AWFC | Asheville Wizards FC

The earliest beginnings

of the Asheville Wizards Football Club (AWFC) can be traced to 1998 when founder David Wright, looking for a team on which to play, decided to recruit some fellas who wanted to ball and started his own team. Owning his own business, Wright Information Systems (WIS), and being the only financially solvent member of that early team, he called the team the "WISards". Four of today�s AWFC members were on that team. Remarkably that team won the year ending tournament. One year later, the team picked up many new players and had a very successful season. Following the opening of the Buncombe County Sports Park, the Buncombe County Adult Soccer League grew in prominence. The Wizards lost in the second round of sudden-death penalties in the inaugural tournament semifinal, vowing next year to harvest the hardware.With a little re-tooling in the off-season, the Wizards were ready to vie for the title. Losing but once during the regular season, the boys easily paced into the semi-final. Once again, a penalty-kick shootout resulted. This time, victory! A 3-1 defeat in the Final soured the season a bit, but all in all, a great season was well celebrated by all. To a man, it was agreed that we hadn�t had as much fun in the game since college.New talent was constantly being acquired to make up for the aging Wizards, and an idea was hatched. Why not have two teams? Recognizing that the game had brought all of us together as friends, the idea of making our group more than just a team developed into the founding of the Asheville Wizards Football Club. After all, Sundays generally consisted of 2 hours on the pitch followed by four to six hours of post-game camaraderie and celebration. If this wasn�t a social club, then what was it? With many members of the team holding leadership roles in community businesses, high schools, colleges, and other professional organizations, we realized that as a club, we had an opportunity to return something to our community. We came together with a love of the game and it has given us lasting friendships in return. Through the game, we aim to grow the club and those friendships made through it, while remaining active in the positive growth of our community at-large.