TULSA, Okla. – Ruben Carrasco has been named Head Coach of Tulsa Athletic, the club announced on Monday, August 25. Carrasco brings coaching and playing experience at the collegiate, high school and club level.
Carrasco served as the interim head coach for Tulsa Athletic during the final 10 games of the 2025 The League for Clubs season, leading the green and yellow to the Mid-American Conference Championship and Central Region Championship.
“Being a head coach here is a daunting task,” Co-owner of Tulsa Athletic Sonny Dalesandro said. “Over the years, many top coaches have backed away from the job. The expectations are extremely high. When Ruben entered the picture as caretaker manager this summer, we sat at 0-2. Under his immediate leadership, he propelled the club directly to the top of the table, winning the conference and winning a fourth regional championship. He’s a person of high moral character, with a tremendous work rate and a great tactical sense of the game. We couldn’t be more pleased to remove the ‘caretaker monitor’ from in front of his name. He wants a second star above the crest as much as I do and that’s a lot.”
Carrasco is currently in his third year coaching soccer at Union High School and second year coaching at FC Tulsa Academy.
A Tulsa native, Carrasco played five seasons with Tulsa Athletic, including the 2023 National Championship season. In his time as a player and coach, the green and yellow have won one national championship, four regional championships and four conference championships.
In his high school career, Carrasco won a state championship at Union High School as he set the school record with 28 goals in his senior season.
After his prep career, Carrasco played at Murray State College and transferred to Rogers State to finish his collegiate career. While at RSU, Carrasco was named all-region and all-conference during his three-year career as a Hillcat.
Carrasco becomes the fifth head coach in the 12-year history of Tulsa Athletic. Carrasco took over during The League for Clubs season after former head coach John Woodhead stepped down. Previous head coaches include Joey Ryan, Levi Coleman, Jason Rogers and Woodhead.
Tulsa Athletic is back in action this fall in the 2026 U.S. Open Cup Qualifying Round. There’s four weekends of qualifying on Sept. 13-14, Oct. 11-12, Nov. 1-2 and Nov. 22-23. Matchups for the qualifying rounds will be announced this week.
2026 Tulsa Athletic season tickets are on sale now. Season tickets include admission to any home 2026 U.S. Open Cup Qualifying game at Athletic Community Field at Hicks Park.
