When Jason Graham approached Riphean Investments seeking support for a potential pre-professional soccer franchise in Fredericksburg, the former city councilor had no idea the company’s operating partner was a soccer fanatic.
“He didn’t even know what he was getting into when he came into the office,” Victor Fuster said.
In addition to his work with the private equity firm in downtown Fredericksburg, Fuster is president of the Stafford Soccer Club, which boasts more than 5,000 players.
So, for him, it was a no-brainer to get involved with the project to bring another sports option to the Fredericksburg area.
The Fredericksburg City Soccer Club, or Fred City, is scheduled to begin playing in the United Soccer League Two in 2027. The organization will include a men’s and women’s team playing under the same name when the season begins next May. The women will be a part of USL W.
Fred City is in talks with the University of Mary Washington to host matches on its field with an expectation to lock in the agreement soon.
“We had a great relationship discussing this with them,” Fuster said. “It’s really just getting the contract signed at this point. [Athletic Director] Patrick Catullo has been fantastic with us. We’ve also hired our first director of operations … We’re fully functional. I do want to make sure we convey that. We’re not in the science project phase. We’re getting to the point where we’re trying to start cooking with gas.”
Graham, a longtime soccer enthusiast, was pondering the next phase of his life after declining to run for another term as the Ward 1 councilor, a position he held since 2018.
Graham recalled a conversation with Gilberto Baez, who coached and operated the Commonwealth Cardinals FC, a now-defunct USL Two franchise that previously played in the area.
Graham heard about the Cardinals when he was on city council and reached out to Baez to learn how he could help grow the sport in the city.
“We had some nice chats,” Graham said. “But then I happened to see the following season they weren’t there anymore. I didn’t see them on the USL Two website. I was disappointed, but I understand in Minor League Soccer, that can happen. Teams can come and go.”
Graham is hopeful that Fred City will be built to last and eventually move up to USL One, the league’s top division that pays its players.
After he decided to pursue the franchise, he reached back out to Baez, who is now a founding owner along with Graham, Fuster, and Charlie Payne, a prominent attorney in the region.
Baez will cast a wide net for potential players. There will be open tryouts, but he’ll also lean on connections with agents and recruit the old-fashioned way — by watching hours and hours of submitted film. Baez said he will turn over every rock in search of talent.
“There’s various ways in which you find these players, but ultimately it’s having a vision for how you want to play and aligning that with your different resources, whether that’s connection points, agents, agencies, or just raw watching film and going to games to scour the talent here as well as abroad,” Baez said … “I think America is different than anywhere else because talent can exist in so many different ways and so many different areas. I want to find those players regardless of where they are and where they come from.”
The logo for the franchise features a bridge with the Rappahannock River flowing underneath. Fuster said that’s not an accident: the franchise aims to become a “bridge” connecting youth and professional leagues in the region.
For Fuster, the franchise represents an opportunity to demonstrate to the area’s youth that they can continue playing the game they love close to home.
“One of the parts of the projects I really love is Berto’s passion in helping create pathways for players from youth to college to professional,” Fuster said. “Local fans are going to want to be part of this local club.”
Graham is also eager to see how the community at-large responds. He and Fuster believe this is another piece, along with the Fredericksburg Nationals Minor League Baseball franchise, in the city becoming a sports destination on top of its heritage tourism offerings.
“We’re just really excited to get this going and bring this to the community,” Graham said. “We think it’s going to bring a lot of people together. We just think it’s going to be one more great thing about Fredericksburg.”
