With pro football calling, Minnesota Aurora tries to maintain summer atmosphere

The Minnesota Aurora game isn't just a game for Ruby Palm — it's serious business.

Recently, the day before her 10th birthday, all she wanted to do was watch her team play. She went to the game wearing an Aurora scarf, T-shirt, friendship bracelet and blue hair tie. Her family has season tickets and attends every home game. Ruby and her sisters Wilder and Ophelia all play soccer.

“I want to join the Aurora team one day,” Ruby said. “I'd love to cheer them on, get their autographs, and watch them win because they're really strong.”

The Aurora's have worked hard to earn that fan love, going undefeated in their third regular season and building a reputation as a community-driven team. Their players are out playing, enjoying the Twin Cities summer and basking in the love of their passionate fan base.

But big changes are on the way: The team is now on its way to joining the National Women's Soccer League. Professionalization will bring more money and national attention, but it will also make the business more focused and the competition much more intense.

Team leaders know change is inevitable, but they believe they can capitalize on the growing national popularity of the women's sport and achieve great things while still maintaining the team's Minnesota summer atmosphere.

“We just wanted to build a successful team for the region, and after the first season it was clear we had accomplished something,” said Andrea Yock, Aurora's co-founder and now chair of the investor relations committee focused on attracting new capital for the team as it prepares to join the NWSL.

“The possibilities are endless”

Minnesota Aurora FC plays in the Heartland Division of the USL W, a league made up of dozens of clubs and conferences from across the U.S. Because it's amateur soccer, players don't get paid to play, but the team provides lodging for the players while they're here.

Aurora will play its inaugural season in 2022 and play its home games at TCO Stadium, the Vikings' practice facility in Eagan.

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And they're good, really good.

They won their division and advanced to the playoffs in 2022 and 2023. They reached the league finals in 2022 and the conference finals in 2023. They are undefeated so far this year. On June 29th, they defeated RKC Third Coast 14-0 and will play in the conference semifinals against Indy Eleven in Detroit on July 5th.

Success came so quickly that team leaders began considering going professional after the first season. They acknowledged that professional soccer is “deeply funded” and they would need to find higher-level investors. They hope to be on the NWSL's expansion roster in 2026.

There are currently 14 NWSL teams in the U.S., with the Chicago Red Stars being the closest to Minnesota. Yok said the Kansas City Current's construction of a new training facility and stadium has set the bar even higher. Politics also matters, with the league wanting female players to play in states where they feel they have good healthcare and community support.

While investors and capital are important, Yoch said the team remains focused on its fan base, an effort he calls the “Aurora Pipeline.”

The team held its first girls' soccer camp this summer and has also established a reserve team, Aurora 2, and hopes to set up a soccer academy in the future.

“There's a lot of potential, but Minnesota doesn't have all the potential from start to finish,” Yok said. “We're going to continue to grow and continue to encourage young girls to get involved in our system.”

She said she wants young female fans to look down on the field and realize it's something achievable.

Jelena Zbilich and Mariah Nguyen, both of whom grew up in Minnesota and have been with Aurora since its inception, say they never imagined they would have the opportunity to play at this level or become role models for generations of girls growing up here.

“A little girl made friendship bracelets for the whole team. I never dreamed this would happen, that I'd be signing them for all the girls who want to play on this team,” Zbiryoc said. “It's so amazing. I know they dream about being here, and we just want to reiterate that they can be here one day.”

“Focus on what's here now”

Players on the team say they see the success of the WNBA and the professional women's hockey league as a growing strength for women's sports in Minnesota.

“People want to see me play. People want to see me succeed,” said Sage Wymes, who is in his first season at Aurora and will play at Kansas.

“I've never played in front of thousands of people,” she said. Aurora's games average 5,000 in attendance. “At Kansas, we only have about 300 people at a home game. I'm really honored to be in this position and role with these young girls.”

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One of Aurora's former players, Taylor Cain, is originally from California and plays at the University of Iowa, but never imagined playing in the Midwest. But summers in Minnesota were too good to leave. Her home is known as the team house, and now there's plenty of time on the lake and home-cooked meals.

“Everyone here is so welcoming and everyone involved in the Minnesota sports culture is so supportive of having a girls' team,” she said. “It's fun that our team gets to cheer on other girls' teams in the area because their girls come to our games and we get to cheer them on back.”

Many women's soccer teams, including the Wave Soccer Club, came to watch the match on June 20. They echoed Ruby's sentiments, but stressed that soccer is just so great that they never get bored of watching it.

“They help us get better. They're so dominant that it's why they want to go pro. It's an inspiration to everyone in Minnesota,” said 12-year-old Raelynn Jahn.

As the season draws to a close, going pro is not on the players' minds, at least for now. They're focused on playing good football and enjoying the Minnesota summer for as long as possible.

Yocchi said the team should know more about his pro debut by the end of the summer.

“All we can do is focus on what we can do now and make it the best experience possible for everybody. Whatever happens in the future, that will happen,” she said. “So let's just stay focused on the opportunity we have now. And we still need to win.”

The same goes for fans like Ruby.

“I go every summer,” she said. “I never miss an Aurora game.”