Introducing Cleveland Astra: Cleveland’s First Women’s Pro Soccer Club
The launch opens a new era of Cleveland sports and ushers in a historic wave of women’s professional teams set to debut across Ohio in 2028.
CLEVELAND – May 4, 2026 – Cleveland Soccer Group (CSG) today unveiled Cleveland Astra, the brand identity for our new professional women’s soccer club. Merch is available online today and season ticket deposits are open. Cleveland Astra will kick off in spring 2028, compete in WPSL Pro and play in a downtown Cleveland soccer stadium.
Latin for “stars,” Astra was guided by CSG’s mission to be the North Star of soccer in Northeast Ohio – and further inspired by the soccer talent growing in the region.
“Athletes from Greater Cleveland are playing in NWSL, Super League and top-flight leagues across the globe,” said Gina Prodan Kelly, CMO of Cleveland Soccer Group and co-founder of Cleveland Astra. “Our team was created to inspire, embolden and support women to achieve their greatest potential – on or off the pitch.”
Last fall, alone, 13 of the top-25 DI college soccer teams had women from Northeast Ohio on them. Add to that dozens of elite athletes at DII and beyond – not to mention thousands of stars at the club, travel and rec levels. Plus: living legends like Keri Sarver (former WUSA pro player, USYNT, USWNT U21 player, current Internationals SC club director and Assistant Coach to the Czechia National Team) are developing talent right here, too.
“Cleveland Astra honors all of these women – and the generations to come,” said Prodan Kelly.
Time for something completely different
Sister team to the recently announced Forest City Cleveland men’s team, Astra was born of a yearlong parallel branding process that engaged 3,000+ fans and was shaped by a clear message: our first women’s pro soccer team needed to create its own mythology.
“What we heard most was that our women’s sports fans didn’t want to be steeped in someone else’s history,” said Prodan Kelly.
Resilience and grittiness didn’t rise to the top during Astra surveys, interviews and focus groups. “One of the most powerful statements I heard during interviews was from a fan who said – ‘I’m tired of needing to bounce back; I just want to have what I need to fly.’ So, we looked up.”
Behind the Cleveland Astra brand
CREST DESIGN
Astra: Latin for “stars.” Celebrates Northeast Ohio as the place stars are made. To be named for the stars is to accept their responsibility: burn bright, hold your position and light the way for everyone finding theirs.
The Latin Name: A nod to the global game and the many languages (beyond Latin based) we hear at matches, from the sidelines and across our Northeast Ohio communities.
North Star: The point in a turning night sky that refuses to move. It’s a guiding light. Cleveland Astra will be that North Star for everyone who needs something brilliant, stable and true to aim at.
Ursa Major: Not a mascot; she's a navigator. For centuries, the Great Bear constellation has moved through the night sky, pointing explorers to the North Star. She symbolizes a team built to love and protect its own, to fiercely hold its ground, and to keep guiding us toward our bright future.
Star on Cleveland: Shaped as a compass rose, the star marks Cleveland as a point of orientation: a place others look to for direction. This is where stars are forged, and where the path forward begins.
Ohio in Lower Crest: The foundation, our launchpad. A symbol that Astra is part of a broader, defining movement in women’s sports across the state.
Double Gold-Tipped Frame: A subtle art-deco ode to the gilded age in Cleveland, when we built with ambition. Where engineering meets beauty: the kind of balance you see in the beautiful game.
CLUB COLORS
Cleveland Astra’s color palette is drawn directly from Northeast Ohio’s natural landscape, architectural heritage and what happens when you look up.
Violet ad Astra is the color of a nebula. Invisible to the naked eye, but through a telescope, you see blue-violet clouds: stars taking shape. You're not seeing what is. You're seeing the future.
Lake Erie Midnight is a deep navy, nearly black, evoking the night skies over Lake Erie with a dash of starlight.
Golden Era is an architectural gold inspired by Cleveland’s great age of civic design and industry, reflected in such landmarks as the Arcade, Guardians of Traffic and Terminal Tower.
CREATIVE TEAM
Creative direction for the project was led by a design team with deep ties to Cleveland and robust experience in women’s professional soccer and world-class brands:
Alex Kocher, founder of Easy Friday Co., is a Cleveland native who grew up playing for local clubs Medina Rangers, Greater Akron Premier and Cleveland United, before attending the University of Akron. Kocher brings more than a decade of creating brand identities and campaigns across professional soccer, including MLS’s Portland Timbers and Chicago Fire FC, NWSL’s Portland Thorns FC, and USL’s Lexington Sporting Club and Richmond Kickers.
Mo Fitzgerald, founder of Play Street, is a brand strategist and a former professional soccer player with the Portland Thorns, who runs a creative strategy studio focused on the intersection of sport, art and culture.
Ushering in a new era
Cleveland Astra arrives at a defining moment for women’s sports. In 2028, the club will be one of three new women’s professional teams to debut across Ohio (including Cleveland WNBA and Columbus NWSL) marking a significant shift in investment, visibility and opportunity in Cleveland.
The North Star of soccer
“Cleveland Soccer Group was built on a belief that a sports organization can be more than the sum of its results,” said Michael Murphy, CEO & Co-Founder, Cleveland Soccer Group.
Cleveland Astra aims to become a generational institution – locally and nationally – and a model for community-driven soccer in the United States.
To be the North Star isn't a metaphor for winning. It's a commitment to being something fixed, supportive and reliable in the lives of the community: expanding access to the game at every level; creating real opportunity for players and families; and building the kind of relationship between a city and its clubs that produces better outcomes in people's lives long after the final whistle.
What’s next for Cleveland Astra
Throughout 2026, the club, along with men’s side Forest City Cleveland, will host a series of community events and soccer celebrations, including but not limited to:
A large community watch party for USA vs. Paraguay on June 12, the opening match of the 2026 Men’s World Cup, at North Coast Yard
Watch party for the 2026 World Cup Final on July 19
The Kickout street soccer tournaments
“We believe soccer brings people together in ways that improve individual outcomes and strengthen entire communities,” said Murphy. “And we’re making strides to do just that.”
Cleveland Astra and Forest City Cleveland are built to carry that mission forward, on the pitch and far beyond it.
ABOUT CLEVELAND SOCCER GROUP:
Cleveland Soccer Group (CSG) was founded in 2022 to bring professional soccer to Northeast Ohio and to build a new model for purpose-driven sports. The organization is launching Cleveland Astra (women’s) and Forest City Cleveland (men’s), building a downtown soccer stadium and running year-round sports programming. CSG is committed to expanding access to play, creating opportunities for athletes and fans, and positioning Cleveland as a leader in community-driven sports.
