Austin da Luz Transitions to Life After Professional Soccer
4/17/2020 1:05:00 PM | Men's Soccer, Les Johns
Wake Forest alum Austin da Luz recently retired after a 10-year pro career.
After more than 14 years combined in college and professional soccer, a career came to an end in October for Austin da Luz, who played professionally for a decade after graduating from Wake Forest.
"Weirdly, the highlight for me was my final game for North Carolina NC last season here at Cary at WakeMed Soccer Park," da Luz said. "It was great to see the culmination of 10 years of hard work and to see the effect that I've had on teammates and the community.
"To get such positive feedback from everyone was really special. It didn't hit me until that point."
Then earlier this year, da Luz announced that he was going to serve as color commentator for North Carolina FC, the team he'd just played for during the last five-plus seasons. Of course, the United Soccer League season was halted after just one game played due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
"It was short-lived," da Luz said with a chuckle. "I live in Raleigh with my wife, and have retired from competitive soccer. I was going to be the color commentator for North Carolina FC contests. But obviously that's on hold for the moment. I'm looking forward to getting back at it to continue to learn and get more experience.
"It was the perfect way for me to stay involved with the club on a part-time basis. Unfortunately we got one game in and then are now on pause for the foreseeable future."
Both of Austin's parents, Tony and Amy da Luz graduated from the University of San Diego, where he lived until he was 9-years old. Tony served as an assistant coach for San Diego men's soccer, then started the women's program, where he earned the West Coast Conference Coach of the Year award in 1996.
He was hired to take over the Wake Forest women's program in 1997 and has coached the Deacs ever since, grabbing an amazing 263 victories.
"Winston-Salem has been amazing to us," Austin said. "This area has become home. I'm super proud of him. It's rare to see a coach stay at the same place for so long and achieve at a high level in collegiate athletics. It's awesome to see what he's built at Wake."
After professional stints with the Austin Aztex, the New York Red Bulls and D.C. United, Austin got a chance to play closer to home with first the Carolina Railhawks and then North Carolina FC.
"A huge reason why I came back to play here in 2012 was to be close to family," Austin said. "My wife was born and raised here in Raleigh, so we're just a couple minutes away from them as well. It's the perfect set up for us."
Just a short 90-minute drive away, Austin tried to get back to the Wake Forest campus several times a season.
"It was difficult while I was still playing, because our seasons were taking place at the same time," he said. "I didn't make it to as many games as I would have liked, but I get back at least once a month to visit my parents and see campus.
"It's pretty cool to see how many buildings have sprung up between visits. It's tough sometimes to recognize campus, it's growing so much. I enjoy getting out there to watch my dad's team as well as the guys play. It was great to see the College Cup right here in my backyard this year, so I got to see that game. Disappointed with the result, but it was awesome to see them get that far and be on that stage."
The Deacs made the College Cup all four years while da Luz played, winning the National Championship in 2007. He's encouraged at the level of excellence that's continued under coach Bobby Muuss.
"It's been awesome to watch," Austin said. "College soccer is in an interesting place. There's lot of changes happening. It's getting more difficult to sustain that level of success, so I've been impressed with the way Bobby, the players and the staff have been able to maintain the level that we all expect as alums."
