AUSTIN FC FAN FAVORITE,
BRAD STUVER T H E G O A L I E W H O S T O P S S O C C E R B A L L S , A N D S TA R T S C O N V E R S AT I O N S By Tolly Moseley Photos courtesy of Austin FC
or fans of Austin FC, goalie Brad Stuver is something of a darling. “We are a tight-knit group of people who look out for one another,” he wrote recently, in an open letter to supporters. “We stand by each other regardless of the circumstances and we rally behind each other in the good times and the bad.” The letter was a collaboration between Stuver, his teammates and Austin FC staff. But still, it says something that he put his name on it, that he had the impulse to speak directly to fans, and that he
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wanted to lift up his community. A community, by the way, that he’s relatively new in: he got to Austin at the tail end of 2020, after three seasons with New York City FC, and five seasons before that with Columbus Crew SC. But Stuver and his wife, Ashley, didn’t waste any time jumping into Austin, and learning how they could make a difference. Several years ago, the two got involved with The Laundry Project, a nonprofit-backed movement with a simple mission: to wash clothes and linens for low-income families. “Working with a group like that makes you realize that for a lot of people, having clean clothes isn’t a part of everyday life,” Stuver explains. “Peo-
