Ben Augee had a pretty typical upbringing for a house with sports-obsessed brothers.
“Broken lamps, broken couches, broken windows, broken fingers,” he said.
Augee and his brother were taught to kick a soccer ball by their dad practically since they were walking, he said. The 2022 Tualatin High School grad brought his practice outside far more often as the years went by, and now he’s on the cusp of showing a few broken lamps and windows were all worth it.
In late December, Augee was picked by FC Cincinnati in the third round of the MLS Super Draft. He hasn’t signed with Cincinnati yet, and is currently in Florida with the team for preseason trying to play his way onto the roster.
Cincinnati will own his rights until he’s done with college, so if Augee doesn’t make the team, he can return to Gonzaga to play for one more year. He played his freshman year at Grand Canyon University and then transferred to Gonzaga, where he played the last two seasons.
While Augee said he enjoyed playing for Gonzaga and felt like he improved, he’s hoping he doesn’t return, of course.
“I’m going for it,” Augee said. “If nothing does end up happening, then I can always go back. I want to play as much as I can. That’s what I’m aiming at. If it happens, it would be a dream come true.”
FC Cincinnati opens its season on Feb. 22, so Augee has a few weeks still to prove he belongs. As of our press deadline, Cincinnati has played one of its four preseason games, and Augee played the entire first half.
“It’s faster than what I’m used to,” he said. “It’s something I believe I can play at. I believe in myself.”
It’s that self-belief that had some of Augee’s youth coaches thinking he could play collegiately and possibly beyond.
“He’s always had a massive internal drive and belief in his ability,” said Brandon McNeil, one Augee’s coaches with United PDX, a youth soccer organization and training academy. “There was always the talent there, but he also worked hard on his game. He also physically grew, and then his body matched up with his skill level. When you have that combination, you can be a pretty nice soccer player.”
Augee said McNeil and Matt Broadhead, another United coach, helped him adjust to playing after he hit a growth spurt and felt lanky and uncoordinated out on the field. Broadhead thinks Augee is overstating the period of awkwardness out on the field.
“I call it ‘Bambi on ice’ when the kids grow and are all knees and elbows out there,” Broadhead said. “He was never one of those kids. He was always a top class player. He’s a tall, lean six-footer. His mechanics were never awkward. He was always smooth and fluid.”
Augee joined United PDX for his Under-16 season after playing for another training academy but not really agreeing with what the coaching staff was asking of him, mainly, to move from the midfield to the back of the field as a defender.
But when Augee went to United, McNeil and Broadhead didn’t find a kid who was stubborn or didn’t want to do certain things on the field. In fact, they found the opposite. They found a kid believed in his own ability and who wanted to learn as much as he could to develop the skills he felt he had.
“He’s a student, a sponge,” Broadhead said. “He’s just soaking up information from coaches all the time.”
They also found a player who was versatile and willing to play where ever he could most affect games. For McNeil and Broadhead that meant asking more of his on the field.
“He was asked at 13s and 14s to retain the ball, keep the ball, and move in simple ways,” McNeil said. “That’s great as a baseline. He’s such a creative kid and has more aspirations. Can you have more goals? Can you impact the game in your positioning and where you move into? That was the challenge we put to him.”
That showed in his most recent season at Gonzaga, where he led the team in goals with five and tied for the team-high with three assists.
McNeil said they also worked with Augee on his defense, ensuring he could impact games on both sides of the ball.
“The complete player is everything,” Broadhead said. “It’s not cheating on the defensive responsibility. It’s being a leader. Somebody is always watching you. That’s how you get noticed. You’re playing as if you’re always trying out.”
That’s something that can work in Augee’s favor, Broadhead said. He added that Augee isn’t the type of player to lead a locker room speech, but instead he leads by doing what’s expected of players who want to succeed.
“He’s all business,” Broadhead said. “He’s the kind of player who is going to show up, help the team win the game, and then on the way out carry a ball bag and pick up cones.”
While his coaches believed in his ability, Augee said it was still a shock that he was drafted. He knew some teams were interested, but wasn’t convinced it would happen. He started following the draft, but then went out to train. When he looked at his phone, a friend texted him about getting drafted. Augee added that he knows he’s facing a tough challenge getting on the team, especially since soccer is such a global sport.
“They don’t have to look at the draft and college players as much as other sports do,” he said. “Teams can bring in players from anywhere.”
Still, Augee believes in himself. He’s trying to take things day-by-day, he said, but he’s also thinking about what it could mean to play professionally, especially in the MLS. If he makes the team, he could be mere months away from going up against legends like Lionel Messi, who plays for Miami, or coming home to play in Providence Park when Cincinnati travels to Portland to play the Timbers.
“Just knowing that it could happen is pretty cool,” he said. “Not many people get an opportunity like this. I’m grateful to have it and to have so many friends and family around me. It’s been a long journey, but it’s going to hopefully be an even longer one.”
