said the WPSL was the most logical choice, given the league’s long history. 

 

“We chose the WPSL because it’s specifically for women, which aligns with the concept of the club, the team, everything we’ve put together here,” Garcia said. “It has a lot of rich history and league culture that believes in the women’s game and prioritizes that. It’s all about the women. That’s why the WPSL is perfect for us.” 

 

When it became clear that Simply Futbol FC would make its competitive debut in the WPSL, the matter came down to which division. Garcia noted several instances of teams that entered the WPSL’s without a full understanding of what is required financially, or just how high the level of play is. 

 

“There are a handful of things you have to consider when you are starting out,” Garcia said. “You don’t want to throw yourself all the way into the fire without figuring out where you are in comparison to the more established clubs. We want to grow this. We don’t want to just flame out in a season.” 

 

Even with the core of the team in place, Garcia was not sure what kind of response the club would receive from the soccer-playing community. From announcements on social media, around 100 women came to try out for the club. From there a pool of about 40 players was selected, ranging between the ages of 19 and 35. One of those players was 27-year-old, Rain Lybbert. A few years removed from her collegiate soccer career, Lybbert was playing coed and in local leagues for fun, but it did not quell the competitive drive that made her a Division I level player in the first place. 

 

“I heard about this new team and thought it would be a really cool to get back into it,” said Lybbert, a central midfielder during her days playing at Utah Tech and the University of Texas at Dallas. “Playing at a high level again with this group of women has been just an incredible experience.” 

 

It wasn’t long before Lybbert fell into a leadership role with the team that spans three decades, both on the field and off. Before the season Lybbert was named co-captain of the team, along with Lexie Anderson. The two have fully embraced the team-first approach on which the club.

 

“We built our team culture around the team as a whole, not just a few players,” Garcia said. “We want to make everyone feel welcome, that everyone makes an impact on the team in one way or another.”  

 

Though still very much a work in progress on the field and off, the club has made huge strides, with a social media presence that is growing like wildfire, a growing fanbase, and a team that has done more than just compete. 

 

“The goal is to build a team that can compete in the WPSL first division. We want to be playing against teams like the California Storm and teams like that. Get to where we are playing in the WPSL Championships,” Garcia said. 

 

With a conference title in its first season and strong performances in friendlies against the WPSL Division I teams in the region, Garcia is more than pleased with the direction of the team. Between the club’s first and second league games, Simply Futbol hosted WPSL Division I side, FC Dallas, going blow for blow with them in a 4-2 loss that could just have easily been a 4-2 win. 

 

“I always say, ‘The team that scores more goals usually wins.’ That’s what that game was. Both teams had about 15 or 16 chances. They put four away. We only put away two,” Garcia said. 

 

“But to play against a team at that level, where the entire team plays division one college soccer right now, to put in a performance like we did says something about what we are doing here. I know we can play at the next level. Now we just have to continue to prove it.”