Park City Red Wolves SC was founded in 2019 as a reserve team of Chattanooga Red Wolves SC. The Red Wolves play in the United Soccer League - League Two, the third tier of the U.S. soccer pyramid. It is also affiliated with the Dalton Red Wolves which are based in Dalton, Georgia, on the Tennessee border.
The Red Wolves are branded as a U23 team, meaning all its players are under the age of 23.
Scott Mckenzie is going into his third season as the team’s head coach. Before the Red Wolves, Mckenzie was the director of coaching at the Utah Avalanche.
The Red Wolves originally played at Park City High School’s Dozier Field. However, when the pandemic hit, they moved their operations down to Salt Lake City.
Mckenzie said that was never the team's plan.
“So obviously, when the team was founded in that inaugural season in 2019, played their games up at Doizer and wanted to build a community around Park City, which when I came in, I think that still was the intention," he said. "The reality is that there's only one facility inside the Park City area that fits the game standards needed for League Two and scheduling conflicts and just various other reasons, we weren't able to secure that venue. And so that kind of forced the hand into seeking out other venues.”
The team trains at its Park City Red Wolves Training Field and then home games are played at Judge Memorial Catholic High School’s stadium in Salt Lake City.
The team plays in the Western Conference’s Mountain Division. Winning the division automatically qualifies the team for the Western Conference semifinals. Last season the Red Wolves qualified for the semifinals, but lost to the Southern California Seahorses.
This season the team is trying to go for a three-peat of division titles.
Mckenzie said the team's goal is more than just winning.
"So, our big-time aspiration, or aspirations, we talked about three things. We want to obviously retain our Mountain Division, we want to make a run in the playoffs on a national level and, we want to provide a platform for players to launch their careers," he said. "We want to identify some players that can go on and sign professional contracts. And we want players coming into our environment, and developing and getting better and improving.”
The team already played one game this year. It had a first-round matchup as part of the U.S. Open Cup, which is the longest-running domestic soccer tournament in the U.S., founded in 1913. Mckenzie said they qualified for the Open Cup because they won their division and based on their points per game.
The Red Wolves fell to University Degree Soccer at New Mexico State University 1-0.
The Red Wolves play a 10-game regular season with five at home and five away.
Its first regular season game is May 27 at 1 p.m. against Salt City SC at America First Field in Sandy. Its first home game is scheduled for June 1 at 7:30 p.m. against Colorado International Soccer Academy. Tickets for home games are $10. Season tickets are $40.
If people can’t make it down the canyon for the game, they can watch the team live streaming on its social media pages.
To purchase tickets to a Park City Red Wolves SC game click here.