Round Rock native McKinze Gaines quickly becomes Austin FC legend

Photo credit: Scott W. Coleman

When McKinze Gaines was growing up in Round Rock, he never envisioned playing for his hometown club, let alone becoming a legend overnight.

Gaines became the first Austinite to score for Austin FC when he rocketed home a volley in the second half of their 2-0 win over the LA Galaxy to etch his name in the history books at Q2 Stadium forever.

“First goals are always special, and to score a goal like that in front of those fans was something that I’ll never forget,” he said.

As soon as Gaines left his former club in Germany ahead of the 2021 season, there was interest from his side in joining Austin FC.

As a trialist, Gaines put on a show with three goals in training the day before Austin was set to take on Mexican giant Tigres in a friendly in July. With an injury-depleted roster at the time, head coach Josh Wolff brought him on as a second-half substitute in the friendly.

Gaines officially became the first Austin-born player to sign with Austin FC on July 30.

“He scores goals,” Wolff said. “From the moment he got here, his first day training with us. He’s quick to get away from people, he’s got a quick release and he can get shots off. His mentality and his willingness to work every day are awesome.”

Gaines started playing soccer at a young age, in addition to flag football and middle school basketball. He was in high school and playing for Lonestar Academy when he decided to make a career of it.

He signed with Bundesliga team Wolfsburg in 2016 and played with their U-19 team before spending the next few years in the lower divisions in Germany with the likes of Darmstadt and Hannover.

Austin FC has provided him a different opportunity to learn.

Gaines cited Cecilio Dominguez as someone he looks to replicate both in his career and work rate on the field. He also said watching out players like Sebastian Driussi, Tomas Pochettino and Diego Fagundez carry themselves in training and during games is inspiring.

“You can learn something from everybody,” Gaines said.

Gaines, one of the fastest players in the league, had the instructions from Wolff to runs butt off on Sunday and make things hard for the LA defenders to help Austin hold on to its one-goal lead.

Early in the season, Austin FC struggled to score goals. But with 24-year-old Gaines and 21-year-old striker Moussa Djitté — who also scored his first goal in Sunday’s win — leading the line, the future of the Austin FC attack looks bright.

“They are a hungry group and a reliant group,” Wolff said on Sunday. “They’ve taken their hits this year, and we’re learning from it. I’m really happy for McKinze. His energy to work defensively and build pressure was great. He came in and made an impact.”

Sunday was extra special for Gaines since his family and a bunch of his friends was in the stands to see his legendary performance, something that rarely happened when he was playing overseas.

Gaines also knows that there were probably youth soccer players in the city that saw his goal and one day hope to replicate his path.

His message: have fun.

“When things get difficult, people can lose sight of why they started playing,” Gaines said. “Not everything easy in sports. If you want to play at a high level, you have to put in the work to get there, but you can’t lose sight of how much fun you have when playing the game.”