Club News

The time of the season is here when you drive through holiday traffic, wrestle through the crowds of people, and struggle to determine what presents to get for your loved ones. Well this year, we want to make holiday shopping more manageable for our Locomotive fans. Whether it’s for your parents, significant other, or the kiddos you’ll find gear to please everyone with this gift guide!

For him:

What is the perfect gift for the man in your life? You’ll find something at our Locomotive team shop. Get him a classic shirt with the Locomotive crest or a #CrazyTrain t-shirt that he’ll wear at every game.

Shop Here: Adult Shirt with Crest- White

Shop Here: Adult #CrazyTrain T-shirt- Navy

For her:

Make her wardrobe complete, by getting her one of our long sleeve gray t-shirts that she can style with any outfit. And of course, she’ll have to accessorize with a Locomotive scarf that she’ll wear throughout the season.

Shop Here: Women’s Long Sleeve Gray shirt

Shop Here:  Adult Scarf

For dad:

Get your dad a gift that he’ll be sure to use every day. At our team shop, you’ll find a premium crew neck sweatshirt that he won’t want to take off. Add one of our lanyards and it’ll be his favorite present this year.

Shop Here: Premium Crew Neck Sweatshirt-Gray

Shop Here: Lanyard- Navy

For Mom:

Show your mom how much you appreciate her with a #crazytrain t-shirt that she’ll love (and not just because you got it for her). Don’t forget to pair it with a Locomotive knit scarf that will keep her warm and cozy during the winter.

Shop Here: Ladies #CrazyTrain Tshirt- Navy

Shop Here: Knit scarf

For the kids:

If mom or dad get Locomotive gear, the kids need some too! Add a long sleeve t-shirt or khaki hat under the tree this year.

Shop Here: Youth Long Sleeve Shirt- Gray

Shop Here: Youth Khaki Adjustable Hat

Stocking stuffers:

Need something to fill those stockings on the fireplace? Take your pick our other items like koozies, water bottles, keychains, and more.  

Shop Here: Koozie

Shop Here: Water bottle

Shop Here: Keychains

EL PASO – December 11, 2018 – The El Paso Locomotive FC Inaugural season kicks off in three months and El Pasoans are already reserving their seats for the highest level of professional soccer this city has seen. WestStar Club, our most premium area in Southwest University Park, is quickly becoming one of the more popular locations in the stadium!

From your reserved cushioned seats or on any of the 14 TVs that bring the action to you, the WestStar Club offers fantastic views of the pitch and an exclusive match day experience unlike any other at our stadium. WestStar Club offers a full-service bar and premium dining options each game that you can enjoy in between the action on the pitch. El Paso’s weather can change in an instant and with a season that spans 8 months, the climate-controlled club ensures you can enjoy the match in any condition.

Access to the club is limited on a game by game basis but ticket holders are guaranteed full access and first priority. We know you will enjoy this experience and think that your friends will too so included in your ticket package are passes you can use to bring up guests to the club. 

WestStar Club ticket members are able to use an exclusive VIP entrance every match and will receive invitations to premium ticket events such as Meet the Coach Luncheon, Meet the Team Event, Kit Reveal, and many more!

Seats are selling out fast. We want to invite you to come out for a tour of WestStar Club. Call us at 915-235-GOAL to book your tour!

EL PASO – December 11, 2018 – El Paso Locomotive FC has signed Spanish midfielder, Javier Monsálvez Carazo, more frequently known as “Yuma.” Born in Madrid, Yuma began his youth career with Rayo Vallecano and moved through the ranks making his senior debut with the club in 2005. Playing the majority of his professional career in Spain, he moved to the United States in 2016 to play for Rayo OKC and then in 2017 he made his debut with Puerto Rico FC. In 2018, Yuma joined Jacksonville Armada the former club of El Paso Locomotive FC Head Coach, Mark Lowry. Yuma will be the third player from Jacksonville on the Locomotive roster, joining Derek Gebhard and Joshua Castellanos who signed earlier this year.

Mark Lowry has been actively recruiting and building a roster that plays to the strengths of his style and that of his players. “I am incredibly happy to be bringing Yuma here to El Paso. He is a player of tremendous ability and character. Not only does he possess the intelligence and technical ability to control the game from the middle, but arguably his greatest characteristic is his tenacity and desire to win. He is a ferocious competitor, a leader on the field and I know he will feel at home here in the El Paso community. I want to thank Jacksonville Armada for helping with this process, and I cannot wait to reunite with Yuma in January,” said Lowry.

El Paso Locomotive FC has officially signed nine players and will be making more announcements in the coming weeks.

Hunger and drive sat heavy in the air. The sun was peaking over the horizon as the men stretched and laced up their boots. 114 of them arrived with one common goal; make their dreams of playing professional soccer a reality. Last Saturday (December 1), El Paso Locomotive FC held their first open tryout with the goal of finding a local and perhaps missing component of the team that they would field in their inaugural 2019 season. The pitches were filled with men from around the Borderplex region and beyond, hopeful to catch the eye of the coaching staff. Play was as fierce and strong as the players on the field.

After two days of competition, 12 players received an invite to the invitational tryout which will be comprised of elite professional athletes from around the country. Out of those 12, ten are from El Paso; an ode to the high-level of soccer this region produces, as head coach Mark Lowry put it, “With the players we have already signed for the Locomotive FC team, and the high-level performance we will have on the field this season, I thought it was going to be extremely difficult for any player to be selected. I was pleasantly surprised with the talent at the event.”

The 12 men that will be joining the invitational tryout will be competing with seasoned professionals who are all gunning for limited spots on Lowry’s roster. Prior to last Saturday’s (December 1) open tryout, a select few local players piqued the interest of the coaching staff and were so impressive that they received a straight invite to this Saturday. El Paso has talent. We have grit and drive. Something about growing up in the desert changes us. We are hungrier and willing to dig deep. The people who comprise this region don’t shy away from sweating brows and backbreaking work. These attributes are evident and will be on display this weekend and in the season to come.

EL PASO – November 27, 2018 – El Paso Locomotive FC has added two impressive and dynamic attackers to their expanding roster. Nick Ross (Scotland) and Calvin Rezende (USA) will find their place in the midfield and be integral components of the Locomotive squad.

Nick Ross has amassed an impressive international career in his homeland, playing in the Scottish First Division, Scottish Premier League, and Scottish Premiership. Ross came out of the Inverness CT Youth Ranks and made his pro debut in 2009. Ross had an integral role in helping Inverness achieve promotion to the Scottish Premier League. In the 2014-2015 season, Ross and Inverness Caledonian Thistle won the Scottish Cup.

“At 27 years of age, and with over 200 appearances in the Scottish Premiership, Nick will be bringing a lot of all-round quality and experience into our midfield. He is a box to box midfielder, he has a fantastic engine and is very comfortable on the ball and values keeping possession. He is the perfect midfielder to compliment the players around him and will be an important factor on both sides of the ball for us. Bringing Nick to El Paso is just another example of how we have scouted the world and put in the time to find the right players that fit our philosophy and identity,” said Head Coach Mark Lowry. Nick Ross had this to say on his new city and club, “I’m excited about coming to play in the USL and grateful to El Paso for giving me this opportunity. I am looking forward to a new challenge and can’t wait to get started.”

Calvin Rezende has played professional soccer at multiple levels in the US Soccer Pyramid. Rezende played with the Michigan Bucks in the PDL in 2015 where he was an MVP candidate and led the league in assists. For the 2016-2017 season, he was with Miami FC in the NASL and logged 1,436 minutes where he boasted an impressive 90 percent passing accuracy in the 2017 season. Before his professional career in the US, Rezende trained with Cadiz and Crotone in Spain. Rezende is coming to El Paso from his current club, Penn FC in the USL.

Head Coach Mark Lowry has had prior experience coaching opposite of Rezende and had this to say, “I have been aware of Calvin for a while now, having played against him numerous times when he was with Miami FC in the NASL. His technical ability and composure on the ball are of the highest order. He was an integral part of the Miami FC team that in 2017 was the best team outside of MLS. He held his own and contributed in a midfield that boasted some big names. He is incredibly serious about his profession and has big aspirations and a desire to improve as a player. These are perfect characteristics for an El Paso Locomotive FC player.”

EL PASO – November 14, 2018 – El Paso Locomotive FC has signed Joshua Castellanos (United States) and Chiro N’toko (Belgium). Castellanos will find his place in the midfield and comes to El Paso from Jacksonville Armada, the former Club of El Paso Locomotive FC Head Coach, Mark Lowry and forward, Derek Gebhard who was signed earlier this year. In the 2018 season, Castellanos saw ten starts in 12 games played and netted four goals and one assist. Chiro N’toko, center back, has spent the majority of his professional career in the Eerste Divisie and the Eredivisie which is the highest level of professional soccer in the Netherlands. N’toko will be an integral component of the defense and is coming from the Fortuna Liga in Slovakia, where he played with FK Senica. With these two signings, El Paso Locomotive FC’s roster is officially five players signed with more announcements to come.

Head Coach, Mark Lowry has brought two players from Jacksonville Armada thus far and said, “Having worked with Josh this past season, I was eager to continue our work together. He is a very exciting young player; he is an extremely hard worker, comfortable receiving under pressure and has that extra bit of creativity in the final third that is hard to teach. He will be a great asset to the group. I am very excited to see where we can go on this journey because he has a lot of talent and is far from his full potential.”

With over ten years of professional experience playing in Europe, N’toko brings with him invaluable experience and knowledge of the game. “When building a winning team, I believe the center backs are a critical piece, and no stone was left unturned in our pursuit to bring the right one to this Club. In Chiro, we have a center back who is comfortable building our possession from the back and is aggressive and athletic enough to defend in the manner with which we plan to play this season. His experience and character are second to none. Playing at the highest levels in Holland he has been drilled on playing out from the back; he is a born winner and will be a great leader for us on and off the field,” said Mark Lowry.

EL PASO – November 1, 2018 – El Paso Locomotive FC will be hosting open tryouts on December 1 and 2. Registration will go live online today on the EP Locomotive FC website and will close on November 28 or when all spaces are filled. The fee to tryout is $90 per player.

Participants must register online to attend the tryouts and are responsible for all travel, food and lodging. This is a chance for local El Pasoans and those in the region to gain visibility and showcase their skills and talents for a chance to play professional soccer. There will also be an Invitational Player Identification Event on December 8 and 9. Players selected from the Open Tryouts, along with players who have been identified through scouting and recommendations may be asked to attend this event.

Head Coach Mark Lowry had this to say on the upcoming tryouts, “The coaching staff and I will be in attendance, looking for players.  There are fantastic players in El Paso and we want to give them the chance to try out for the team.  Between the December 1 and 2 weekend and the invitational event on December 8 and 9, there will be a good chance that some of these players will make the final squad.  The open tryout gives all players a chance to be seen.”

Bob Bigney, Director of Soccer Operations, added, “From the beginning, we knew there were talented players in and around El Paso.  Mark and I have been around to several local games and training sessions to look at players.  This tryout event will provide another opportunity for players to show us what they have and to see if they are ready to play at the professional level.  All participating players will get to play in small-sided and full-sided games with the EP Locomotive FC coaching staff watching them play.  It will be an exciting time for our club.”

For more information on tryouts, please visit https://www.eplocomotivefc.com/tryouts

EL PASO – October 4, 2018 – Today, at a high-energy presentation at the EPIC Railyard Event Center, officials from MountainStar Sports Group announced that El Paso Locomotive FC is the name of the newest USL team in the country. The El Paso Locomotive will compete in their inaugural season at Southwest University Park beginning in March of 2019.

The search for the team name began with a community-wide effort inviting the region’s fans to submit names through the El Paso USL website. The list was narrowed based on creativity, marketability, fun, and relevance to El Paso’s unique character. Locomotive was the name chosen to reflect El Paso’s history, unique spirit, and momentum. The new name provides the foundation for a comprehensive brand of fun, family-oriented entertainment associated with professional soccer.

“Thanks to input from thousands of people throughout El Paso and the Borderplex who participated in our Name The Team Contest, we believe El Paso Locomotive FC and its crest accurately represent this region,” said Alan Ledford, President of MountainStar Sports Group. “The overriding objectives of MountainStar Sports Group are to improve the quality of life in this region and to make it more economically competitive, and the addition of USL professional soccer beginning in 2019 is a significant step forward in that effort. We’re proud to represent the 915.”

“We want to thank El Pasoans for the energy and passion they brought to the Name The Team process. The tremendous community input and support we received is greatly appreciated,” said Andrew Forrest, General Manager of El Paso Locomotive. “El Paso Locomotive looks forward to bringing the high-quality soccer our fans have been waiting for to Southwest University Park in just a few months.”

El Paso Locomotive FC’s team crest was also revealed today. The centerpiece is a classic and commanding locomotive engine which includes 11 bars representing the team’s 11 players on the field who play together to defend and lead the team to victory. The outline along the bottom portion of the crest pays homage to the region’s mission style architecture while the top half represents the Franklin Mountains. The crest also includes a tribute to El Paso’s mountain star. The team colors are High Noon Sun (yellow), West Texas Sky (light blue) and Desert Dusk (navy).

The identity of El Paso Locomotive FC was brought to life by Brandiose, a design firm in San Diego. The firm has helped to successfully launch the identities of dozens of professional sports teams over the years, including the Tulsa Roughnecks FC, Reno 1868 FC, South Georgia Tormenta FC, FC Juarez, and the El Paso Chihuahuas.

“El Paso is one of the most passionate communities in America. It’s the center of North American transportation and has taken a leadership position in the future of sports entertainment,” said Jason Klein, Partner at Brandiose. “We worked hard to infuse the crest with the icons and spirit that is the cornerstone of the El Paso community.”

El Paso Locomotive FC will unveil their jersey for the 2019 season at a later date.

The team name reveal event also featured the unveiling of El Paso Locomotive FC merchandise and apparel. Shirts for men, women, and children, as well as an assortment of adjustable hats, were popular items available for purchase. Locomotive fans and supporters were quick to buy sweatshirts, tank tops, koozies, lanyards, water bottles, and keychains. Immediately after the event revealing the new team name, El Paso Locomotive FC merchandise became available for purchase at the Team Store located adjacent to the Santa Fe Street Gate at Southwest University Park. The store will be open until 8:00 p.m. on Thursday, October 4th. On Friday, October 5th, the team store will be open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Starting October 6th, the team store will be open from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Fans and supporters can follow the El Paso Locomotive FC at https://www.eplocomotivefc.com and on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram at eplocomotivefc.

El Paso Locomotive’s first game will be played in March of 2019 at Southwest University Park. Season ticket membership, and group and hospitality information can be found at https://www.eplocomotivefc.com or by calling 915-235-GOAL. Tickets for all these products are now on sale.