Additions bring roster to 19; kit reveal Thursday
Excitement for the upcoming Fort Wayne FC season has reached a fever pitch.
The club announced two more big additions to the lineup Tuesday in midfielders Tavio D’Almeida and Hugo Garcia-Rosado Duran, and this Thursday the 2025 Fort Wayne FC kit will be unveiled at www.fortwaynefc.com.
Fort Wayne FC, a member of USL League Two, opens its season May 11 at Bishop D’Arcy Stadium with a non-divisional friendly against Sueño FC. Tickets are now on sale.
D’Almeida, 24, played 28 matches last season for South Georgia Tormenta FC, a club in the professional ranks of USL League One, the level at which Fort Wayne will play in 2026. D’Almeida appeared in 17 USL League One matches last season, plus seven in the USL Jägermeister Cup and four in the US Open Cup.
“The way we play with FWFC requires a defensive midfielder who can perform a number of responsibilities,” Fort Wayne FC head coach Mike Avery said. “We need a player deep in the midfield who is willing to defend, and to organize and lead our efforts to press and recover the ball, but we also need that player to be able to serve as the conductor to the attack. This requires a very heady player, one with great experience, one with toughness, and one with a high IQ for the game. Fortunately for us, this is a description of Tavio D’Almeida.”
D’Almeida has 13 matches of experience with Fort Wayne FC from 2023, when the club had an undefeated regular season and won the first of back-to-back Valley Division championships.
With Tormenta FC, D’Almeida was a teammate of defender Alsadiq Hasan, who was added to the Fort Wayne FC roster Friday.
“Tavio is a highly experienced player who has the talent and the leadership qualities to play an important role in his return to Fort Wayne FC,” said Avery, whose club is building a soccer-specific stadium at Bass Road and I-69 that will open in time for the 2026 move to USL League One.
“Tavio spent last season with Tormenta FC in USL League One, which gives us another player we can look to who can help us better understand the level we will joining in 2026, and he also has a passion for the club and is determined to help FWFC exit USL2 on a high note.”
Fort Wayne FC’s roster is up to 19, including Garcia, a 20-year-old midfielder who played last season for Midland University in Fremont, Nebraska.
Garcia was the Great Plains Athletic Conference’s Offensive Player of the Year and a First Team All-Conference selection, after he totaled 12 goals and four assists in 17 matches. He was a Third Team All-American selection in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics.
“Hugo Garcia is an attacking midfield player who is very intriguing to me,” Avery said. “He is a powerfully built left-footed player who offers a slightly different profile to our midfield group with his ability to get behind defenses. Hugo is a great striker of the ball and has goal-scoring instincts that make him a dangerous attacker.
“I am excited to see how Hugo blends into our roster and adapts to the level of play at the top ends of USL2 because I believe he has all the tools to not just fit in, but to also thrive.”
All roster additions are pending league and federation approval.
Kit reveal Thursday
Thursday’s Fort Wayne FC kit reveal will be done with the assistance of the production team at Remedy Live, which advocates and teaches the importance of mental health, reducing the stigma in individual cultures.
Remedy Live, www.remedylive.com, is dedicated to providing real-time, online crisis support to anyone who reaches out.
Their team of compassionate, trained SoulMedics are available 24/7, ensuring that help is just a click away. Remedy Live believes every conversation has the potential to change a life.
Check out the Fort Wayne FC store at shop.fortwaynefc.com for new items beginning Thursday.
About Fort Wayne FC
Fort Wayne FC, founded in 2019, is currently a pre-professional club in USL League Two’s Valley Division in the Central Conference. The club won Valley Division championships in 2023 and 2024. Fort Wayne FC is moving to the professional ranks of USL League One in 2026 at a new state-of-the-art stadium. www.fortwaynefc.com
About United Soccer League
Founded in 1986, the United Soccer League (USL) is the largest and fastest-growing soccer organization in the United States, impacting more than 200 communities nationwide. The USL is the first and only organization to offer a comprehensive youth-to-professional pathway for both men and women under one ecosystem. This structure includes four men’s leagues: the newly announced, top-tier professional Division I league, the USL Championship (Division II), USL League One (Division III), and USL League Two (pre-professional). The women’s pathway includes the top-tier USL Super League (Division I), which debuted in 2024, and USL W League, the country’s leading pre-professional women’s league. The USL also oversees USL Academy, a progressive talent development platform, and USL Youth, a premier national youth platform.
