AC Boise adds a new owner. She’s the most decorated soccer player in Idaho history
Sofia Huerta already blazed several trails for Idaho soccer. The Boise native added another one Tuesday, joining Athletic Club Boise as a new minority owner.
Huerta didn’t wait for an offer after learning Boise would receive the state’s first professional soccer clubs. She actively sought out an ownership role, reaching out to the club’s CEO, whom she’s known since she was 14.
“Throughout my whole career, I’ve always thought, ‘OK, I want to give back to Boise,’” Huerta said. “I never really knew how to do that other than maybe doing a camp, or doing a Q&A or something.
“But I wanted to do something more— something that could really open up opportunities for the young players in the community.”
AC Boise’s men’s soccer team will play its first game as part of USL League One next March. The women’s club will follow in the fall of 2027 in the USL Super League.
Huerta, 32, joins an ownership group that already includes Kasey Keller, who played on four World Cup teams for the U.S. men’s national team and owns a home at Tamarack Resort. But Huerta brings her own international resume to the club.
The 2011 Centennial High grad was the first Idaho native to play for the U.S. at a World Cup in 2023. The 11-year professional recently returned from a loan with France’s Olympique Lyonnais, one of the top clubs in the world. And she set the NWSL career assists record with the Seattle Reign in August.
Huerta said it gave her chills to return to Boise and see a dedicated soccer stadium taking shape in the shadow of the same foothills she woke up to every morning and trained in during high school.
She noted Idaho didn’t have many resources for an up-and-coming soccer player as she grew up. She hopes establishing a professional soccer club in the Treasure Valley paves the way for more Idahoans to follow in her footsteps.
“When I was growing up, I didn’t even know being a professional soccer player was an option,” Huerta said. “Like, I knew playing for the U.S. team was a thing because I watched the ‘99ers win (a World Cup).
“... While I was growing up, there was kind of a league, then it would fold. Then there was a league, and then it would fold. So it wasn’t until I was a junior in college that I realized that I could maybe be a professional.”
AC BOISE SETS SEASON TICKET RECORDS
AC Boise already owns a place in the USL record book, surpassing 6,500 season ticket deposits for its upcoming men’s club last month. The planned stadium at Expo Idaho will open with 7,050 seats.
Nashville owned the previous record with 6,207 ticket deposits before its first season in 2018. It became an MLS franchise four years later.
“We’ve got so much momentum before we’ve even kicked a ball,” AC Boise CEO Brad Stith said.
AC Boise will host a select-a-seat event for fans between Oct. 21 and Oct. 25. The club plans to announce its head coach in the next month, and it will reveal its jerseys in December.
This story was originally published October 7, 2025 at 3:01 PM.
